Harvest moon indeed
Did any of you happen to catch the full moon around October 12th? I was at my grandson’s soccer game and after it was over I pulled out of the soccer complex onto the Bluffton Parkway when I saw it. I swear that moon took up a good portion of the sky in front of me. It was ginormous! As a matter of fact, it was so incredible I pulled over in a large open field, turned off the car and marveled at it for a good thirty minutes or so.
It was not the first time I have seen such a massive full moon, and no matter how many years I have witnessed such a celestial event, it still stops me dead in my tracks. I always call autumn full moons like that one a Harvest Moon but it is reality it is called a Hunter’s Moon. I read that it was given that name back in the 1700’s because during this moon, game animals like deer, turkeys, boar and others were out and about fattening up on late summer bounty preparing for lean winter months.
So now that you know the history how the name came about, full moons of any size usually keep me off the water. From experience, fishing during a full moon really isn’t worth the effort, much less the expenses like gas, bait and tackle. My theory is that during bright full moon nights and unusually high tides, fish have the opportunity to feed from moon rise til sunrise. The only exceptions to this theory might be king mackerel during the week before the full moon, when I usually catch the larger kings, and during the actual full moon cobia and tarpon seem to go on a feeding frenzy. Other than that, inshore species like trout, redfish and such develop lockjaw and stay that way until the moon and tides settle down.
With that said, I wasn’t all that excited when I learned that my good friend Dave Harter had entered myself, the Waddell Mariculture Center’s former director Al Stokes and Al Segars in the week-long Port Royal Inshore Slam Tournament put on by the Port Royal Foundation’s Maritime Center at Lemon Island. Having just returned from my sister’s home in Florida I missed the Captains Meeting where you learn all the rules and regulations for the tournament. In other words, I didn’t know squat. On the same evening I sat and watched the moon Al Stokes called me and informed me that he, Al Segars and I would meet at Bluffton’s Alljoy Boat Landing the next morning and at least get in one day of tournament fishing. To say I was skeptical is putting it mildly. An incredibly full moon, 10 ½ foot tides and a northeaster barreling our way combined to make the worst possible time possible to catch a fish or better put, any fish. I told both AL’s that there were no guarantees and just as we met up at the boat landing the tide was so high it covered the parking lot making it impossible to launch Al Segars boat. With only possibility left, we headed to the landing at the Bluffton Oyster Factory and with a sigh of relief we were finally able to launch the boat.
As we puttered down the May River all the pressure was on me. This was my home turf while Al Stokes doesn’t have a boat and usually only fishes with me while Al Segars home turf was north of Beaufort. I hate being a fuddy duddy but with all the environmental elements against us I told them both that on this particular day high hopes were out the window, The tide was so high it about covered the marsh grass and when it is like that the fish could be anywhere, maybe even way up in the grass. Racking my memory there was only one spot that might pay off so twenty or so minutes later over when the anchor and we began to fish.
This is where some sort of divine spirit had pity on us because no sooner had the first bait hit the water when Al Segars hooked up to a nice trout. A fluke maybe? Nope, because for the next hour and a half the trout bite was on fire! I was flabbergasted and though I didn’t keep count, we caught and released dozens of trout.
I didn’t even fish because I was too busy unhooking their fish and photographing them for the tournament. The moon fooled me big time this time.
When the bite slowed down, I suggested we move to another spot that usually holds flounder and my mates were all in. The tide was hauling bogey as the tide dropped and then it happened. We had caught and released a couple of small flounder and a couple of sting rays when Al Segars rod bent over. Another stingray was my bet until it showed itself. It wasn’t a big flounder, it was huge flounder! Al was over the moon with this personal best flatty that measured 22 ½ inches. I am not sure if my opinion about full moon fishing will change but on this particular day it was definitely a “harvest” moon!
Collins Doughtie is a 60-year resident of the Lowcountry, is a sportsman, graphic artist, and lover of nature. collinsdoughtie@icloud.com
