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Fishing report

Sand Cut Rock Bass Fishing Report

Cassville, WI

Illustration of a rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris)

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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Sep 2, 2026 at 3:42 PM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

Sand Cut has no state survey naming Rock Bass. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

Overall rating

Rock Bass at Sand Cut — 2026-09-02

Good · 76/100

Best window: 9 PM (Excellent · 81/100)

Season
Summer
Moon
66% illuminated, waningLast Quarter
Est. surface temp
90.5°F
Pressure
29.90 inHgFalling

Est. water temp

90.5°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Above Rock Bass's 80-87°F range

Air vs. last week

5°F cooler

77°F now vs 82°F this time last week

Measured air temperature at the nearest weather station — not water

Sun & moon

Sunrise
6:29 AM
Sunset
7:36 PM
Moonrise
10:02 PM
Moonset
12:47 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 9 PM
Cloud cover
23%
Precip chance
4%
Wind
2 mph SE
Pressure
29.90 inHg Falling

Species context

Why this score

Good (76/100) for Rock Bass: water is estimated at 90.5°F, above Rock Bass's 80-87°F optimal range. Best window: Night — boosts feeding activity by about 30%. That hour also overlaps a minor solunar period. 29.90 inHg and falling pressure modeled about 5% above this fish's baseline. Calm (0-5 mph) wind modeled about 10% below this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 9 PM score

Water temperature (90.5°F estimated) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 90.5°F estimated, about 9.3 points below its best.

  • Water temperature · helping
  • Light window · helping
  • Solunar period · neutral
  • Barometric pressure · helping
  • Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this
  1. Water temperature: 90.5°F estimated

    30.7 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 80-87°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: Night

    23.2 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.

  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: Falling

    10 of 10 pts

    Modeled about 5% above 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)

    7.8 of 10 pts

    Modeled about 10% below 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 Rock Bass 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 80.7 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 81. 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 Sep 2, 2026 at 3:42 PM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently summer. Rock Bass typically hold 5-15 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 90.5°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

5-15 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: 4:01 AM6:01 AM
  • Minor: 12:17 PM1:17 PM
  • Major: 4:28 PM6:28 PM
  • Minor: 9:32 PM10:32 PM

Best times

When do rock bass feed during the day?

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

  • Dawn1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Daytime0.60x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 40%.

  • Dusk1.40x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 40%.

  • Night1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
3 PM
66
GoodDay7 mph SW
4 PM
76
GoodDay6 mph SW
5 PM
76
GoodDay5 mph SW
6 PM
74
GoodDay3 mph SW
7 PM
78
GoodDusk3 mph S
8 PM
78
GoodDusk3 mph SE
9 PM
81
ExcellentNight2 mph SE
10 PM
81
ExcellentNight3 mph SE
11 PM
76
GoodNight3 mph SE

Where to find Rock Bass right now

Typical Summer depth: 5-15 ft

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

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

Plan a Rock Bass trip to Sand Cut

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

Other species on record at Sand Cut

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Rock Bass in Sand Cut?

Sand Cut has no state survey naming Rock Bass. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

When do Rock Bass bite at Sand Cut?

Rock Bass feed most actively at Dusk, when activity runs about 22% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Sand Cut, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Rock Bass at Sand Cut?

Typical Rock Bass depth by season: Pre-Spawn 2-5 ft, Spawn 1-4 ft, Post-Spawn 3-8 ft, Summer 5-15 ft, Fall 5-15 ft, Winter 8-20 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Sand Cut itself.