The Day After a Full Moon: Did the Fish Already Eat?

The Day After a Full Moon: Did the Fish Already Eat?

Sometimes the fish win.

I fished the last two days around a full moon, and I can safely say they won the competition. That got me thinking about a question most inshore fishermen have probably asked at some point:

Does a full moon really affect inshore fishing?

I believe it does but probably not in the simple way we sometimes describe it.

A full moon doesn’t necessarily make speckled trout, redfish, and flounder stop feeding. Instead, it can change when they feed, where they feed, and how aggressively they feed during the daylight hours.

Understanding that difference can help us make better decisions the next time we launch the boat the morning after a bright full-moon night.

What Does a Full Moon Actually Change?

There are two major factors associated with a full moon that matter to an inshore fisherman: light and tides.

During a bright full moon, shallow coastal water receives considerably more nighttime illumination than it does around a new moon. Baitfish and predators aren’t suddenly looking at daylight conditions, but there is enough light for fish to see, move, and potentially feed more effectively through the night.

That means some predator fish may have already spent several hours feeding before we ever back the boat down the ramp.

The second, and arguably more important factor, is tidal movement.

Full moons and new moons occur when the gravitational effects of the sun and moon are aligned. Around these periods we generally experience spring tides, meaning a greater difference between high and low tide.

That can create stronger tidal currents.

And for an inshore fisherman, moving water is often more important than the moon phase itself.

Current moves bait.

Current positions fish.

Current creates feeding opportunities.

So the full moon can potentially create two opposing effects: fish may feed more during the night because of the additional light, but stronger tidal movement can also create excellent feeding opportunities during the daytime.

That is why the answer isn’t simply:

“Don’t fish after a full moon.”

Instead, the better question is:

“When will the best feeding window occur?”

Did the Fish Feed All Night?

Possibly.

After a bright full-moon night, I become a little less confident that the traditional first-light bite will automatically be the best bite of the day.

Think about it from the fish’s perspective. If trout or redfish have been able to feed on shrimp, mullet, menhaden, croakers, or other forage throughout the night, they may not be desperately hunting at daylight.

That doesn’t mean they won’t eat. It may simply mean the aggressive feeding window has shifted.

Instead of assuming that 6:00 to 8:00 AM will be prime time, I pay much more attention to when the tide begins moving strongly.

A strong incoming or outgoing tide at 9:30 AM may produce a better bite than perfectly calm water at daylight.

That is an important lesson because fishermen, including me, naturally want to associate daylight with feeding activity.

The fish don’t own watches. They respond to opportunity. Current Beats the Clock

If I could pick only one thing to focus on the morning after a full moon, it would be moving water.

I would look for the strongest period of tidal movement rather than simply launching as early as possible.

In Mississippi Gulf Coast marshes and around the barrier islands, that means paying attention to locations where current becomes concentrated.

Places I would concentrate on include:

• Marsh drains and creek mouths
• Points where current sweeps past
• Cuts connecting larger bodies of water
• Oyster reefs adjacent to moving water
• Shorelines with bait being pushed along them
• Deeper bends and channels near shallow feeding areas
• Island points, troughs, and passes where tidal current concentrates bait

Instead of covering miles of shoreline, I want to find a place where the water is doing something.

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is fishing good-looking water that doesn’t have enough current to create a reason for predator fish to feed.

What About First Light? I’m still going to fish first light. I’m just going to change my expectations.

Topwater at daylight remains one of my favorite ways to fish, particularly during the warmer months. But following a bright full-moon night, I wouldn’t spend two hours trying to force a topwater bite that isn’t happening.

I’d give it a reasonable opportunity.

If I see mullet nervous on the surface, shrimp jumping, pogies being attacked, birds working, or predator fish busting bait, I’m staying with it.

But there’s an important distinction between seeing bait and seeing feeding activity. Thousands of menhaden swimming peacefully around the boat don’t necessarily mean predator fish are actively feeding.

