superstitions
THE WEATHER IN WELLINGTON has been pretty average since Christmas. With high winds and the odd southerly making it a very difficult time to get out on the water. Bam lives close to our fishing haunts and tends to subscribe to the “any time on the water is a good time to fish” theory and although I do agree with Bam’s approach, I live a good hours plus drive from the water, so I tend to watch the weather, lunar phases and tides to help improve the odds.
SO WHAT ARE THESE BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS? Solunar theory is a belief that animals and fish move according to the location of the moon. There are two types of solunar period. Major periods: have approximately two hours duration
To Believe, or Not to Believe Solunar theory, earthquakes and superstitions were all topics of debate within the Maniyaks camp recently. By Shane Kelly and Bam Blaikie
22 www.nzfisher.co.nz
although on certain occasions they may exceed three hours. They begin the moment of the lunar transit (when the moon is overhead) and the opposing lunar transit (when the moon is under our feet). Normally these are the moments of greatest fish activity during each day. Minor periods: are intermediate periods of lesser duration (approximately one hour) which coincide with the rising and the setting of the moon. During these periods there is also an increase in fish activity in relation to the rest of the day. Fishing the tides is all part of subscribing to solunar theory. When the tide rises the water moves toward land and it is then known as the flood or high tide. When it drops and moves back to sea it is called the ebb or low tide. The “slack” tide is the period when the tide moves neither way. It takes about six hours for the tide to go from low to high and six hours from high to low. Every 24 hours the tides occur approximately 50 minutes later. It is believed that fish are more active (on the bite) in current than in “slack” water, so the time to go fishing would be change of tide. I use an “app” produced by SIS Software simply called fishing calendar this app provides reasonably accurate predictions on best bite times and a host of other useful tools.