Fishing report
Lake Ripley Walleye Fishing Report
Lake Ripley, WI
Overall rating
Walleye at Lake Ripley — 2026-11-11
Fair · 57/100Best window: 12 PM (Good · 62/100)
- Season
- Fall
- Moon
- 4% illuminated, waxingNew Moon
- Est. surface temp
- 52.3°F
- Pressure
- 29.99 inHgFalling
Est. water temp
52.3°F
v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading
Below Walleye's 65-75°F range
Sun & moon
- Sunrise
- 6:43 AM
- Sunset
- 4:36 PM
- Moonrise
- 9:23 AM
- Moonset
- 5:47 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 12 PM
- Cloud cover
- 100%
- Precip chance
- 35%
- Wind
- 10 mph NE
- Pressure
- 29.99 inHg Falling
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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Nov 11, 2026 at 12:18 AM CST, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.
A state fisheries survey records Walleye in Lake Ripley.
Max depth
44 ft
Deepest measurement on record
Mean depth: 18 ft
Max depth: Stachelek et al. (2021), LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, Environmental Data Initiative (CC BY 4.0)
Species context
Why this score
Fair (57/100) for Walleye: water is estimated at 52.3°F, below Walleye's 65-75°F optimal range. Best window: Dusk — boosts feeding activity by about 40%, one of their peak feeding windows. That hour also overlaps a major solunar period. 29.99 inHg and falling pressure modeled about 5% above this fish's baseline. Moderate (10-20 mph) wind modeled about 20% above this fish's baseline.
What's driving the 12 PM score
Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 52.3°F estimated, about 38.1 points below its best.
- Water temperature · hurting
- Light window · helping
- Solunar period · helping
- Barometric pressure · helping
- Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this
Water temperature: 52.3°F estimated
6.9 of 45 pts
Optimal range 65-75°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
30 of 30 pts
Boosts feeding activity by about 40%
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
5 of 5 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. We reviewed this evidence and cut its weight accordingly.
Barometric pressure: Falling
10 of 10 pts
Modeled about 5% above 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: Moderate (10-20 mph)
10 of 10 pts
Modeled about 20% above 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 Walleye 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 5 factors add up to 61.9 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 62. The weights are tuning constants — solunar's was cut after peer-reviewed testing found no predictive effect, and the others are adjusted as we validate them — 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 Nov 11, 2026 at 12:18 AM CST. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.
When best caught
It's currently fall. Walleye typically hold 20-55 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 52.3°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.
Current depth
20-55 ft
This is the seasonal depth band from the species model, based on this species' typical behavior, not this lake's actual structure.
Today's solunar periods
- Major: 12:10 AM–2:10 AM
- Minor: 8:53 AM–9:53 AM
- Major: 12:36 PM–2:36 PM
- Minor: 5:17 PM–6:17 PM
Best times
When do walleye feed during the day?
Walleye feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 19% above the daily average across all four light windows.
- Dawn1.40x
Boosts feeding activity by about 40%.
- Daytime0.60x
Suppresses feeding activity by about 40%.
- Dusk1.40x
Boosts feeding activity by about 40%.
- Night1.30x
Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.
Hour by hour
Hourly bite forecast
| Hour | Bite score | Rating | Light | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 AM | 57 | Fair | Night | 0 mph |
| 1 AM | 57 | Fair | Night | 0 mph |
| 2 AM | 57 | Fair | Night | 0 mph |
| 3 AM | 53 | Fair | Night | 0 mph |
| 4 AM | 53 | Fair | Night | 0 mph |
| 5 AM | 53 | Fair | Night | 0 mph |
| 6 AM | 55 | Fair | Dawn | 0 mph |
| 7 AM | 55 | Fair | Dawn | 0 mph |
| 8 AM | 59 | Fair | Dusk | 5 mph NE |
| 9 AM | 59 | Fair | Dusk | 5 mph NE |
| 10 AM | 58 | Fair | Dusk | 5 mph NE |
| 11 AM | 58 | Fair | Dusk | 10 mph NE |
| 12 PM | 62 | Good | Dusk | 10 mph NE |
| 1 PM | 62 | Good | Dusk | 10 mph NE |
| 2 PM | 61 | Good | Dusk | 5 mph NE |
| 3 PM | 58 | Fair | Dusk | 5 mph N |
| 4 PM | 58 | Fair | Dusk | 5 mph N |
| 5 PM | 59 | Fair | Dusk | 5 mph N |
| 6 PM | 57 | Fair | Night | 5 mph N |
| 7 PM | 56 | Fair | Night | 5 mph N |
| 8 PM | 56 | Fair | Night | 5 mph N |
| 9 PM | 56 | Fair | Night | 5 mph N |
| 10 PM | 56 | Fair | Night | 10 mph N |
| 11 PM | 56 | Fair | Night | 10 mph N |
Where to find Walleye right now
Typical Fall depth: 20-55 ft
Walleye feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 19% above the daily average across all four light windows.
Lake Ripley's deepest measurement on record is 44 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.
Best depth zones for Walleye today
We have no surveyed depth contours for Lake Ripley, so we are not ranking depth zones rather than guessing.
Plan a Walleye trip to Lake Ripley
Change the date, compare species, or check the week ahead in the live tool.
Other species on record at Lake Ripley
FAQ
Common questions
Are there Walleye in Lake Ripley?
A state fisheries survey records Walleye in Lake Ripley.
When do Walleye bite at Lake Ripley?
Walleye feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 19% 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 Ripley, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.
How deep should you fish for Walleye at Lake Ripley?
Typical Walleye depth by season: Pre-Spawn 8-15 ft, Spawn 1-6 ft, Post-Spawn 8-15 ft, Summer 20-40 ft, Fall 20-55 ft, Winter 10-40 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Lake Ripley itself.