2008 Moon Phases
On the left is a chart which will show you the moon phase for any date in 2008. Full moons are shown as a yellow circle while new moons are shown as a magenta circle. For example: the first full moon in 2008 is on January 22 while the first new moon is on January 8. There are two other moons of interest as well. I changed the color of the new moon for August 1 to show that there is a solar eclipse that day. Also, the green full moon on February 20 depicts a lunar eclipse. The chart was developed by Celestial Products, Inc., Middleburg, VA 20118-0801 (tel. 800-235-3783). This specific chart is called "MoonBeams" and comes on a note card they produce with lots of other useful moon information. The company also offers a substantial catalog of astronomical calendars, celestial posters and books. I highly recommend their products.
As most fishermen know, the strongest tides usually (there are no absolutes in nature) occur at the time of full or new moon (This is because the tides are the highest or lowest - for the month - during these times. Our average tide in Ogunquit is 9 to 9.5 feet (9 feet is considered normal). Anything above this is higher than normal. The higher the tide, the stronger the current - generally speaking.). The stronger the tide, the faster the drift and the harder it is to fish. Also, strong tides generally have a negative effect on groundfish feeding patterns. Many feel that the extra available light during the night of a full moon has a negative effect on fishing during the day. I decided to put up this page along with the valuable weather links on the Bunny Clark home page so you could make a reservation for a fishing trip on a date that was most conducive to catching fish. Just keep in mind that fishing can be good or bad at any moon phase or weather situation.
Specific Dates of Maximum Lowest Tides & Largest Tide Height Closest to New Moon (Tide values relate to the Portland, Maine, USA region and are specific to the Bunny Clark fishing season & region):
Mar 10, 11 AM low tide 1.2 feet below normal with a max (for month) 10.8 foot AM high tide Mar 10 & 11 - big current influence on these days.
Apr 7,8 & 9 AM low tide 1.6 feet below normal with a max (for month) 11.4 foot AM high tide on Apr 8 - very big current influence on these days.
May 6 & 7 AM low tide 1.7 feet below normal with a max (for month) 11.7 foot AM high tide on May 7 - close to maximum current influence on these days.
Jun 4 & 5 AM low tide 1.6 feet below normal with a max (for month) 11.8 foot AM high tide on Jun 5 - close to maximum current influence on these days.
Jul 4 AM low tide 1.4 feet below normal with a max 11.6 foot AM high tide on Jul 4 - very big current influence on this day in the morning only.
Aug 2 AM low tide 1.1 feet below normal with a max 11.0 foot AM high tide on Aug 2 & 3 - big current influence around these days both morning and afternoon. (Note: Aug 1, the bite will suffer at the expense of the solar eclipse at the time this occurs on that day.)
Aug 30 AM low tide 0.7 feet below normal with a max 10.5 foot AM high tide on Aug 30 & Sep 1 - some current influence on these dates.
Sep 29 & 30 PM low tide 0.3 feet below normal with a max 10.1 foot PM high tide on Aug 29 & 30 - very little current influence on these dates around the new moon.
Oct 29 PM low tide 0.2 feet below normal with a max 10.0 foot PM high tide on Oct 29 & 30 - very little current influence around new moon on these dates.
Nov 5 AM low tide 2.2 feet above normal with a max 7.7 foot early AM high tide on Nov 5 - almost no current influence (first quarter moon) on and around this date until the end of the Bunny Clark fishing season.
Notice how the tides at the early part of the season are much higher and lower than they are near the later part of the fishing season. As a matter of fact tides are near normal around new moon near the later part of the season in September. New moon tides will have the potential for the most current during the first half of the Bunny Clark fishing season in 2008. Keep in mind that a strong wind can make a current worse. During calm conditions, you will see little current (at times) in specific areas even during abnormally high tides. Early fall new moon trips have the potential for the lightest currents of the Bunny Clark fishing season.
Apr 24, 25 PM low tide height 2.0 feet above normal with a max 7.8 foot (well below normal) PM high tide Apr 26 (four to six days after full moon - tides near normal on full moon) - very little current influence on these days .
May 23 & 24 PM low tide height 1.8 feet above normal with a max 8.1 foot PM high tide May 23 & 24 - afternoon - (four to six days after full moon - tides near normal on full moon) - very little current influence on these days.
Jun 18 & 19 PM low tide height 1.7 feet above normal with a max 8.3 foot PM high tide on Jun 19 - very little current influence around these days of the full moon.
Jul 14 PM low tide height 2.0 feet above normal with a max 7.7 foot AM high tide on Jul 14 - very little current influence on this day four days before the full moon.
Aug 16 AM low tide height 0.3 feet above normal with a max 8.7 foot AM high tide on the same date - very little current influence at the time of full moon.
