Fishing report
Polk Daniels Lake White Crappie Fishing Report
Howard, KS
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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Oct 2, 2026 at 6:12 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 White Crappie in Polk Daniels Lake.
Overall rating
White Crappie at Polk Daniels Lake — 2026-10-02
Good · 70/100Best window: 7 PM (Good · 74/100)
- Season
- Summer
- Moon
- 57% illuminated, waningLast Quarter
- Est. surface temp
- 68.9°F
- Pressure
- 30.21 inHgFalling
Est. water temp
68.9°F
v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading
Below White Crappie's 77-83°F range
Air vs. last week
1°F warmer
71°F now vs 70°F this time last week
Measured air temperature at the nearest weather station — not water
Sun & moon
- Sunrise
- 7:21 AM
- Sunset
- 7:06 PM
- Moonrise
- 11:26 PM
- Moonset
- 2:11 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 7 PM
- Cloud cover
- 3%
- Precip chance
- 0%
- Wind
- 9 mph NE
- Pressure
- 30.21 inHg Falling
Species context
Why this score
Good (70/100) for White Crappie: water is estimated at 68.9°F, below White Crappie's 77-83°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. 30.21 inHg and falling pressure modeled about 4% below this fish's baseline. Light (5-10 mph) wind modeled about 15% above this fish's baseline.
What's driving the 7 PM score
Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 68.9°F estimated, about 24.3 points below its best.
- Water temperature · neutral
- Light window · helping
- Solunar period · helping
- Barometric pressure · helping
- Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this
Water temperature: 68.9°F estimated
20.7 of 45 pts
Optimal range 77-83°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
30 of 30 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: Major period
5 of 5 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. The owner reviewed this evidence and demoted its weight accordingly.
Barometric pressure: Falling
9.1 of 10 pts
Modeled about 4% below 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)
9.6 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 White Crappie 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 74.3 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 74. The weights are tuning constants — solunar's was demoted after peer-reviewed testing found no predictive effect (#456), and the rest remain under owner review — 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 Oct 2, 2026 at 6:12 PM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.
When best caught
It's currently summer. White Crappie typically hold 10-20 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 68.9°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.
Current depth
10-20 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: 5:17 AM–7:17 AM
- Minor: 1:41 PM–2:41 PM
- Major: 5:48 PM–7:48 PM
- Minor: 10:56 PM–11:56 PM
Best times
When do white crappie feed during the day?
White Crappie feed most actively at Dusk and Night, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows.
- Dawn1.20x
Boosts feeding activity by about 20%.
- Daytime0.70x
Suppresses feeding activity by about 30%.
- Dusk1.30x
Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.
- Night1.30x
Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.
Hour by hour
Hourly bite forecast
| Hour | Bite score | Rating | Light | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 PM | 61 | Good | Day | 10 mph NE |
| 7 PM | 74 | Good | Dusk | 9 mph NE |
| 8 PM | 71 | Good | Night | 7 mph NE |
| 9 PM | 71 | Good | Night | 7 mph NE |
| 10 PM | 72 | Good | Night | 6 mph NE |
| 11 PM | 72 | Good | Night | 6 mph NE |
Where to find White Crappie right now
Typical Summer depth: 10-20 ft
White Crappie feed most actively at Dusk and Night, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows.
No depth survey or measurement is on record for Polk Daniels Lake, so these bands are the species' published seasonal ranges rather than a reading of this water.
Plan a White Crappie trip to Polk Daniels Lake
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Other species on record at Polk Daniels Lake
FAQ
Common questions
Are there White Crappie in Polk Daniels Lake?
A state fisheries survey records White Crappie in Polk Daniels Lake.
When do White Crappie bite at Polk Daniels Lake?
White Crappie feed most actively at Dusk and Night, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Polk Daniels Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.
How deep should you fish for White Crappie at Polk Daniels Lake?
Typical White Crappie depth by season: Pre-Spawn 3-12 ft, Spawn 3-10 ft, Post-Spawn 8-15 ft, Summer 10-20 ft, Fall 0-10 ft, Winter 20-40 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Polk Daniels Lake itself.