Fishing report
Otter Tail Lake Yellow Perch Fishing Report
Ottertail, MN
Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Jul 29, 2026 at 3:51 PM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.
A state fisheries survey records Yellow Perch in Otter Tail Lake.
Max depth
120 ft
Deepest surveyed contour on record
Overall rating
Yellow Perch at Otter Tail Lake — 2026-07-29
Fair · 55/100Best window: 9 PM (Good · 67/100)
- Season
- Summer
- Moon
- 100% illuminated, waningFull Moon
- Est. surface temp
- 86.3°F
- Pressure
- 29.94 inHgStable
Est. water temp
86.3°F
v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading
Above Yellow Perch's 72-76°F range
Sun & moon
- Sunrise
- 6:00 AM
- Sunset
- 8:57 PM
- Moonrise
- 9:16 PM
- Moonset
- 5:46 AM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 9 PM
- Cloud cover
- 54%
- Precip chance
- 2%
- Wind
- 8 mph SSE
- Pressure
- 29.94 inHg Stable
Species context
Why this score
Fair (55/100) for Yellow Perch: water is estimated at 86.3°F, above 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 minor solunar period. 29.94 inHg and stable pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Light (5-10 mph) wind modeled about 15% above this fish's baseline.
What's driving the 9 PM score
Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 86.3°F estimated, about 27.5 points below its best.
- Water temperature · hurting
- Light window · helping
- Solunar period · neutral
- Barometric pressure · helping
- Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this
Water temperature: 86.3°F estimated
12.5 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.
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.
Solunar period: Minor period
9 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.
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.
Wind: Light (5-10 mph)
10 of 10 pts
Modeled about 15% 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 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 66.5 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 67. 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 Jul 29, 2026 at 3:51 PM 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 86.3°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
- Major: 12:15 AM–2:15 AM
- Minor: 5:16 AM–6:16 AM
- Major: 12:39 PM–2:39 PM
- Minor: 8:46 PM–9:46 PM
Best times
Feeding windows by time of 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
| Hour | Bite score | Rating | Light | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 PM | 56 | Fair | Day | 9 mph S |
| 4 PM | 56 | Fair | Day | 9 mph S |
| 5 PM | 56 | Fair | Day | 10 mph SSW |
| 6 PM | 56 | Fair | Day | 9 mph SSW |
| 7 PM | 56 | Fair | Day | 9 mph SSW |
| 8 PM | 61 | Good | Day | 8 mph S |
| 9 PM | 67 | Good | Dusk | 8 mph SSE |
| 10 PM | 45 | Fair | Night | 8 mph S |
| 11 PM | 45 | Fair | Night | 8 mph S |
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.
Otter Tail Lake's deepest surveyed contour is 120 ft — read the depth bands above against that, and see the full contour map on the lake profile.
Plan a Yellow Perch trip to Otter Tail Lake
Change the date, compare species, or check the week ahead in the live tool.
Other species on record at Otter Tail Lake
FAQ
Common questions
Are there Yellow Perch in Otter Tail Lake?
A state fisheries survey records Yellow Perch in Otter Tail Lake.
When do Yellow Perch bite at Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.
How deep should you fish for Yellow Perch at Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail Lake itself.