Fishing report
Emmons Lake Black Crappie Fishing Report
Chain O' Lakes, WI
Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Aug 8, 2026 at 3:50 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.
The state's records for Emmons Lake name the category Black Crappie belongs to rather than the individual species, so its presence is derived from that category, not from a species-level survey.
Overall rating
Black Crappie at Emmons Lake — 2026-08-08
Excellent · 84/100Best window: 8 PM (Excellent · 97/100)
- Season
- Summer
- Moon
- 25% illuminated, waningWaning Crescent
- Est. surface temp
- 73.3°F
- Pressure
- 29.97 inHgStable
Est. water temp
73.3°F
v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading
In Black Crappie's 72-77°F range
Sun & moon
- Sunrise
- 5:52 AM
- Sunset
- 8:11 PM
- Moonrise
- 12:36 AM
- Moonset
- 5:25 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 8 PM
- Cloud cover
- 12%
- Precip chance
- 0%
- Wind
- 1 mph WSW
- Pressure
- 29.97 inHg Stable
Species context
Why this score
Excellent (84/100) for Black Crappie: water is estimated at 73.3°F, inside Black Crappie's 72-77°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. 29.97 inHg and stable pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Calm (0-5 mph) wind modeled about 15% below this fish's baseline.
What's driving the 8 PM score
Water temperature (73.3°F estimated) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on wind — calm (0-5 mph), about 2.9 points below its best.
- Water temperature · helping
- Light window · helping
- Solunar period · helping
- Barometric pressure · helping
- Wind · neutral
Show the numbers behind this
Water temperature: 73.3°F estimated
40 of 40 pts
Optimal range 72-77°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.
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.
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.
Barometric pressure: Stable
9.4 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.
Wind: Calm (0-5 mph)
7.1 of 10 pts
Modeled about 15% 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 Black Crappie 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 96.5 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 97. 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 Aug 8, 2026 at 3:50 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.
When best caught
It's currently summer. Black Crappie typically hold 10-20 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 73.3°F, this looks like a strong time of year to target them.
Current depth
10-20 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
- Minor: 12:06 AM–1:06 AM
- Major: 7:59 AM–9:59 AM
- Minor: 4:55 PM–5:55 PM
- Major: 8:31 PM–10:31 PM
Best times
When do black crappie feed during the day?
Black Crappie feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows.
- Dawn1.30x
Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.
- Daytime0.70x
Suppresses feeding activity by about 30%.
- Dusk1.30x
Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.
- Night1.20x
Boosts feeding activity by about 20%.
Hour by hour
Hourly bite forecast
| Hour | Bite score | Rating | Light | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 AM | 87 | Excellent | Night | 5 mph WNW |
| 4 AM | 87 | Excellent | Night | 5 mph NW |
| 5 AM | 87 | Excellent | Night | 5 mph NW |
| 6 AM | 89 | Excellent | Dawn | 5 mph NW |
| 7 AM | 87 | Excellent | Day | 5 mph NW |
| 8 AM | 87 | Excellent | Day | 5 mph NW |
| 9 AM | 87 | Excellent | Day | 6 mph NW |
| 10 AM | 77 | Good | Day | 6 mph NW |
| 11 AM | 77 | Good | Day | 7 mph NW |
| 12 PM | 77 | Good | Day | 8 mph NW |
| 1 PM | 77 | Good | Day | 8 mph WNW |
| 2 PM | 77 | Good | Day | 8 mph WNW |
| 3 PM | 77 | Good | Day | 8 mph WNW |
| 4 PM | 81 | Excellent | Day | 7 mph WNW |
| 5 PM | 81 | Excellent | Day | 6 mph WNW |
| 6 PM | 77 | Good | Day | 5 mph W |
| 7 PM | 74 | Good | Day | 2 mph W |
| 8 PM | 97 | Excellent | Dusk | 1 mph WSW |
| 9 PM | 95 | Excellent | Night | 1 mph WSW |
| 10 PM | 95 | Excellent | Night | 1 mph SW |
| 11 PM | 84 | Excellent | Night | 2 mph SW |
Where to find Black Crappie right now
Typical Summer depth: 10-20 ft
Black Crappie feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows.
No depth survey or measurement is on record for Emmons Lake, so these bands are the species' published seasonal ranges rather than a reading of this water.
Plan a Black Crappie trip to Emmons Lake
Change the date, compare species, or check the week ahead in the live tool.
Other species on record at Emmons Lake
FAQ
Common questions
Are there Black Crappie in Emmons Lake?
The state's records for Emmons Lake name the category Black Crappie belongs to rather than the individual species, so its presence is derived from that category, not from a species-level survey.
When do Black Crappie bite at Emmons Lake?
Black Crappie feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Emmons Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.
How deep should you fish for Black Crappie at Emmons Lake?
Typical Black Crappie depth by season: Pre-Spawn 3-10 ft, Spawn 1-8 ft, Post-Spawn 8-15 ft, Summer 10-20 ft, Fall 0-10 ft, Winter 20-40 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Emmons Lake itself.