Bitespan

Fishing report

Lake Salem Walleye Fishing Report

Derby Center, VT

Illustration of a walleye (Sander vitreus)

Free — no account, no app

Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Oct 5, 2026 at 1:45 PM EDT, 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 Salem.

Overall rating

Walleye at Lake Salem — 2026-10-05

Fair · 49/100

Best window: 8 PM (Fair · 56/100)

Season
Fall
Moon
26% illuminated, waningWaning Crescent
Est. surface temp
53.2°F
Pressure
29.80 inHgFalling

Est. water temp

53.2°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Walleye's 65-75°F range

Air vs. last week

7°F cooler

55°F now vs 62°F this time last week

Measured air temperature at the nearest weather station — not water

Sun & moon

Sunrise
6:51 AM
Sunset
6:21 PM
Moonrise
12:46 AM
Moonset
4:08 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 8 PM
Cloud cover
84%
Precip chance
5%
Wind
12 mph W
Pressure
29.80 inHg Falling

Species context

Why this score

Fair (49/100) for Walleye: water is estimated at 53.2°F, below Walleye's 65-75°F optimal range. Best window: Night — boosts feeding activity by about 30%. That hour also overlaps a major solunar period. 29.80 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 8 PM score

Light window (night) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 53.2°F estimated, about 35.4 points below its best. The whole day is then scaled to 90% for cold front passing through.

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

  1. Water temperature: 53.2°F estimated

    9.6 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.

  2. Light window: Night

    27.9 of 30 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

    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. The owner reviewed this evidence and demoted its weight accordingly.

  4. Barometric pressure: Stable (held neutral by the front)

    9.5 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: 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: Cold front passing through — ×0.90 (90% of the ungated score)

A multi-hour frontal pattern read from the day's forecast trajectory. Because a front IS a barometric event, it replaces the single-reading pressure factor above, which is held neutral — the barometer is never counted twice.

Those five factors add up to 62 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 56. The weights are tuning constants — solunar's was demoted after peer-reviewed testing found no predictive effect (#456), and the rest remain under owner review — 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 Oct 5, 2026 at 1:45 PM EDT. 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 53.2°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 — 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: 12:16 AM–1:16 AM
  • Major: 7:35 AM–9:35 AM
  • Minor: 3:38 PM–4:38 PM
  • Major: 8:01 PM–10:01 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

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
1 PM
39
PoorDay15 mph W
2 PM
55
FairDusk15 mph W
3 PM
40
FairDay15 mph W
4 PM
40
FairDay14 mph W
5 PM
39
PoorDay14 mph W
6 PM
55
FairDusk14 mph W
7 PM
55
FairDusk13 mph W
8 PM
56
FairNight12 mph W
9 PM
56
FairNight13 mph W
10 PM
56
FairNight13 mph W
11 PM
53
FairNight13 mph W

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.

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

Plan a Walleye trip to Lake Salem

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

Open the live forecast →

Other species on record at Lake Salem

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Walleye in Lake Salem?

A state fisheries survey records Walleye in Lake Salem.

When do Walleye bite at Lake Salem?

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 Salem, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Walleye at Lake Salem?

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 Salem itself.