Bitespan

Fishing report

High Falls Reservoir Muskellunge Fishing Report

Crivitz, WI

Illustration of a muskellunge (Esox masquinongy)

Free — no account, no app

Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Sep 5, 2026 at 12:06 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

A state fisheries survey records Muskellunge in High Falls Reservoir.

Max depth

54 ft

Deepest measurement on record

Mean depth: 12 ft

Max depth: Stachelek et al. (2021), LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, Environmental Data Initiative (CC BY 4.0)

Overall rating

Muskellunge at High Falls Reservoir — 2026-09-05

Good · 74/100

Best window: 7 PM (Excellent · 92/100)

Season
Fall
Moon
40% illuminated, waningLast Quarter
Est. surface temp
71.9°F
Pressure
30.00 inHgStable

Est. water temp

71.9°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Muskellunge's 75-80°F range

Sun & moon

Sunrise
6:19 AM
Sunset
7:22 PM
Moonrise
—
Moonset
4:18 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 7 PM
Cloud cover
16%
Precip chance
0%
Wind
3 mph E
Pressure
30.00 inHg Stable

Species context

Why this score

Good (74/100) for Muskellunge: water is estimated at 71.9°F, below Muskellunge's 75-80°F optimal range. Best window: Dusk — boosts feeding activity by about 31%, one of their peak feeding windows. That hour also overlaps a major solunar period. 30.00 inHg and stable pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Calm (0-5 mph) wind modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 7 PM score

Water temperature (71.9°F estimated) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 71.9°F estimated, about 8.3 points below its best.

  • Water temperature · helping
  • Light window · helping
  • Solunar period · helping
  • Barometric pressure · helping
  • Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this

  1. Water temperature: 71.9°F estimated

    31.7 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 75-80°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 31%

    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: Stable

    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)

    10 of 10 pts

    Modeled flat — no change from 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: Fall — ×1.00 (100% of the ungated score)

How catchable Muskellunge 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 91.7 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 92. 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 5, 2026 at 12:06 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently fall. Muskellunge typically hold 8-25 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 71.9°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

8-25 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: 6:49 AM–8:49 AM
  • Minor: 3:48 PM–4:48 PM
  • Major: 7:21 PM–9:21 PM

Best times

When do muskellunge feed during the day?

Muskellunge feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 50% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  • Dawn0.75x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 25%.

  • Daytime0.94x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 6%.

  • Dusk1.31x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 31%.

  • Night0.50x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 50%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
12 AM
66
GoodNight3 mph NE
1 AM
66
GoodNight3 mph NNE
2 AM
66
GoodNight3 mph NNE
3 AM
66
GoodNight3 mph NNE
4 AM
66
GoodNight3 mph NNE
5 AM
66
GoodNight3 mph NNE
6 AM
81
ExcellentDawn3 mph NNE
7 AM
81
ExcellentDawn3 mph NNE
8 AM
85
ExcellentDay3 mph NNE
9 AM
73
GoodDay5 mph NE
10 AM
73
GoodDay5 mph NE
11 AM
73
GoodDay5 mph NE
12 PM
73
GoodDay5 mph ENE
1 PM
73
GoodDay5 mph ENE
2 PM
73
GoodDay5 mph ENE
3 PM
78
GoodDay5 mph E
4 PM
78
GoodDay5 mph E
5 PM
73
GoodDay5 mph E
6 PM
74
GoodDay3 mph E
7 PM
92
ExcellentDusk3 mph E
8 PM
92
ExcellentDusk1 mph ESE
9 PM
76
GoodNight1 mph ESE
10 PM
66
GoodNight1 mph ENE
11 PM
66
GoodNight1 mph NE

Where to find Muskellunge right now

Typical Fall depth: 8-25 ft

Muskellunge feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 50% above the daily average across all four light windows.

High Falls Reservoir's deepest measurement on record is 54 ft — read the depth bands above against that. It is the deepest point someone actually measured on this water, not a contour survey, so deeper water may exist and there is no depth map to check it against.

Plan a Muskellunge trip to High Falls Reservoir

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

Open the live forecast →

Other species on record at High Falls Reservoir

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Muskellunge in High Falls Reservoir?

A state fisheries survey records Muskellunge in High Falls Reservoir.

When do Muskellunge bite at High Falls Reservoir?

Muskellunge feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 50% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for High Falls Reservoir, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Muskellunge at High Falls Reservoir?

Typical Muskellunge depth by season: Pre-Spawn 2-6 ft, Spawn 0-3 ft, Post-Spawn 4-10 ft, Summer 6-20 ft, Fall 8-25 ft, Winter 8-20 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of High Falls Reservoir itself.