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Table of Contents
What is the
Solunar Theory?
Peak Days
Peak Times
Peak Months
Watch the Moon
Best Fishing Days
Length of Periods
Proving the Theory
Watch the Weather
Watch the Barometer
Calculating
Solunar Times
Area Covered
by Solunar Times
WHAT IS THE SOLUNAR
THEORY?
In
1926 John Alden Knight* postulated some folk lore he picked up in
Florida and proceeded to attempt a refinement, giving it the name
Solunar (Sol for sun and Lunar for moon). Knight compiled a list
of 33 factors which influence or control day-to-day behavior of
fresh and salt-water fish. Everything was taken into account that
could possibly have any bearing on the matter.
One
by one the factors were examined and rejected. Three of them,
however, merited further examination. They were sun, moon and
tides.
Surely the sun could have no effect since its cycle was the same
day after day, whereas the observed activity periods of fish were
apt to be present at most any time of the day or night. The moon
had already been weighed and found wanting. Tides? Surely there
could be no tidal movement in a trout stream.
But
the fact remained, however, that the tides had always guided
salt-water fishermen to good fishing. Could it be that the
prompting stimulus lay in the influence of the sun and moon which
cause the ocean tides, rather than the actual tidal stages or
flow?
When
the original research was being done only the approximate time of
moon up - moon down were considered. Gradually, it became evident
that there were also intermediate periods of activity that
occurred midway between the two major periods. Thus the more
evident periods were called
MAJOR PERIODS and the two intermediate
periods, shorter in length, were called
MINOR PERIODS.
One
convincing experiment was when Dr. Frank A. Brown, a biologist at
Northwestern University, had some live oysters flown to his lab
near Chicago. Oysters open their shells with each high tide, and
Dr. Brown wanted to see if this was due to the change in ocean
levels or to a force from the moon itself. He put them in water
and removed them from all sunlight. For the first week they
continued to open their shells with the high tides from their
ocean home. But by the second week, they had adjusted their
shell-openings to when the moon was directly overhead or underfoot
in Chicago.
Knight first published his Solunar Tables in 1936. Then, and
today, one must calculate the precise times from each table taking
into account the geographic location (east or west) of a base
point (Time Zone), and adjusted for Daylight Savings Time when
appropriate. The tables are rounded to the nearest 10 minutes.
An
example of the deviation in time in a particular state would be
Texas here the times from El Paso on the western border and
Hemphill on the eastern border is 51 minutes (Hemphill is 51
minutes earlier than El Paso).
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PROVING THE THEORY
To
substantiate the Solunar Theory, insofar as fish are concerned,
John Alden Knight attempted a systematic inquiry to acquire
complete details surrounding the capture of record catches. Both
individual large fish ... and large numbers.
He
examined approximately 200 of these catches. Over 90 percent were
made during the dark of the moon (new moon) when the effects of of
the Solunar Periods appear to be greatest, and, more important,
they were made during the actual times of the Solunar Periods.
Initially, only the behavior of fish was considered. During 1935
to 1939 Knight made extensive studies of game birds and animals.
As had been suspected, these also responded to the prompting
stimulus of the Solunar Periods.
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PEAK
DAYS
It
is now known that the sun and moon are the two major sources of
the astral energies that daily bombard the Earth and all her life
forms. The closer they are to you at any given moment, the
stronger the influence. The day of a NEW or FULL MOON
will provide the strongest influence in each month.
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PEAK
MONTH
June
always has more combined sun-moon influence than any other month.
During a FULL MOON the sun and moon are nearly opposite each other
and very few minutes pass without one or the other being in our
sky. During a NEW MOON, both bodies are in near-perfect rhythm
traveling the skies together with their forces combined. Because
of the interaction between the many lunar and solar cycles, no two
days, months or years are identical.
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PEAK
TIMES
When
a Solunar Period falls within 30 minutes to an hour of sunrise or
sunset you can anticipate great action! When you have a moonrise
or moonset during that period the action will be even greater.
And,
finally, when the above times occur during a
NEW or
FULL MOON, you can expect the best action of the
season!
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LENGTH OF PERIODS
Every fisherman knows that fish do not feed all the time. He
knows, also, that for some reason fish often go on the feed and
take most any offering, be it live bait or artificial. This sort
of thing happens, according to John Alden Knight (the originator
of the theory) during a Solunar Period. To be sure, fish usually
feed actively at sunrise and sunset, but generally, the real
fishing of the day is at the odd hour feeding periods. If the
weather and feeding conditions are favorable the fish will be
active for one to two hours.
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BEST HUNTING/FISHING DAYS
For
those fishermen hunters who enjoy fishing and hunting at sunrise
and sunset here are the absolute best dates to be on the water at
your favorite spot.
These are the Major or Minor Solunar Periods that fall near the
times of Sunrise or Sunset during a Full or New Moon.
