How the Smart Bite Score Works

The Smart Bite Score is a quick read on how favorable current conditions look, built from tide, solunar, moon, and weather data. It's a heuristic starting point for planning a trip — not a scientific guarantee of anything biting.

What it measures

Fish activity is influenced by many things at once. Rather than making you check four separate data sources, Simple Tides combines them into a single score and a short-label summary (for example, Slow, Fair, Good, or Excellent) so you can judge conditions at a glance, with the underlying reasons listed right below it.

The inputs behind the score

Tide stage and movement — from the tide chart for your selected station. Periods of stronger water movement, and the runs into and out of high or low tide, are generally weighted as more active.
Solunar activity — major and minor periods tied to the moon's position, explained in our solunar theory guide.
Moon phase and illumination — from FarmSense lunar data, which also feeds solunar timing.
Weather conditions — general conditions and air temperature from the National Weather Service or Open-Meteo.

Reading the rationale

Underneath the score, Simple Tides lists the specific reasons behind that trip's rating — for example, that you're near a tide change, inside a solunar major period, or under a nearly full moon. Use those bullet points to understand why the score is what it is, not just the number itself.

Limitations, honestly

Solunar theory has strong anecdotal support among anglers and hunters but mixed formal scientific validation, and every species and body of water behaves a little differently. Treat the Smart Bite Score as one more input alongside local knowledge, species behavior, and water clarity — not a substitute for them.