Fishing report
Popko Lake Bluegill Fishing Report
Mercer, WI
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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Aug 30, 2026 at 12:37 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.
Popko Lake has no state survey naming Bluegill. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.
Max depth
6 ft
Deepest measurement on record
Max depth: Stachelek et al. (2021), LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, Environmental Data Initiative (CC BY 4.0)
Overall rating
Bluegill at Popko Lake — 2026-08-30
Good · 77/100Best window: 1 PM (Excellent · 92/100)
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
- 95% illuminated, waningWaning Gibbous
- Est. surface temp
- 64.3°F
- Pressure
- —Unknown
Est. water temp
64.3°F
v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading
Below Bluegill's 67-85°F range
Sun & moon
- Sunrise
- 6:18 AM
- Sunset
- 7:42 PM
- Moonrise
- 8:30 PM
- Moonset
- 9:05 AM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 1 PM
- Cloud cover
- 82%
- Precip chance
- 20%
- Wind
- 5 mph E
- Pressure
- — Unknown
Species context
Why this score
Good (77/100) for Bluegill: water is estimated at 64.3°F, below Bluegill's 67-85°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. Light (5-10 mph) wind modeled about 15% above this fish's baseline.
What's driving the 1 PM score
Water temperature (64.3°F estimated) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 64.3°F estimated, about 7.2 points below its best.
- Water temperature · helping
- Light window · helping
- Solunar period · helping
- Barometric pressure · helping
- Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this
Water temperature: 64.3°F estimated
32.8 of 40 pts
Optimal range 67-85°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: 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.
Barometric pressure: Stable
9.5 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 Bluegill 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 92.3 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 92. 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 12:37 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.
When best caught
It's currently summer. Bluegill typically hold 10-20 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 64.3°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: 1:32 AM–3:32 AM
- Minor: 8:35 AM–9:35 AM
- Major: 1:54 PM–3:54 PM
- Minor: 8:00 PM–9:00 PM
Best times
When do bluegill feed during the day?
Bluegill feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 33% above the daily average across all four light windows.
- Dawn1.30x
Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.
- Daytime0.80x
Suppresses feeding activity by about 20%.
- Dusk1.30x
Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.
- Night0.50x
Suppresses feeding activity by about 50%.
Hour by hour
Hourly bite forecast
| Hour | Bite score | Rating | Light | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 AM | 64 | Good | Night | 0 mph |
| 1 AM | 75 | Good | Night | 0 mph |
| 2 AM | 75 | Good | Night | 0 mph |
| 3 AM | 75 | Good | Night | 0 mph |
| 4 AM | 64 | Good | Night | 0 mph |
| 5 AM | 64 | Good | Night | 0 mph |
| 6 AM | 80 | Excellent | Dawn | 0 mph |
| 7 AM | 80 | Excellent | Dawn | 0 mph |
| 8 AM | 84 | Excellent | Dusk | 0 mph |
| 9 AM | 86 | Excellent | Dusk | 5 mph E |
| 10 AM | 82 | Excellent | Dusk | 5 mph E |
| 11 AM | 82 | Excellent | Dusk | 5 mph E |
| 12 PM | 82 | Excellent | Dusk | 5 mph E |
| 1 PM | 92 | Excellent | Dusk | 5 mph E |
| 2 PM | 83 | Excellent | Day | 5 mph E |
| 3 PM | 83 | Excellent | Day | 5 mph E |
| 4 PM | 72 | Good | Day | 5 mph E |
| 5 PM | 72 | Good | Day | 5 mph E |
| 6 PM | 72 | Good | Day | 5 mph E |
| 7 PM | 82 | Excellent | Dusk | 5 mph E |
| 8 PM | 86 | Excellent | Dusk | 5 mph E |
| 9 PM | 71 | Good | Night | 5 mph SE |
| 10 PM | 66 | Good | Night | 5 mph SE |
| 11 PM | 66 | Good | Night | 5 mph SE |
Where to find Bluegill right now
Typical Summer depth: 10-20 ft
Bluegill feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 33% above the daily average across all four light windows.
Popko Lake's deepest measurement on record is 6 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 Bluegill trip to Popko Lake
Change the date, compare species, or check the week ahead in the live tool.
Other species on record at Popko Lake
FAQ
Common questions
Are there Bluegill in Popko Lake?
Popko Lake has no state survey naming Bluegill. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.
When do Bluegill bite at Popko Lake?
Bluegill feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 33% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Popko Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.
How deep should you fish for Bluegill at Popko Lake?
Typical Bluegill depth by season: Pre-Spawn 5-12 ft, Spawn 1-8 ft, Post-Spawn 6-15 ft, Summer 10-20 ft, Fall 6-18 ft, Winter 5-20 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Popko Lake itself.