Moon phases effects and last minute beach cod fishing

MOON PHASED
Most UK shore anglers understand little about the moon phase's bar that they govern the size of the tides by gravitational pull, the biggest tides falling over the full and new moons. But the actual phase of the moon also has a bearing on how good the fishing can be way beyond tidal influence. It's to do with how much light each of the four main phases emits in to the night sky and enters the sea.

If the full moon shines from a cloudless night sky, then the light entering the water will be at its maximum when the moon is full. This can make it difficult for predatory fish to surprise prey, and also make fish shy from entering shallow water. This effect is lessened when the sea is coloured after an unsettled period, but can severely limit catches during periods of flat calm weather and gin clear seas.

Does the moon effect your fishing?

The best fishing moon is the new moon. This is when the moon is blacked out by the earths shadow and light levels are minimal. Anglers who rely on fish feeding close to shore choose these nights as being the best, for the subdued light encourages smaller fish close to shore and gives the predators some camouflage with which to surprise their prey.

The downside of the dark new moons is that especially during the autumn period the water can be alive with phosphorous, a tiny sea creature that glows when disturbed by water movement or by touching your line. Phosphorous in the water never seems to produce good fishing.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Breakaway Tackle's excellent plastic coasters each come with a threaded plastic strap that is twice as long as it needs to be. If you take one strap out and cut it exactly in half the two sections are still long enough to make a strap for each coaster leaving you with a spare threaded strap for when the other finally wears out.

HIT AND RUN BEACH COD TACTICS

Grab a last minute lunker

If the winter so far has been a let down catch wise, then analyse what you've been doing and change your game plan a little. The biggest mistake is to "chase" the fish. By chase I mean listen to catch news that might be a couple of days old, then head straight for that quoted venue.

It's important to remember that the cod shoals adopt hit and run tactics moving around the localised coast and are not dormant in one place. Fishing a mark that produced a couple of days ago rarely gives up another good catch as the fish will have fed, probably extracted all the available food leaving barren ground, and moved on. Try to anticipate marks further along the coast where cod normally show but catches have been slower. This is often a sign that this mark will suddenly switch on and fish its head off.

Also take in to account a swing in the wind. If the wind has been southwest and the beaches producing fish most frequently face southwest, but then the wind swings northwest, then look for a beach that faces northwest that will take on a big surf after a period of relatively calm due to being slightly in the lee of the southwest wind. The increase in rough water and surf on this beach will expose food and pulls cod in from other areas to feed.

Another trick to try is to switch ground type. If the weather has been rough and fish caught from the cleaner beaches, but then the weather eases, go for a rough ground beach where the food supply available remains at a high level.

Also try fishing a different stage of the tide. Cod are not glued to just eating over low water and high water. If there is some ground feature around the low water line that you can cast to as the tide is middle way down the ebb, then there is a good chance fish will still be feeding here.

Also consider how many other anglers are fishing the marks you are. If the cod are thin on the ground and there are lots of anglers fishing, then your chances of catching are much reduced. Better by far to fish a normally less favoured venue and be the only angler there. One bait on its own as the odd cod passes by has a pretty good chance of being eaten.