How the Great American Eclipse Impacted Game and Fish

Earlier this month, an attempt was made in this space to discuss the idea of whether or not the Great American Eclipse of 2024 would have an effect on game and fish across the U.S.

Now that the great celestial event is behind us until the next eclipse graces portions of North Dakota and Montana in August 2044 and parts of the southeastern, central, and western U.S. the following year in August 2045 (including Orlando and Disney World), it seems appropriate to ask whether or not the 2024 eclipse actually did have any sort of effect on hunting and fishing across the middle of the country as the moon’s shadow swept across the American heartland from Texas to Maine at a speed of well more than !,000 miles per hour.

As pointed out previously, such observations are generally anecdotal for the most part, although some scientific effort from the University of Missouri back in August 2017 did suggest that there were some effects, even if the period of totality was brief indeed. 

Scientists from the Show Me State noted that during the 2017 total solar eclipse, cicadas quit making noise, bees stopped buzzing, birds quit singing, some plants closed up shop for the night, so to speak, and the fish appeared to bite a little more willingly as the brief few minutes of totality arrived, skies darkened, and temperatures cooled down.

In fact, in certain spots, it could have been described as a feeding frenzy, although to be fair, that didn’t happen everywhere apparently.

But that was then in August 2017, and last week on Monday, April 8, 2024 it was now, leaving us to wonder here at Game & Fish Magazine about the answer to the question of did the 2024 eclipse have any effects on hunting and fishing?

And the answer here a few days removed from the astronomical event is in some cases no, in other cases it was a hard to know, and in more than a few instances, the answer seemed to be a strong “Yes!”

Now for starters, I’ll confess that my own good intentions of verifying the answer to this question proved to be a no go personally. I had a fly rod packed up, a box of bass flies in my fishing pack, and a carefully selected bass fishing spot lying about a half-hour from my home in the path of totality. But alas, high clouds streaming in and low clouds that were slow to burn off forced a scrambling of plans in the Burkhead household.

Meaning that the spot that yours truly, the lovely Mrs. B, and my oldest son Zach planned to go to watch the eclipse—perhaps a once in a lifetime event for myself and my wife—fell victim to my pilot son’s IFR weather apps, my own watching of the National Weather Service’s satellite loops for the region near our North Texas home, and a best guess that it was time to shelve the fishing plans and travel to a spot where we could at least see the eclipse unfold.

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So that’s what we did, and I have to say it was the astronomical show of a lifetime. Having seen the partial eclipse in my own backyard in 2017, there was absolutely no comparison to the moment this time when the moon totally covered up the sun in 2024, the diamond ring phenomenon appeared, and an otherworldly, supernatural darkness fell as only the sun’s corona remained visible.

Put simply, it was a spectacular show and the bucket list experience of a lifetime for me, at least, even if I didn’t get the much anticipated fishing photo and experience I had dreamed of.

But other anglers around the country did, in fact, get to see the total eclipse and grab an incredible fishing memory and photo.

On the White River near Mountain Home, Ark., for instance, which along with other portions of the Ozarks were right in the middle of the path of totality, the eclipse certainly seemed to have some effect.

Take the White River Nation Facebook page, for instance, which posted a photo of a very sizable brown trout with the following information: “Boat in the water at 1:40 p.m., fish in the net before total darkness from the eclipse.”

That’s not bad considering that the eclipse hit its maximum point in Mountain Home at 1:54 p.m. Guide Jesse Brison later posted “And she thought we couldn’t do it…,” referring to angler Alex Stubenfoll of nearby Lakeview, Ark., who caught the big brown as totality arrived.

In the comment section, Brison told one poster that Stubenfoll only made a few casts before the big brown trout hit, while Eddie Ring posted a response of his own experience on the world famous trout water by saying that when water levels fell between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., things were pretty dead.

That all began to change as the eclipse’s totality period approached last week, however. “I’d say the bite definitely picked up between 1:00-1:45 p.m. for us. We had multiple hookups, landed 3 browns and 2 quality rainbows during that time. After totality, we picked up a few bites and landed 2 more browns and a rainbow before heading in at 3:15 p.m.”

In Ohio, the eclipse hits its maximum point at Indian Lake near Russells Point at 3:11 p.m. That’s where angler Brandon Miller went fishing and had himself quite a day in addition to getting one of the 2024 Great American Eclipse Day’s best angling photos.

“Eclipse fishing was (on fire),” wrote Miller, using the “on fire” emoji to illustrate his point. “Limit of saugeye and over 20 largemouth.”

