Bitespan

Fishing report

Oconomowoc Lake 87 Northern Pike Fishing Report

Oconomowoc Lake, WI

Illustration of a northern pike (Esox lucius)

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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Aug 30, 2026 at 2:38 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

Oconomowoc Lake 87 has no state survey naming Northern Pike. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

Max depth

62 ft

Deepest measurement on record

Mean depth: 32 ft

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

Overall rating

Northern Pike at Oconomowoc Lake 87 — 2026-08-30

Fair · 56/100

Best window: 1 PM (Good · 65/100)

Season
Summer
Moon
95% illuminated, waningWaning Gibbous
Est. surface temp
79.9°F
Pressure
29.96 inHgFalling

Est. water temp

79.9°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Above Northern Pike's 60-68°F range

Air vs. last week

9°F warmer

70°F now vs 61°F this time last week

Measured air temperature at the nearest weather station — not water

Sun & moon

Sunrise
6:16 AM
Sunset
7:31 PM
Moonrise
8:27 PM
Moonset
8:56 AM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 1 PM
Cloud cover
69%
Precip chance
23%
Wind
15 mph SW
Pressure
29.96 inHg Falling

Species context

Why this score

Fair (56/100) for Northern Pike: water is estimated at 79.9°F, above Northern Pike's 60-68°F optimal range. Best window: Daytime — has no measurable effect on feeding activity. That hour also overlaps a major solunar period. 29.96 inHg and falling pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Moderate (10-20 mph) wind modeled about 20% above this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 1 PM score

Light window (daytime) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 79.9°F estimated, about 31.7 points below its best. The whole day is then scaled to 104% for pre-frontal warm sector.

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

  1. Water temperature: 79.9°F estimated

    8.3 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 60-68°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: Daytime

    19.2 of 25 pts

    Has no measurable effect on feeding activity

    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 (held neutral by the front)

    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: 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: Summer — ×1.00 (100% of the ungated score)

How catchable Northern Pike 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: Pre-frontal warm sector — ×1.04 (104% 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 62.5 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 65. 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 30, 2026 at 2:38 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently summer. Northern Pike typically hold 6-20 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 79.9°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

  • Major: 1:24 AM–3:24 AM
  • Minor: 8:26 AM–9:26 AM
  • Major: 1:47 PM–3:47 PM
  • Minor: 7:57 PM–8:57 PM

Best times

When do northern pike feed during the day?

Northern Pike feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 27% 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%.

  • Night0.50x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 50%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
2 AM
55
FairNight10 mph S
3 AM
55
FairNight10 mph S
4 AM
44
FairNight10 mph S
5 AM
44
FairNight10 mph S
6 AM
60
GoodDawn10 mph S
7 AM
60
GoodDawn10 mph S
8 AM
59
FairDay10 mph S
9 AM
59
FairDay10 mph SW
10 AM
54
FairDay10 mph SW
11 AM
54
FairDay15 mph SW
12 PM
54
FairDay15 mph SW
1 PM
65
GoodDay15 mph SW
2 PM
65
GoodDay10 mph SW
3 PM
65
GoodDay10 mph SW
4 PM
60
GoodDusk10 mph SW
5 PM
54
FairDay10 mph SW
6 PM
54
FairDay5 mph S
7 PM
64
GoodDusk5 mph S
8 PM
64
GoodDusk5 mph S
9 PM
44
FairNight5 mph S
10 PM
44
FairNight5 mph S
11 PM
44
FairNight5 mph S

Where to find Northern Pike right now

Typical Summer depth: 6-20 ft

Northern Pike feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 27% above the daily average across all four light windows.

Oconomowoc Lake 87's deepest measurement on record is 62 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 Northern Pike trip to Oconomowoc Lake 87

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Other species on record at Oconomowoc Lake 87

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Northern Pike in Oconomowoc Lake 87?

Oconomowoc Lake 87 has no state survey naming Northern Pike. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

When do Northern Pike bite at Oconomowoc Lake 87?

Northern Pike feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 27% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Oconomowoc Lake 87, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Northern Pike at Oconomowoc Lake 87?

Typical Northern Pike depth by season: Pre-Spawn 2-6 ft, Spawn 0-1 ft, Post-Spawn 3-10 ft, Summer 6-20 ft, Fall 8-18 ft, Winter 4-15 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Oconomowoc Lake 87 itself.