The Solunar Tables

About the time I was beginning to explore fly fishing and those amazing Kamloops Trout, I also became aware of an interesting thing called the Solunar Tables. The Solunar theory is used to predict the best fishing times. For example; you could look at the tables for January 6th and it would tell you when the major and minor feeding activity would start and stop throughout the day. The idea relies on knowing the sun rise and sunset, the moon rise and moon set, as well as which phase the moon is in. You have to do a bit of math to synchronize the tables to your coordinates.

Having done that, you can check the chart for your chosen date. It will say something like: Major feeding time 5:35 AM to 6:35 AM, Minor feeding time 11:30 AM to 12:30 AM and so on. It is certainly food for thought to check the tables for say, Opening Day 2008.

The thinking behind why this idea might work is complex and even a bit inscrutable. It relies on accepting as fact certain suppositions about the effect of the moon on wildlife. A lot of the theory extrapolates from the observational parts of fishing and hunting lore. Things like fish are more active on a coming tide, a full moon is best for fishing schooling fish; salmon are likely to start their run on a full moon and so on. If we think about it there may be more pragmatic reasons for these observations than a mystical effect from the moon. Maybe fish are feeding on the turn of the tide because the mechanical action of moving water uncovers food not available before. Possibly a full moon makes krill more active so schooling fish like mackerel move in to feed on the bait fish that are attracted to the easily available krill. As for salmon, well it makes sense that they would start their move from salt water into fresh on the highest tides of the month. The salt water would penetrate further into the estuary making the transition less violent and ensuring there was as much water as possible on the first leg of the journey.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the Solunar Tables are wacky. What I’m saying is that I don’t understand the theories and explanations behind them. There seems to be an easier explanation for the observed behaviors in wildlife than the ones offered in support of the Solunar theory. Lots of people swear by them and can offer their fishing logs as proof of the effectiveness of the tables.

If I published a Solunar Table I would add a line or two that goes something like this: "Even though our predictions say today is not going to be the most productive day to be out fishing it is still worth a shot. Heck, it has be more fun than staying home and painting the fence."

I have one theory about fishing that has never been proven wrong. I may just call it Steve’s Law. It goes like this. “People who are fishing tend to catch more fish than people who are not.”