Payment Lake Fishing Report

Species on record

• Largemouth Bass · Common
• Northern Pike · Present
• Smallmouth Bass · Present
• Walleye · Present
• Muskellunge

• Black Crappie

  Black Crappie feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  Typical Fall depth: 0-10 ft

  Black Crappie fishing report →
• Bluegill

  Bluegill feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 33% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  Typical Fall depth: 6-18 ft

  Bluegill fishing report →
• Largemouth Bass

  Largemouth Bass feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 21% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  Typical Fall depth: 5-15 ft

  Largemouth Bass fishing report →
• Muskellunge

  Muskellunge feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 50% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  Typical Fall depth: 8-25 ft

  Muskellunge fishing report →
• Northern Pike

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

  Typical Fall depth: 8-18 ft

  Northern Pike fishing report →
• Pumpkinseed

  Pumpkinseed feed most actively at Daytime, when activity runs about 33% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  Typical Fall depth: 3-10 ft

  Pumpkinseed fishing report →
• Rock Bass

  Rock Bass feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 22% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  Typical Fall depth: 5-15 ft

  Rock Bass fishing report →
• Smallmouth Bass

  Smallmouth Bass feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 21% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  Typical Fall depth: 20-40 ft

  Smallmouth Bass fishing report →
• Walleye

  Walleye feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 19% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  Typical Fall depth: 20-55 ft

  Walleye fishing report →
• Yellow Perch

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

  Typical Fall depth: 15-30 ft

  Yellow Perch fishing report →

Location

Payment Lake · 46.1892, -90.0089

Map data © OpenFreeMap, OpenMapTiles, OpenStreetMap contributors

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• Wallace LakeMercer, WI0 mi
• Net LakeMercer, WI0 mi
• Judd LakeMercer, WI1 mi
• Geyser LakeMercer, WI1 mi
• Tamarack LakeMercer, WI1 mi

• GuideUnderstanding Solunar Feeding PeriodsSolunar tables show up in almost every fishing almanac, but most anglers have never seen the actual definition behind "major" and "minor" periods — or read the peer-reviewed testing that went looking for the effect in catch data and did not find it. Here is the theory, the astronomy Bitespan runs on real moon-transit data, the grade our own bite score gives it, and how to use a solunar period without building a trip around one.
• ArticleDoes Barometric Pressure Really Affect the Bite?"Fish bite best right before a storm" is the most repeated line in fishing folklore. We went back to the primary literature behind Bitespan's own bite-scoring model — lab feeding trials, a field movement study, and a controlled whole-lake angling experiment — to see what's actually been measured. It's messier, and more interesting, than the folklore.
• ArticleFishing a Cold Front: Why the Bite Dies and How to Beat It"The bite dies after a cold front" is angling gospel. We went back to the same primary studies behind Bitespan's own pressure model to separate what a falling-then-rising barometer actually does to fish from everything else a cold front drags in with it — the temperature drop, the wind shift, the bluebird sky.
• ArticleDoes the Full Moon Affect Fishing? What Solunar Data Actually Says"Fish the full moon" is repeated as confidently as any pressure-front folklore, but it's actually two different claims tangled together — moon PHASE and solunar PERIOD timing. We separated them, checked what Bitespan's own solunar math and bite-scoring model actually support, and were honest about where the evidence runs thin.