Sept 17 & 18 PM low tide height 0.7 feet below normal with a max 10.7 foot PM high tide on Sept 18 & 19 - some current influence after the full moon on these dates.
Oct 16 PM low tide height 1.3 below normal with a max 11.3 foot PM high tide on Oct 17 - big current influence after full moon for three days.
The Double Whammy: As was the case last year, the new moons will be most influential for a strong current in the spring and less influential, current wise, on the full moons at this time. My interpretation is that during the dark phase of the moon in the spring, fish will be less inclined to bite with the stronger current and less inclined to bite with the full moon's light so prevalent (two bad times for biting per month in the early months - like last year). With less current at the new moon phase, the biting influence becomes nil (theoretically, groundfish should bite better) because there is less current and no night light. With a moon phase that favors a strong current at full moon, you get the current and light problem happening at only one period in the month. This is more favorable for us as it was in the years prior to 2007 and 2008.
During the 2008 fishing season, the new moon will have its greatest effect before August, much different than before the last season, while the end of the season we should see strong currents around the full moon.
In General
You will notice for some months that during periods of the new moon, tide differences are greatest (dates with the lowest tide) while on other months the full moon period has the largest tide difference. Large tide differences usually mean stronger currents (as you are now aware). However, you rarely get days where the inshore fishing grounds and the offshore fishing grounds are affected by strong currents at the same time. In other words, if finding a current free area was your aim, you could probably do it on any given day but you might be sacrificing a good fishing area. Likewise, the area in which we find most of our fish may be the most current free area. When we pick a fishing area to go to we base our choice on the quantity and/or quality of fish in that area despite what adverse conditions may be associated with that area.All this said, the moon in it's elliptical orbit around the earth has a day every month or twice in a month when it is closest to the earth. This position, when the moon is closest to the earth, is termed "perigee". When the moon is at perigee, it is exerting it's strongest gravitational pull on the earth and creating the ocean's highest and lowest tides. The dates when the moon is at perigee during the Bunny Clark season in 2008 are: April 7, May 6, June 3, July 1, July 29, August 26, September 20, October 17 and November 14. If you look at the dates of new and full moon phases and compare them with these dates you will note that in some months perigee favors the full moon phase and in some months perigee favors the new moon phase. In my experience, the tidal currents are the least strong during the summer months of July and August. July and August are also characterized by having the least amount of wind as well as the most consistent tide heights.
Conversely, "apogee" is the term used when the moon is at its farthest point from the earth. This also happens once a month or, sometimes, twice a month and heralds in a time of less current. Dates where the moon is in apogee during the 2008 Bunny Clark fishing season are: April 23, May 20, June 16, July 14, August 10, September 7, October 5 and November 2. Calm weather and less tidal current means an easier time out on the ocean but not necessarily a better fishing day.
Our most recent bad storm occurred in April 2007 between Sunday, April 15th and Thursday, April 19, the so called Patriots Day Storm. The date of perigee (also the date of the new moon) occurred on April 17th. The winds were out of the northeast (towards land from the ocean) at forty-five knots (with a couple of gusts recorded at fifty-nine mph) sustained around high tide at 10:30 AM that morning on the 16th. My father, my brother and I started moving furniture out of the dining room to higher ground at Barnacle Billy's at 7:00 AM. By 9:00 AM, waves were breaking on the parking lot, ripping up the tar and a wind generated very much higher tide than normal was allowing the water in the Cove to come up over it's banks, again (like in 1978 - although not as bad), and flooding the dining room of Barnacle Billy's. We had to take the dining room floor plugs out and open the windows so the Cove water could come up through the holes in the floor and exit out the openings where the windows used to be. At 11:00 PM that night, the normal tide for that time was marked at 11.2 feet. But the wind wasn't blowing quite as hard as it had been that morning. We still had water coming up through the holes in the dining room but it wasn't as bad. The highest slated tide occurred at almost 1:00 AM on April 19th but the wind had backed off so much, it wasn't a concern at that time. The normal tide without the wind was to be 11.7 feet and would have made one heck of a difference had we had the same wind that occurred on April 16th, Patriot's Day.
If you click on the yellow button below, you can get an idea of what was happening before noon on April 16, 2007. The shot is a time lapse shot through the video cam at the end of Barnacle Billy's, Etc.. restaurant. This little segment was arranged by Brad MacDonald. As you can see from the digital video, the dock was just hanging on to the ramp and the Bunny Clark was there doing a good job of hanging on to the dock. The most remarkable sight is building in the foreground ( Barnacle Billy's restaurant) moving with the rising water and the huge waves breaking in the mouth of the Cove before the bridge in the background. If you look close you can also see the fishermen trying to save their $80.00 barrels of herring from being washed into the Cove. In this segment you can see them (in fast motion) rolling the barrels from the bait wharf to higher ground towards the middle of the parking lot.
April 16, 2007 Storm Perkins Cove |
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