This is Al Harper wondering:  “Do fish react to an Aurora Borealis event as they do to various phases of the moon?”  Many old-time fisherman I’ve met or fished with would keep a careful watch on the moon phases and some would swear they had first-hand knowledge of a cause-and-result link between moon phase and the behavior of fish.  It seems most anglers today just fish when they can regardless of what a Farmer’s Almanac claims as a “major period” dictated by lunar happenings.

It was drizzly and somewhat overcast out here in Washington, MO one morning the middle of May and it was reported the Northern Lights had been active the night before, so I grabbed my fly rod and moseyed over to a nearby city lake to see if the bite was on.  The city’s parks and recreation crews have been grooming the lake and the walking path surrounding it so one can fish from the bank without dealing with an abundance of weeds.  

I’ve caught a few nice largemouth bass in the lake in the past but with a surface that looked like glass on this morning, I decided to see if panfish and goggle-eye would respond to a small popper.  From my first cast they were all over the small, lime green dry fly.  At times they hit so quickly, it seemed they were just waiting for it to land on the surface.  To any angler who gets frustrated by trout approaching a dry fly and then refusing it, I say “try bream!”

Panfish and goggle-eye are aggressive and even relentless when attacking poppers this time of year.  From right up near the bank outward as far as I could cast I got strikes.  The strikes varied in intensity.  Some of these compact, strong fish just seemed to want to get the intruder hovering over their domain out of the way.  They would rush up and administer a strong slap with their tail.  This technique might have also been a way for the fish to judge the bug’s reaction or behavior.  

A tail slap often made my small popper disappear into a watery vortex and it would take a couple of seconds for it to float back to the surface, or it might be consumed by the fish while it was under.  The most satisfying strikes occurred when a fish was clearly intent on eating the little intruder.  Even with a taunt line and a quick hookset, the popper was often lodged deep in the fishes mouth and had to be extracted with forceps after I wrestled him in. 

Anyone who has had the pure fun of catching large panfish on a light fly rod can testify about what strong fighters they are.  While you won’t see an aerial display with bream as you will with trout or bass, they go deep and pull very hard.  And these species are found just about anywhere in Missouri waters.  In fact, on many creeks and rivers the Conservation Department has established Special Management Areas for goggle-eye.  Although I did real well with my poppers, they also eat crayfish, all types of insects and baitfish (attention streamer fishermen).  And for those who might dismiss panfish or goggle-eye as “small game fish,” take note that the Missouri record blue gill is 3 pounds and the record goggle-eye is 2 pounds 12 ounces.  That one was caught on the Big Piney River in 2018.

So while the northern lights may or may not have had anything to do with my catching about thirty panfish and goggle-eye in only a couple of hours on a cloudy morning out here west of St. Louis, I’m ready to thank the heavens for a fun time pursuing these fearless little gems.  Good fishin’ to ya.