I want to see something bothering them. If nothing is chasing the bait and my topwater isn’t getting attention, I’m going to start looking for another clue.

Where Do Fish Go After Feeding?

This may be one of the most important parts of fishing after a full moon. If fish have already fed heavily overnight, they don’t necessarily disappear.

They may simply reposition.

As the sun rises, I would increasingly look toward areas that provide one or more of three things:

Depth, structure, or current.

For speckled trout, that could mean moving away from an extremely shallow flat and toward a nearby drop, trough, reef, channel edge, or deeper shoreline.

For redfish, I would still look around marsh edges and points, but I would pay particular attention to drains where bait is being delivered to the fish.

Flounder are another excellent example. Instead of expecting them to chase bait across a broad flat, I would concentrate on ambush locations such as drains, ledges, creek mouths, pilings, channel edges, and other places where they can sit and allow the current to bring food to them.

The strategy becomes less about finding hungry fish roaming everywhere and more about finding efficient feeding locations.

Slow Down Before Changing Lures

One temptation on a tough fishing day is to start digging through the tackle box.

No bites on one color?

Change colors.

Still nothing?

Change lures.

Then change again.

Pretty soon we’ve tried twelve different baits without ever solving the real problem. Sometimes the problem isn’t the lure.

There simply aren’t actively feeding fish where we’re casting.

On a difficult post-full-moon morning, I would rather change locations, depths, or current situations before constantly changing lure colors. Once I locate fish or signs of feeding activity, then I can fine-tune the presentation.

How I Would Fish the Morning After a Full Moon

If I were planning another trip immediately following a full moon, my strategy would look something like this.

I’d still launch around daylight and spend the first hour looking for an early shallow bite. I’d throw a topwater around active bait, points, shorelines, grass, troughs, or other likely feeding areas.

But I wouldn’t marry myself to that pattern. If the surface bite wasn’t developing, I would transition quickly to a paddle tail, jerk shad, shrimp imitation, or other subsurface presentation. More importantly, I would begin positioning the boat around current funnels and slightly deeper water.

As the morning progressed, I would become increasingly interested in the strongest portion of the incoming or outgoing tide.  In other words, I wouldn’t necessarily assume the fishing was getting worse because the sun was getting higher.  The best feeding window could still be ahead of me.

A Full Moon Isn’t an Excuse. This is probably the biggest lesson. Fishermen are pretty good at explaining why the fish didn’t bite.

Wrong tide.

Wrong wind.

Too much rain.

Too much sun.

Full moon.

Sometimes those things absolutely matter. But I don’t want the moon to become an excuse for a poor fishing trip. I want it to become another piece of information.

A full moon tells me that fish may have had a better opportunity to feed overnight. It also tells me that tidal movement around the lunar period may be stronger.

Neither tells me whether I’ll catch fish.

For that, I still need to find bait, current, structure, appropriate water conditions, and feeding activity.

What I’ll Do Differently Next Time

After getting beat by the fish for two straight days, my takeaway isn’t:

“Never fish after a full moon.”

It’s almost the opposite.

Next time, I’ll pay less attention to simply being on my favorite spot at daylight and more attention to matching my location to the best period of moving water.

I’ll still take advantage of the first-light topwater opportunity, but if the fish don’t cooperate, I’ll move on.

I’ll look for current.

I’ll look for bait that is actually being harassed and not merely bait that is present.

I’ll look for nearby depth and structure where fish can reposition after feeding.

And I’ll remember that sometimes the best bite after a full moon may not happen at daylight.

It might happen several hours later when the tide finally starts moving.

That’s one of the things I enjoy most about inshore fishing. Every trip gives us another piece of the puzzle.

And occasionally the fish have to win a few rounds before they teach us something.

I hope you found this article helpful and i would love to hear your comments below. I always appreciate learning from your experience as well. 

Tight lines and I will see you on the coast!!!!

Randall - Coastal Fishing with Randall