Fishing and hunting

Solunar dial#

Major and minor periods around the chosen day.

The ring is a 24-hour clock of the chosen day. Midnight is at the bottom, 06 on the left, noon at the top and 18 on the right; it runs clockwise. Small marks are hours, longer marks every six hours.

The outer band is the sky: daylight, twilight and night. The middle ring holds the solunar periods, and the thin inner ring shows when the Moon is above the horizon; the brighter it is, the fuller the Moon.

In the middle: the Moon as it looks on that day, and the next period with a countdown when you look at today. During a period it says Now and when the period ends. For another day, or once today's periods are over, it shows the time of the strongest major peak.

Solunar periods#

The day’s calculated major and minor windows.

Solunar theory, popularised by John Alden Knight in the 1920s, holds that fish and game feed more when the Moon is overhead or underfoot (major periods) and when it rises or sets (minor periods). Many anglers and hunters plan by it; scientific support is mixed, so treat it as one input among weather, season and local knowledge.

The list shows each period of the chosen day: what causes it, its peak time and its window. Periods that start the evening before or run past midnight are drawn on the dial too.

The best period is two hours either side of the strongest major peak. A major peak is stronger the higher the Moon stands (overhead) or the less deep it is below the horizon (underfoot).

Activity now#

The current solunar period and next peak.

A live score for the current time at your spot. Each peak lends activity that fades with distance: a major peak counts fully at its time and fades to nothing two hours away; a minor peak counts half and fades over one hour. The score is the strongest of these, from 0 to 100%. It updates every minute.

Next peak is the next solunar peak from now, within the next day. Best period today is two hours either side of today's strongest major peak.

Tides#

Live tide curve, heights and next high and low water.

Tides come from the Moon and the Sun pulling on the oceans. Moving water stirs up food: an incoming (flood) tide brings baitfish toward the shore, an outgoing (ebb) tide draws them through channels where predators wait. Many anglers fish the two hours either side of a tide change.

The curve shows the predicted water level from an hour ago to 24 hours ahead, hour by hour. Heights are above or below mean sea level (the faint dashed line, when it is in range). The figure at the top is the level at the nearest hour.

Tide strength compares the highest and lowest water in the forecast: below 5 cm very weak, 5–10 cm weak, 10–15 cm moderate, 15–20 cm strong, above that very strong. The scale suits small tides such as the Baltic's; most ocean coasts read very strong.

Fishing on this tide is excellent while the water is rising or falling, good at high or low water, and fair at slack water. Moving water lists when the tide starts coming in or going out over the next day.

Tides are only predicted for the sea and the coast. Inland, or on land, you see a note instead; pick a spot on the water with the map. Refresh asks for new data; predictions are kept for three hours.

Wind and weather#

Current conditions and available forecasts.

The strip shows each hour: the arrow points the way the wind blows (an arrow pointing down is a north wind), the solid bar is the mean wind and the faint bar behind it the gusts, both to the same scale, with the mean speed underneath.

Strongest wind and calmest hour are over the next 24 hours; the average direction is the circular mean of the hourly directions, so north winds either side of 0° average correctly.

UV today is the forecast daily maximum, with the usual scale: under 3 low, 3–5 moderate, 6–7 high, 8–10 very high, 11 and above extreme. From 3 up, cover up and use sunscreen around midday.

Sun and Moon#

Rise, set, daylight and Moon phase.

The Moon's phase and how much of it is lit, and the times the Sun and Moon rise and set on the chosen day. Sunrise and sunset are the moments the Sun's upper edge meets the horizon. Dawn and dusk are prime feeding times for many fish and animals, so they are worth fishing whatever the solunar table says.