Miller added a photo of a shadowy saugeye with the total eclipse clearly showing in the sky above. The colors, including pinks and oranges typically associated with sunrise or sunset, made the photo spectacular, as did the deep, dark blues above and the moon obscuring the sun’s light for a few brief moments over the Ohio lake. 

On Texas' Lake Bardwell, educator and angler Matthew Gaines went bass fishing and shot some video of the experience on eclipse day. The sped up, time lapse video showed him catching fish just before totality, then sitting down and simply enjoying the celestial spectacle like many others as totality arrived.

He posted the video to social media later that day under the heading of "Eclipse Fishing Update!"

"Been looking forward to this moment for months and the fish did NOT disappoint me," he indicated on X, formerly Twitter. "Biting like crazy right before it went dark. Then I got lost in the moment and forgot to fish the totality lol."

On the other end of the continent in the Great Lakes, parts of Lake Erie fell underneath the moon’s shadow as it sped northeastward. That's where kayak angler John Proch, a pro-staffer for Old Town Canoes and Kayaks, found himself mesmerized by both the astronomical show overhead, as well as the piscatorial show going on in the waters around him on Monday, April 8, 2024 as the eclipse hit its maximum point above his Old Town kayak.

“Being on Lake Erie beneath the total solar eclipse was AMAZING!!!,” Proch wrote on his Instagram account. “It was truly awe inspiring to see the sky above turn so dark in the middle of the day while the horizon along the water remained bright and colorful. I was shocked at how clearly with the naked eye I was able to see the solar flares shooting out from behind the moon and Venus shining so brightly during totality. I was also surprised at how pure white the sun's light was while shining from out from behind the moon, as all pictures I had seen previously showed more of a golden or orange glow. It really was a beautiful sight to behold! It was nice catching some walleye out there too but that eclipse was of course the real star of the show.”

Also on Lake Erie, television news station WKYC had a story by reporter Carl Bachtel that told the tale of a group of anglers who worked together and went fishing on Lake Erie before and during the eclipse last week. 

The group of plumbers and one electrician found good fishing prior to the eclipse's full arrival in the early afternoon hours, but things seemed to pick up on their charter trip as the moon covered up the sun.

In fact, the reporter wrote that as light levels decreased within about five minutes of totality arriving, multiple rods doubled over as walleye began to hit with increasing frequency.

All in all, with a total solar eclipse gracing the heavens above and 26 walleye in the cooler below, it was the fishing trip opportunity of a lifetime, or so it seemed.

"It's something none of us here — except for the youngster, about 20 — are never going to see again, you know?" said the fishing charter boat's skipper, Capt. Gary Carpenter, in the TV news report. "Very exciting. Very exciting."

If that’s some of the fishing action that seemed to benefit from the total solar eclipse, what about the lucky turkey hunters who had open seasons and turkey tags in Texas and southern Illinois, the two spots with legal turkey hunting options as the eclipse arrived?

For one Tennessee turkey hunter, the experience was heavenly indeed as Mark Moore traveled from his Volunteer State home to the Lone Star State, bagging a big Texas Rio Grande gobbler sometime in the moments leading up to the total solar eclipse as it pushed across the Kerrville, Texas spot where he was hunting.

“Turkey hunting during the eclipse!,” he posted on his Facebook page, also posting a photo of himself on the ground hoisting up the big gobbler as the eclipse shown through the mix of clouds and sunshine above. Yeah, that photo belongs in a frame for sure.

In southern Illinois, spring turkey hunter Dylan Rogers shared on his Instagram page a photo and a video of himself sitting on top of a piece of oil field equipment with a freshly harvested Land of Lincoln opening day gobbler, along with words that read: “What a great opening day full of screaming longbeards a solar eclipse and being with friends and family!”

In New York, it wasn’t turkey hunting season quite yet when the total solar eclipse arrived last week, but that didn’t stop the turkey hunting fanatics with Backwoodz Assassinz to post on their Facebook page how the eclipse had the local turkeys all messed up in the middle of the day . Plus, they had the video to prove it!

"These birds were right next to the road when the eclipse was starting and flew right up into the closest trees as it got dark, then did (their) morning routine when it got back light out again!," indicated the social media post. "As a turkey hunting fanatic this was probably one of the coolest ways I could have witnessed the eclipse."

There's little doubt about that. Because whether you were lucky enough to have an open turkey hunting season in your backyard as the Great American Eclipse arrived last week, or if you had a fishing line getting wet in the water somewhere on the afternoon of April 8, 2024, the Great American Eclipse astronomical show was the heavenly experience of a lifetime for many outdoors enthusiasts.

In more ways than one, as it turned out.