WikiCatchBest time to fish today
The best time to fish, by solunar theory, is the two hours around the moon passing overhead or underfoot, and the hour around moonrise and moonset. This free calculator works them out for your location, with the moon phase and sunrise and sunset, right in your browser.
Share your location or pick a water to see today's solunar periods.
How to read it
- Major periods (about 2 hours): the moon overhead or underfoot.
- Minor periods (about 1 hour): moonrise and moonset.
- A period that overlaps sunrise or sunset is the one to plan around.
- Weather still wins: a falling barometer or a cold front can switch fish off.
Hour by hour, for your water
The WikiCatch app adds an hour-by-hour bite forecast for each species (Pro), which weighs wind, pressure and temperature alongside the moon, and shows the depth map of the water you're fishing.
Questions
What is the best time to fish today?
Solunar theory says fish feed most around the moon’s overhead and underfoot positions (major periods, about two hours each) and around moonrise and moonset (minor periods, about one hour). Dawn and dusk matter too, so a major or minor period that overlaps sunrise or sunset is the classic best window. The calculator above lists all of them for your location and day.
What are major and minor solunar periods?
Major periods are centred on the moon’s upper transit (overhead) and lower transit (underfoot); minor periods are centred on moonrise and moonset. The idea comes from John Alden Knight, who published solunar tables from the 1930s.
Does the moon phase affect fishing?
Solunar tables rate the days around new moon and full moon highest, because the sun and moon line up then (the same alignment that drives the strongest spring tides). Evidence is mixed: weather, water temperature, pressure changes and light levels usually matter more than the moon on any given day.
How accurate is this calculator?
Sun and moon times are computed in your browser from standard astronomical formulas and are accurate to within a few minutes. For your own location, times are in your device’s time zone; for the preset waters, in local time at the water.
Can I get a forecast for one specific species?
WikiCatch Pro scores each hour of the day for a given species at a given water, combining moon timing with live wind, pressure and temperature. Its model is its own, so its windows will not match this calculator to the minute.
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