Other trips, regardless of destination, were often scheduled to coincide with the full or new moon. I spend two to three weeks in Canada each season, but two of those weeks are locked into the same week of the year, regardless of moon period. Next up was the last quarter moon, with 33.3 percent, new moon at 22.7 percent, and first quarter moon at 9.3 percent.Īre these totals skewed by my having scheduled fishing trips to prime big fish waters around full and new moons? Yes and no. The full moon period produced the most muskies in my sample and accounted for 34.7 percent of my total of fish over 40 inches. With four moon periods per month, obviously an ‘average’ moon period should account for 25 percent of the 40-inch and better muskies in my boat during the past five years. Then I threw out the eight fish caught on September 10, 1998, so those fish didn’t skew the results. While my sample of muskies considered for this statement is but a fraction of Joe’s data base, the last quarter moon period is a time for musky fishing you should consider when planning trips.įirst, I tallied all the muskies measuring 40 inches or longer in my boat from 1998 through 2002, then broke them out according to moon period. Five years later, my own records indicate that the last quarter moon period has been given a bum steer, and that the first quarter moon period, for lack of a better term, sucks. So, what gives? Was September 10 an anomaly, something unlikely to be repeated anytime soon? At the time I wasn’t sure what to believe, but I decided to pay more attention to the ‘lesser’ moon periods. Joe once told me his moon charts are even more effective when targeting larger muskies, those measuring 40 inches or longer. Joe’s records indicate that the best musky times occur during the full and new moon periods, and the effectiveness of the first and last quarter moon periods was considerably less. Warm, windy conditions were a part of it, but our observations of the conditions failed to reveal any ‘smoking gun.’ The only thing that did stand out was the action occurred during a last quarter moon, the period that occurs between the full moon and new moon periods.Īn event like this certainly flies in the face of the records of Joe Bucher, whose detailed catch data of more than 2,000 muskies led to the creation of Joe Bucher’s Moon Secrets, which appear in every issue of Musky Hunter. Sure, the muskies were hot and we didn’t see another boat containing musky anglers all day, so we were able to take full advantage of the feeding spree. In the years since I’ve tried to understand what went right that day in an attempt to duplicate the success. It was the kind of day every musky hunter dreams of experiencing, yet few do. Eight of these fish were over 40 inches, and another two were just shy at 39 1/2 inches.
On that day my buddy, Kevin Schmidt, and I caught 16 muskies ranging in size from 34 to 45 1/2 inches in length. I hope to experience another day like it, but I doubt that I’ll ever enjoy such a great day again. September 10, 1998, will forever stand out in my memory as well as my musky catch records. Steve’s catch records indicate that the last quarter moon is nearly as good as the full moon period. Steve Heiting caught this 51-incher during a last quarter moon period.
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