Newsman's Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column & Report

It was a busy week last week. Since I will be writing my update column and report tomorrow, I will post last week's column for now.



Eccentric, by definition refers to the unusual or odd; and so it was, in the beginning, as the sport fishing community viewed one John Alden Knight.

Beginning in 1925, Knight stumbled on a rough theory that fish and wildlife activity rose and fell with the rise and set of the moon. Through the rest of the 20s and the 30s, Knight a fly fisherman himself, systematically studied the effects of the moon, tides, and barometric pressure, of fish and their food sources. By the 1940s, Knight had perfected his science to the point that in a vast majority of situations, during a twenty four hour time frame, he could accurately predict times and levels of fish feeding activity. Fifteen years of painstaking research had paid off, and Knight was a much sought after lecturer in the circuit of private fly fishing clubs and sportsman shows. Knight compiled his findings and the story of his research; in a book he titled, “Moon Up – Moon Down,” released in 1942. The book was a hit, as was Knight himself, but as North American fly fishing slid into its dark age, so did the popularity of Knight and his book. Fly fishing made a resounding resurgence during the 1970s, and with it came a renewed interest in Knight and his science. In response, his daughter reissued, “Moon Up – Moon Down,” in 1972.

Today we see Knight’s science on fishing calendars and the Solunar Tables in our fishing magazines, and assume this knowledge has always been there. So true is the quote on the fly leaf of “Moon Up – Moon Down.”

“It is the fate of all truth that they begin as heresies,” Cardinal Richelieu.