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Sea Sound of Hoxa (Orkney Islands) — a spot well known among anglers. About 12.7 km² in area. The town of Kirkwall is nearby. A coastal water: the bite here is modelled for the sea, not for a river or a lake. A smart bite calendar — moon phase, atmospheric pressure, and weather combined into an hourly fish-activity forecast for the coming days.
Nearest towns and cities
Other nearby waters
The basin is close to regular: the bank runs smooth and natural cover is scarce, so fish hold to the few anomalies — inflows, drop-offs and weed edges. Larger than 15 of the 16 waters nearby.
The longest fetch is 4 mi along the north-east — south-west axis: wind along it builds a wave on the open water and pushes silt and food towards the lee bank.
Orkney Islands: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic mackerel | slow | slow | fair | active | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Ballan wrasse | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Conger eel | fair | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| European sea bass | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Pollack | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Thornback ray | fair | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Atlantic cod | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak |
| Atlantic salmon | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | active | slow | slow |
| European eel | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Flounder | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Grey mullet | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Plaice | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | slow |
| Whiting | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak |
| Brown trout | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow |
Saturday, October 24
Look for structure — reefs, flats, channel edges; work them slowly near the bottom. The water's cold — fish it more delicately and slowly.
Sound of Hoxa — Saturday, October 24
The bite is strong — fish are active. A thunderstorm is possible: activity rises before the front and drops after. Peak 08:00–09:00.
The computed water temperature is around 10 °C — inside the 4–12 °C comfort range for Atlantic cod, so baseline activity is high.
Atlantic cod works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is dropping 51 hPa over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an active season for Atlantic cod here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
| 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.8 m | -1.3 m | -1.5 m | -1.6 m | -1.3 m | -0.8 m | -0.3 m | 0.1 m | 0.4 m | 0.6 m | 0.6 m | 0.2 m | -0.4 m | -0.8 m | -1.0 m | -1.1 m | -0.8 m | -0.4 m | 0.2 m | 0.7 m | 1.0 m | 1.1 m | 1.1 m | 0.7 m |
Open-Meteo tide model, grid point 2.5 mi away
Open-Meteo Marine model, grid cell 2.5 mi from the waterbody. Values are daily means.
Cloudy · feels like +3°
The day is 5 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldquiet, Kp 2
Kp index — NOAA data. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Look for structure — reefs, flats, channel edges; work them slowly near the bottom. The water's cold — fish it more delicately and slowly.
Sound of Hoxa — Saturday, October 24
The bite is strong — fish are active. A thunderstorm is possible: activity rises before the front and drops after. Peak 08:00–09:00.