Bitespan

Fishing report

Roberts Lake Muskellunge Fishing Report

Wabeno, WI

Illustration of a muskellunge

Modeled from live National Weather Service and solunar data as of Jul 28, 2026 at 7:19 PM CDT. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

A state fisheries survey records Muskellunge in Roberts Lake.

Overall rating

Muskellunge at Roberts Lake — 2026-07-28

Good · 69/100

Best window: 8 PM (Good · 77/100)

Season
Summer
Moon
100% illuminated, waxingFull Moon
Est. surface temp
68.5°F
Pressure
29.96 inHgStable

Est. water temp

68.5°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Muskellunge's 75-80°F range

Sun & moon

Sunrise
5:34 AM
Sunset
8:27 PM
Moonrise
8:20 PM
Moonset
4:13 AM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 8 PM
Cloud cover
16%
Precip chance
1%
Wind
2 mph ENE
Pressure
29.96 inHg Stable

Species context

Why this score

Good (69/100) for Muskellunge: water is estimated at 68.5°F, below Muskellunge's 75-80°F optimal range. Best window: Dusk -- boosts feeding activity by about 31%, one of their peak feeding windows. That hour also overlaps a minor solunar period. 29.96 inHg and stable pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Calm (0-5 mph) wind modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 8 PM score

Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 68.5°F estimated, about 17.3 points below its best.

  • Water temperature · neutral
  • Light window · helping
  • Solunar period · neutral
  • Barometric pressure · helping
  • Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this
  1. Water temperature: 68.5°F estimated

    22.7 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 75-80°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: Dusk

    25 of 25 pts

    Boosts feeding activity by about 31%

    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: 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Wind: Calm (0-5 mph)

    10 of 10 pts

    Modeled flat — no change from 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 Muskellunge 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 76.7 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 77. 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 28, 2026 at 7:19 PM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently summer. Muskellunge typically hold 6-20 ft deep this time of year -- at an estimated 68.5°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

  • Minor: 3:43 AM4:43 AM
  • Major: 11:22 AM1:22 PM
  • Minor: 7:50 PM8:50 PM
  • Major: 11:47 PM1:47 AM

Best times

Feeding windows by time of day

Muskellunge feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 31% above the rest of the day.

  • Dawn0.75x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 25%.

  • Daytime0.94x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 6%.

  • Dusk1.31x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 31%.

  • Night0.50x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 50%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
7 PM
70
GoodDay3 mph NE
8 PM
77
GoodDusk2 mph ENE
9 PM
72
GoodDusk2 mph E
10 PM
57
FairNight3 mph E
11 PM
67
GoodNight2 mph ESE

Where to find Muskellunge right now

Typical Summer depth: 6-20 ft

Muskellunge feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 31% above the rest of the day.

No depth survey is on record for Roberts Lake, so these bands are the species' published seasonal ranges rather than a reading of this water.

Plan a Muskellunge trip to Roberts Lake

Change the date, compare species, or check the week ahead in the live tool.

Other species on record at Roberts Lake

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Muskellunge in Roberts Lake?

A state fisheries survey records Muskellunge in Roberts Lake.

When do Muskellunge bite at Roberts Lake?

Muskellunge feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 31% above the rest of the day. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Roberts Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Muskellunge at Roberts Lake?

Typical Muskellunge depth by season: Pre-Spawn 2-6 ft, Spawn 0-3 ft, Post-Spawn 4-10 ft, Summer 6-20 ft, Fall 8-25 ft, Winter 8-20 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Roberts Lake itself.