Bitespan

Fishing report

Nell Lake Yellow Perch Fishing Report

Mercer, WI

Illustration of a yellow perch (Perca flavescens)

Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Aug 8, 2026 at 3:37 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

The state's records for Nell Lake name the category Yellow Perch belongs to rather than the individual species, so its presence is derived from that category, not from a species-level survey.

Overall rating

Yellow Perch at Nell Lake — 2026-08-08

Good · 71/100

Best window: 8 PM (Excellent · 84/100)

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
66.8°F
Pressure
—Unknown

Est. water temp

66.8°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Yellow Perch's 72-76°F range

Sun & moon

Sunrise
5:49 AM
Sunset
8:19 PM
Moonrise
12:29 AM
Moonset
5:38 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 8 PM
Cloud cover
29%
Precip chance
1%
Wind
2 mph SW
Pressure
— Unknown

Species context

Why this score

Good (71/100) for Yellow Perch: water is estimated at 66.8°F, below Yellow Perch's 72-76°F optimal range. Best window: Dusk — boosts feeding activity by about 30%, 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 about 10% below this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 8 PM score

Water temperature (66.8°F estimated) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 66.8°F estimated, about 13.9 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: 66.8°F estimated

    26.1 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 72-76°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 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

    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)

    7.8 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 Yellow Perch 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 84 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 84. 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 3:37 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently summer. Yellow Perch typically hold 10-25 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 66.8°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

10-25 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

  • Minor: 11:59 PM–12:59 AM
  • Major: 8:02 AM–10:02 AM
  • Minor: 5:08 PM–6:08 PM
  • Major: 8:34 PM–10:34 PM

Best times

When do yellow perch feed during the day?

Yellow Perch feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 30% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  • Dawn1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Daytime1.00x

    Has no measurable effect on feeding activity.

  • Dusk1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Night0.40x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 60%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
3 AM
56
FairNight3 mph WNW
4 AM
56
FairNight3 mph WNW
5 AM
56
FairNight3 mph WNW
6 AM
73
GoodDawn3 mph WNW
7 AM
70
GoodDay5 mph WNW
8 AM
80
ExcellentDay5 mph WNW
9 AM
80
ExcellentDay6 mph WNW
10 AM
80
ExcellentDay7 mph WNW
11 AM
70
GoodDay8 mph WNW
12 PM
70
GoodDay9 mph WNW
1 PM
70
GoodDay9 mph WNW
2 PM
70
GoodDay9 mph WNW
3 PM
70
GoodDay9 mph WNW
4 PM
70
GoodDay9 mph W
5 PM
74
GoodDay8 mph W
6 PM
74
GoodDay6 mph W
7 PM
68
GoodDay3 mph WSW
8 PM
84
ExcellentDusk2 mph SW
9 PM
84
ExcellentDusk3 mph SSW
10 PM
69
GoodNight5 mph SSW
11 PM
58
FairNight5 mph SSW

Where to find Yellow Perch right now

Typical Summer depth: 10-25 ft

Yellow Perch feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 30% above the daily average across all four light windows.

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

Plan a Yellow Perch trip to Nell Lake

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

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Other species on record at Nell Lake

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Yellow Perch in Nell Lake?

The state's records for Nell Lake name the category Yellow Perch belongs to rather than the individual species, so its presence is derived from that category, not from a species-level survey.

When do Yellow Perch bite at Nell Lake?

Yellow Perch feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 30% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Nell Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Yellow Perch at Nell Lake?

Typical Yellow Perch depth by season: Pre-Spawn 3-8 ft, Spawn 1-5 ft, Post-Spawn 5-12 ft, Summer 10-25 ft, Fall 15-30 ft, Winter 25-50 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Nell Lake itself.