Bitespan

Fishing report

Mill Lake Muskellunge Fishing Report

Eagle River, WI

Illustration of a muskellunge (Esox masquinongy)

Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Aug 8, 2026 at 3:41 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

Mill Lake has no state survey naming Muskellunge. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

Overall rating

Muskellunge at Mill Lake — 2026-08-08

Fair · 58/100

Best window: 8 PM (Good · 75/100)

Some conditions data (cloud cover or barometric pressure) was unavailable from the weather service for this day — the rating above reflects only what was available.

Season
Summer
Moon
25% illuminated, waningWaning Crescent
Est. surface temp
65.6°F
Pressure
—Unknown

Est. water temp

65.6°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Muskellunge's 75-80°F range

Sun & moon

Sunrise
5:47 AM
Sunset
8:16 PM
Moonrise
12:27 AM
Moonset
5:35 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 8 PM
Cloud cover
28%
Precip chance
1%
Wind
1 mph SW
Pressure
— Unknown

Species context

Why this score

Fair (58/100) for Muskellunge: water is estimated at 65.6°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. 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 8 PM score

Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 65.6°F estimated, about 25.1 points below its best.

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

  1. Water temperature: 65.6°F estimated

    14.9 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: 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 74.9 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 75. 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 3:41 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 65.6°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: 11:57 PM–12:57 AM
  • Major: 7:59 AM–9:59 AM
  • Minor: 5:05 PM–6:05 PM
  • Major: 8:32 PM–10:32 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
2 AM
49
FairNight2 mph NW
3 AM
49
FairNight2 mph NW
4 AM
49
FairNight3 mph NW
5 AM
49
FairNight2 mph WNW
6 AM
54
FairDawn3 mph WNW
7 AM
68
GoodDay3 mph WNW
8 AM
68
GoodDay3 mph WNW
9 AM
67
GoodDay5 mph WNW
10 AM
56
FairDay6 mph WNW
11 AM
56
FairDay7 mph WNW
12 PM
56
FairDay8 mph WNW
1 PM
56
FairDay8 mph WNW
2 PM
56
FairDay7 mph WNW
3 PM
56
FairDay7 mph WNW
4 PM
56
FairDay7 mph WNW
5 PM
61
GoodDay6 mph W
6 PM
62
GoodDay3 mph W
7 PM
57
FairDay2 mph W
8 PM
75
GoodDusk1 mph SW
9 PM
75
GoodDusk1 mph SW
10 PM
59
FairNight2 mph SW
11 PM
49
FairNight2 mph SSW

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.

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

Plan a Muskellunge trip to Mill Lake

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

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Other species on record at Mill Lake

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Muskellunge in Mill Lake?

Mill Lake has no state survey naming Muskellunge. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

When do Muskellunge bite at Mill Lake?

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

How deep should you fish for Muskellunge at Mill Lake?

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 Mill Lake itself.