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Fishing report

25 Reservoir Yellow Perch Fishing Report

Babcock, WI

Illustration of a yellow perch (Perca flavescens)

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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Sep 4, 2026 at 9:06 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

25 Reservoir has no state survey naming Yellow Perch. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

Overall rating

Yellow Perch at 25 Reservoir — 2026-09-04

Fair · 58/100

Best window: 7 PM (Good · 71/100)

Season
Summer
Moon
47% illuminated, waningLast Quarter
Est. surface temp
85.9°F
Pressure
29.93 inHgRising

Est. water temp

85.9°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Above Yellow Perch's 72-76°F range

Air vs. last week

8°F warmer

71°F now vs 63°F this time last week

Measured air temperature at the nearest weather station — not water

Sun & moon

Sunrise
6:27 AM
Sunset
7:31 PM
Moonrise
11:32 PM
Moonset
3:20 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 7 PM
Cloud cover
26%
Precip chance
10%
Wind
3 mph N
Pressure
29.93 inHg Rising

Species context

Why this score

Fair (58/100) for Yellow Perch: water is estimated at 85.9°F, above Yellow Perch's 72-76°F optimal range. Best window: Dusk — boosts feeding activity by about 30%, one of their peak feeding windows. That hour also overlaps a major solunar period. 29.93 inHg and rising pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Calm (0-5 mph) wind modeled about 10% below this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 7 PM score

Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 85.9°F estimated, about 26.4 points below its best.

  • Water temperature · hurting
  • Light window · helping
  • Solunar period · helping
  • Barometric pressure · helping
  • Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this
  1. Water temperature: 85.9°F estimated

    13.6 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 72-76°F

    Well supportedWater temperature governs a cold-blooded fish's metabolism, so it is the largest term in the model (Christie & Regier 1988). The figure is a thermal-lag estimate built from forecast air temperature and the time of year — not a sensor reading, and not this lake's actual measured water.

  2. Light window: Dusk

    25 of 25 pts

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%

    Well supportedLow-light feeding windows are the strongest timing signal inside a single day. How much each window is worth is this species' own cited response, sourced in its model file, not a generic curve.

  3. Solunar period: Major period

    15 of 15 pts

    Not supported by testingPeer-reviewed testing of North American freshwater fisheries found no significant relationship between solunar values, lunar phase or lunar illumination and catch rates (SN Applied Sciences, 2023) — air temperature predicted catch better than any solunar table tested. It is shown because anglers expect it, and it is shown separately so you can discount it. Its weight is under owner review.

  4. Barometric pressure: Rising

    10 of 10 pts

    Modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline

    ContestedThe barometric effect is real to most anglers but small and contested in the literature — several of the species studies cited in this model report null results — so it carries one of the smallest weights here.

  5. Wind: Calm (0-5 mph)

    7.8 of 10 pts

    Modeled about 10% below this fish's baseline

    Moderately supportedWind stacks forage on windward structure, but both the size and the direction of the effect depend on the species and the water, so it carries a modest weight.

Then the whole score is scaled

Season: Summer — ×1.00 (100% of the ungated score)

How catchable Yellow Perch are at this point in the year. This scales the whole score rather than competing with the factors above — a fish that is dormant this time of year cannot score well no matter how good the hour looks.

Weather front: No clear front — ×1.00 (100% of the ungated score)

A multi-hour frontal pattern read from the day's forecast trajectory. No front is classified today, so this changes nothing and the single-reading pressure factor above does its normal job.

Those five factors add up to 71.4 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 71. The weights are v1 tuning constants under owner review — they are shown here rather than hidden so you can weigh them against your own judgement.

What this score does not know

  • Water clarity. We have no source for it and do not estimate it.
  • Measured water temperature. The figure in the breakdown is a model over forecast air temperature, not a reading from a buoy or a probe.
  • Baitfish and forage activity.
  • How much fishing pressure this water has had.
  • Where the fish actually are. Depth bands are the species' published seasonal ranges, not an observation of this lake.
  • What anyone actually caught. No catch reports feed this score.

Conditions read from the National Weather Service as of Sep 4, 2026 at 9:06 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently summer. Yellow Perch typically hold 10-25 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 85.9°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

10-25 ft

This is the seasonal depth band from the species model — relative to this species' typical behavior, not this lake's actual structure. True depth relative to this lake's bottom contours needs lake bathymetry (tracked in issue #175).

Today's solunar periods

  • Major: 5:55 AM7:55 AM
  • Minor: 2:50 PM3:50 PM
  • Major: 6:26 PM8:26 PM
  • Minor: 11:02 PM12:02 AM

Best times

When do yellow perch feed during the day?

Yellow Perch feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 30% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  • Dawn1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Daytime1.00x

    Has no measurable effect on feeding activity.

  • Dusk1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Night0.40x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 60%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
9 AM
57
FairDay6 mph S
10 AM
57
FairDay6 mph SSW
11 AM
57
FairDay6 mph SSW
12 PM
57
FairDay6 mph SW
1 PM
57
FairDay7 mph WSW
2 PM
62
GoodDay7 mph WSW
3 PM
62
GoodDay7 mph W
4 PM
57
FairDay7 mph W
5 PM
57
FairDay7 mph W
6 PM
68
GoodDay7 mph WNW
7 PM
71
GoodDusk3 mph N
8 PM
71
GoodDusk3 mph N
9 PM
44
FairNight3 mph NNE
10 PM
44
FairNight3 mph NNE
11 PM
48
FairNight3 mph NE

Where to find Yellow Perch right now

Typical Summer depth: 10-25 ft

Yellow Perch feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 30% above the daily average across all four light windows.

No depth survey or measurement is on record for 25 Reservoir, so these bands are the species' published seasonal ranges rather than a reading of this water.

Plan a Yellow Perch trip to 25 Reservoir

Change the date, compare species, or check the week ahead in the live tool.

Other species on record at 25 Reservoir

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Yellow Perch in 25 Reservoir?

25 Reservoir has no state survey naming Yellow Perch. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

When do Yellow Perch bite at 25 Reservoir?

Yellow Perch feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 30% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for 25 Reservoir, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Yellow Perch at 25 Reservoir?

Typical Yellow Perch depth by season: Pre-Spawn 3-8 ft, Spawn 1-5 ft, Post-Spawn 5-12 ft, Summer 10-25 ft, Fall 15-30 ft, Winter 25-50 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of 25 Reservoir itself.