Bitespan

Fishing report

Lake of the Pines Muskellunge Fishing Report

Winter, WI

Illustration of a muskellunge (Esox masquinongy)

Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Aug 8, 2026 at 3:53 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 Lake of the Pines.

Max depth

39 ft

Deepest measurement on record

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

Overall rating

Muskellunge at Lake of the Pines — 2026-08-08

Good · 63/100

Best window: 8 PM (Good · 79/100)

Season
Summer
Moon
25% illuminated, waningWaning Crescent
Est. surface temp
67.4°F
Pressure
29.99 inHgStable

Est. water temp

67.4°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Muskellunge's 75-80°F range

Sun & moon

Sunrise
5:54 AM
Sunset
8:21 PM
Moonrise
12:35 AM
Moonset
5:39 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 8 PM
Cloud cover
4%
Precip chance
0%
Wind
5 mph SW
Pressure
29.99 inHg Stable

Species context

Why this score

Good (63/100) for Muskellunge: water is estimated at 67.4°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. 29.99 inHg and stable pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Light (5-10 mph) wind modeled about 10% below this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 8 PM score

Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 67.4°F estimated, about 20.3 points below its best.

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

  1. Water temperature: 67.4°F estimated

    19.7 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: Light (5-10 mph)

    9 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 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 78.7 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 79. 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 3:53 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently summer. Muskellunge typically hold 6-20 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 67.4°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

6-20 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: 12:05 AM–1:05 AM
  • Major: 8:05 AM–10:05 AM
  • Minor: 5:09 PM–6:09 PM
  • Major: 8:38 PM–10:38 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
3 AM
54
FairNight0 mph
4 AM
54
FairNight0 mph
5 AM
54
FairNight0 mph
6 AM
59
FairDawn0 mph
7 AM
62
GoodDay0 mph
8 AM
72
GoodDay5 mph W
9 AM
72
GoodDay5 mph W
10 AM
72
GoodDay5 mph W
11 AM
61
GoodDay5 mph W
12 PM
61
GoodDay5 mph W
1 PM
61
GoodDay5 mph W
2 PM
61
GoodDay5 mph W
3 PM
61
GoodDay5 mph W
4 PM
61
GoodDay5 mph W
5 PM
66
GoodDay5 mph W
6 PM
66
GoodDay5 mph W
7 PM
61
GoodDay5 mph SW
8 PM
79
GoodDusk5 mph SW
9 PM
79
GoodDusk5 mph SW
10 PM
63
GoodNight5 mph S
11 PM
53
FairNight5 mph S

Where to find Muskellunge right now

Typical Summer depth: 6-20 ft

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

Lake of the Pines's deepest measurement on record is 39 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 Lake of the Pines

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

Open the live forecast →

Other species on record at Lake of the Pines

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Muskellunge in Lake of the Pines?

A state fisheries survey records Muskellunge in Lake of the Pines.

When do Muskellunge bite at Lake of the Pines?

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 Lake of the Pines, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Muskellunge at Lake of the Pines?

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 Lake of the Pines itself.