Occur when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot. These are the strongest feeding times of the day.
Minor Periods (1-2 hours)
Occur during moonrise and moonset. Secondary feeding windows that still offer good activity.
May 2026 Fishing Calendar
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1🌕B
2🌕B+
3🌖B
4🌖B
5🌖B
6🌖C+
7🌖C+
8🌗C+
9🌗C+
10🌗C+
11🌘C+
12🌘B
13🌘B
14🌘B
15🌑B
16🌑B
17🌑B
18🌒B
19🌒B
20🌒B
21🌒C+
22🌓C+
23🌓C+
24🌓C+
25🌔C+
26🌔C+
27🌔B
28🌔B
29🌕B+
30🌕B
31🌕B+
Best (A/A+)
Good (B/B+)
Fair (C/C+)
Poor (D/F)
Top 5 day
Grades rate solunar timing and moon phase for the whole US. Water temperature moves a fishing day more than the moon does and depends on where you fish.
Get the full A+ to F grade for your water at bestdaystofish.com
Spring Fishing Tips
Spring brings warming waters and pre-spawn activity. Fish move shallow to feed heavily. Focus on warming flats, creek channels, and areas with early vegetation. Morning bite improves as water temperatures rise.
Best Fishing Days in May 2026
The top-rated fishing days in May 2026 are May 31, May 2, May 29, May 1, May 16, ranked by solunar activity, moon phase, and the strength of each day's major and minor feeding periods. Those are the factors a national calendar can actually know. Water temperature moves a fishing grade far more than the moon does, and it depends entirely on where you fish, so enter your location for a full grade that adds water temperature, weather, and barometric pressure.
May is the peak of the spawn for most warmwater species, which is both the opportunity and the complication. Fish are shallow and visible, but fish on beds are focused on defending them rather than feeding, so the best action often comes from those that have finished and from the pre-spawn stragglers in slightly deeper water. Northern waters run several weeks behind southern ones, so the same date can mean different things.
Want it on the boat or the fridge? This page doubles as a free printable fishing calendar for May 2026. Use the Print or Save as PDF button at the top and your browser produces a clean one-page PDF of the whole month, grades and moon phases included.