Bitespan

Fishing report

Sherman Lake Pumpkinseed Fishing Report

Mercer, WI

Illustration of a pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus)

Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Aug 8, 2026 at 5:42 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

The state's records for Sherman Lake name the category Pumpkinseed belongs to rather than the individual species, so its presence is derived from that category, not from a species-level survey.

Max depth

19 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

Pumpkinseed at Sherman Lake — 2026-08-08

Good · 71/100

Best window: 8 AM (Excellent · 82/100)

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
24% illuminated, waningWaning Crescent
Est. surface temp
68.4°F
Pressure
—Unknown

Est. water temp

68.4°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Pumpkinseed's 75-89°F range

Sun & moon

Sunrise
5:50 AM
Sunset
8:19 PM
Moonrise
12:30 AM
Moonset
5:38 PM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 8 AM
Cloud cover
22%
Precip chance
0%
Wind
5 mph WNW
Pressure
— Unknown

Species context

Why this score

Good (71/100) for Pumpkinseed: water is estimated at 68.4°F, below Pumpkinseed's 75-89°F optimal range. Best window: Daytime — 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 8 AM score

Light window (daytime) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 68.4°F estimated, about 17.6 points below its best.

  • Water temperature · neutral
  • Light window · helping
  • Solunar period · helping
  • Barometric pressure · helping
  • Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this

  1. Water temperature: 68.4°F estimated

    22.4 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 75-89°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: Daytime

    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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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 Pumpkinseed 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 81.9 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 82. 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 8, 2026 at 5:42 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently summer. Pumpkinseed typically hold 3-10 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 68.4°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

3-10 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: 12:00 AM–1:00 AM
  • Major: 8:02 AM–10:02 AM
  • Minor: 5:08 PM–6:08 PM
  • Major: 8:34 PM–10:34 PM

Best times

When do pumpkinseed feed during the day?

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

  • Dawn1.00x

    Has no measurable effect on feeding activity.

  • Daytime1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Dusk1.00x

    Has no measurable effect on feeding activity.

  • Night0.60x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 40%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
5 AM
56
FairNight3 mph WNW
6 AM
63
GoodDawn3 mph WNW
7 AM
69
GoodDay3 mph WNW
8 AM
82
ExcellentDay5 mph WNW
9 AM
82
ExcellentDay6 mph WNW
10 AM
82
ExcellentDay7 mph WNW
11 AM
71
GoodDay9 mph WNW
12 PM
71
GoodDay9 mph WNW
1 PM
71
GoodDay9 mph WNW
2 PM
71
GoodDay9 mph WNW
3 PM
71
GoodDay9 mph WNW
4 PM
71
GoodDay9 mph W
5 PM
76
GoodDay8 mph W
6 PM
76
GoodDay6 mph W
7 PM
69
GoodDay3 mph WSW
8 PM
74
GoodDusk3 mph SW
9 PM
74
GoodDusk3 mph SSW
10 PM
66
GoodNight3 mph SSW
11 PM
56
FairNight3 mph SW

Where to find Pumpkinseed right now

Typical Summer depth: 3-10 ft

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

Sherman Lake's deepest measurement on record is 19 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 Pumpkinseed trip to Sherman Lake

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

Open the live forecast →

Other species on record at Sherman Lake

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Pumpkinseed in Sherman Lake?

The state's records for Sherman Lake name the category Pumpkinseed belongs to rather than the individual species, so its presence is derived from that category, not from a species-level survey.

When do Pumpkinseed bite at Sherman Lake?

Pumpkinseed feed most actively at Daytime, 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 Sherman Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Pumpkinseed at Sherman Lake?

Typical Pumpkinseed depth by season: Pre-Spawn 2-6 ft, Spawn 0.5-3 ft, Post-Spawn 2-6 ft, Summer 3-10 ft, Fall 3-10 ft, Winter 3-15 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Sherman Lake itself.