It has been documented that when this condition exists fish will
bite on anything they see or smell. Limits are almost guaranteed
provided there are fish in the vicinity.
Its
no secret that fish and game tend to feed during dawn and dusk
(sunrise and sunset). What amplifies the activity is the effect of
a moonrise or moonset plus the specific monthly periods of New
(dark) and Full (light) Moons.
When
the times coincide with a moon-rise or a moon-set the action can
be spectacular.
Finally, a change in the local weather coinciding with the periods
will further enhance the activity.
For
an interesting article on this subject, visit
"The Real Scoop" on using the theory to your advantage.
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WATCH THE
WEATHER
For
best results the tables must be used intelligently. Every day will
not show a clear-cut reaction to a Solunar Period. In the case of
fish, barometric fluctuations, particularly when the trend is
down, often ruin fishing. All wildlife knows what to expect of the
weather, and any bird, animal or fish can sense the approach of a
storm. Cold fronts moving through drive all fish deeper and render
them inactive.
Adverse temperature, abnormal water conditions, all sorts of
things will offset the effects of Solunar Periods. However, every
sportsman knows that it is beyond all reason to expect good
fishing or hunting every day. The Solunar Theory will point the
way to the best in sport that each day has to offer, but in no
sense is it a guarantee.
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WATCH THE BAROMETER
Intensity of activity also varies from day to day, according to
conditions in general. If the barometer happens to be steady or
rising, if the temperature is favorable (15 degrees higher than
water temp) then long and active response to a Solunar Period can
be expected.
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WATCH THE MOON
Another thing to remember in dealing with Solunar Periods is that
solunar influence will vary in intensity according to the position
of the moon. The times of new moon (the dark of the moon), and
there is no moon in the sky, is the time of maximum intensity.
Ocean tides reflect this intensity in their magnitude. This
maximum will last about three days, and wildlife respond with
maximum activity. Thereafter the degree of intensity tapers off
until it is at its minimum during the third quarter phase of the
moon.
Salt-water anglers argue that tides have a greater influence on
fish feeding habits than the moon itself. It must be understood
that the tides are governed by the phases and transit of the moon.
Certain marine phenomena occur with precise regularity during the
lunar month and solar/lunar cycle.
Research has shown that a natural day for fish and many other
animal species differ from our own. Their biological clock appears
to coincide with lunar time, which is the time that it takes for
the moon to reappear at a given point during one complete rotation
of the earth (an average of 24 hours and 53 minutes. This is
called a Tidal Day and
explains why the ocean tides are about an hour later each day -
and why most
fish, fresh water species included, will feed up to an hour later
(in relation to our solar clock) each day.
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CALCULATING SOLUNAR TIMES
The
key to accurate Solunar Times is the ability to chart the relative
solar and lunar positions with respect to a particular location.
The major periods coincide with the upper and lower meridian
passage of the resultant gravitational (tidal) force.
The
minor periods occur when these
forces are rising or setting on either horizon, i.e., the right
ascension of the resultant force and the local sidereal time vary
by 90 or 270 degrees. The major periods
occur when these forces are at 0 and 180 degrees
apart.
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AREA COVERED BY SOLUNAR
TIMES
The
times produced are known as
EQUILIBRIUM TIDE TIMES, i.e., the times of
low and high tides if the Earth were completely covered by water.
Our program calculates the solar and lunar positions with an
accuracy of .25 degrees allowing accuracy to be within 1 minute in
time. The times will change one minute for each 12 miles east or
west of the base point.
There is one day each month (near the last quarter of the moon) on
which there is no moonrise. This is normal and occurs because the
moons average period between two rises and sets is approximately
24 hours and 50 minutes. Thus there will always
be a day on which a moonrise (and a Solunar Time) will not fit.
Note also that moonrise can occur at any time during the day or
night.
The
quantities required for computing Solunar Times are elliptic
longitudes of the Sun and Moon, the right ascension (RA) of the
moon, and the local sidereal time of the observer's position.
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CONCLUSION
It
goes without saying that if you don't do your homework as the the
availability of game and their habitat that timing will be
pointless. We recommend that you plan your timing afield based on
your homework for that particular area to be successful. Then and
only then, should you plan your time on the water or in the field
in accordance with Solunar Periods.
We
hope these resources have increased your understanding of the
Solunar Theory - and how you can use it to improve your hunting
and angling success.
As
we stated above, we haven't used this information personally but
then in our family the Best Time To Go Hunting or Fishing is
Whenever We Can!
Blessings!
And
don't forget to send us a picture of your successful hunting and
fishing trips to add to our trophy page!
?subject=Trophy Entry for the Sportsmen's Page">E-mail Your Trophy to The Sportsmen
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*Source:
Moonup~Moondown - Library of Congress Doc #72-93383
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