When the nights are dark enough for lamparo — the next two weeks of the moon over Tyre, read for the lamp-and-net blue-fish catch. The moon and the dark hours, not a promise of a catch.
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From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/tyre-south-lebanon-lb/good-fishing-nights
(2 months ago)
Dark — good
Waxing crescent · 6% lit
Tonight · Waxing crescent · 6% lit
Dark nights — good for lamp fishing.
Darkest nights ahead: around Wed 14 Oct.
Tonight’s dark window
12½h
Dark window
12½h of dark
6% lit
Tonight
Waxing crescent
Sunset
18:11
Sunrise
6:42
Moonrise
8:26
Moonset
19:00
The nights ahead
How dark each of the coming nights is for lamp fishing. The dark window is the hours after sunset with no bright moon in the sky — when the lamp’s pull is strongest.
Mon 12 Oct · Waxing crescent · 6% lit12½h of darkDark — good
Tue 13 Oct · Waxing crescent · 11% lit12½h of darkDark — good
Wed 14 Oct · Waxing crescent · 18% lit12½h of darkDark — good
Thu 15 Oct · Waxing crescent · 26% lit9½h of darkDark — good
Why the moon matters here
Lamparo fishing works by light: a lamp over the water pulls the sardine and mackerel up toward the boat and the net. The lamp only wins when it is the brightest thing on the sea, so the dark-of-the-moon nights are the working nights, and the week around the full moon — when the whole sea is lit — is the traditional slow time. This is the rhythm Tyre's crews already read; it just puts the next two weeks of it on one screen.
sardine and mackerel — the samak azraq, the “blue fish” · the lamparo, a lamp boat that draws the blue fish up to its light, worked May to October
The lamparo season runs May to October
Fishing by lamplight — lamparo — is a summer method in the Levant, worked roughly from May through October and aimed at the blue fish, the sardine and mackerel that shoal near the surface in the warm months. Outside that window the lamp boats mostly rest and crews turn to nets and lines, for which the moon matters less. This page grades the nights for the lamp; treat it as most useful in the lamparo season.
A dark sky is only one of the things that make a night's fishing. The shoals move, the water changes, and some of the best-looking nights come up empty. The grading here is the moon and the dark hours — read it as when the lamp has the best chance of working, never as a guarantee of a catch.
When the moon is up, the nets come out
The full-moon week is the quiet stretch for the lamp, but it is not lost time — many crews switch to trammel and gill nets, or use the bright nights for gear repair and rest, then go back to the lamp as the moon thins. If you fish with nets rather than a lamp, the moon matters far less and this page will be less useful to you.
This is the moon, not a promise of a catch
This page shows the moon and the dark hours — the pattern fishers read, where dark nights favour the lamp and the full-moon week is the slow one. It does not predict your catch, and a good moon is a good chance, never a guarantee.
The moon says nothing about whether it is safe to go out. Wind, swell and the state of the sea decide that, and a clear dark night can still be a dangerous one. Off Tyre there are also limits on how far out you may go. For the live wave, swell and wind, check the town's “The Sea off Tyre” page — and if in doubt, do not launch.
Moon and sun times are calculated for the waters off Tyre and can be a few minutes out. Times are shown in the local clock.
Fri 16 Oct
· First quarter · 34% lit
9h of darkPart dark
Sat 17 Oct · First quarter · 43% lit8h of darkPart dark
Sun 18 Oct · First quarter · 53% lit7h of darkPart dark
Mon 19 Oct · First quarter · 62% lit6h of darkPart dark
Tue 20 Oct · Waxing gibbous · 71% lit5h of darkPart dark
Wed 21 Oct · Waxing gibbous · 80% lit4h of darkBright — slow
Thu 22 Oct · Waxing gibbous · 87% lit3h of darkBright — slow
Fri 23 Oct · Waxing gibbous · 93% lit2h of darkBright — slow
Sat 24 Oct · Full moon · 98% lit1h of darkBright — slow
Sun 25 Oct · Full moon · 100% lit0h of darkBright — slow
The next new moon — the heart of the dark-fishing run — is around Mon 9 Nov.
The next full moon — the bright, slow week — is around Mon 26 Oct.