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Fishing report

Spider Lake Walleye Fishing Report

Boulder Junction, WI

Illustration of a walleye (Sander vitreus)

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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Aug 31, 2026 at 1:21 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 Walleye in Spider Lake.

Max depth

43 ft

Deepest measurement on record

Mean depth: 20 ft

Max depth: Stachelek et al. (2021), LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, Environmental Data Initiative (CC BY 4.0)

Overall rating

Walleye at Spider Lake — 2026-08-31

Good · 66/100

Best window: 8 PM (Good · 73/100)

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
86% illuminated, waningWaning Gibbous
Est. surface temp
78.7°F
Pressure
Unknown

Est. water temp

78.7°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Above Walleye's 65-75°F range

Air vs. last week

10°F warmer

80°F now vs 70°F this time last week

Measured air temperature at the nearest weather station — not water

Sun & moon

Sunrise
6:18 AM
Sunset
7:39 PM
Moonrise
8:49 PM
Moonset
10:18 AM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 8 PM
Cloud cover
27%
Precip chance
3%
Wind
3 mph NNW
Pressure
Unknown

Species context

Why this score

Good (66/100) for Walleye: water is estimated at 78.7°F, above Walleye's 65-75°F optimal range. Best window: Dusk — boosts feeding activity by about 40%, one of their peak feeding windows. That hour also overlaps a minor solunar period. Stable pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Calm (0-5 mph) wind modeled about 15% below this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 8 PM score

Water temperature (78.7°F estimated) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 78.7°F estimated, about 9.9 points below its best. The whole day is then scaled to 90% for cold front passing through.

  • Water temperature · helping
  • Light window · helping
  • Solunar period · neutral
  • Barometric pressure · helping
  • Wind · neutral
Show the numbers behind this
  1. Water temperature: 78.7°F estimated

    30.1 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 65-75°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 40%

    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 (held neutral by the front)

    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: Calm (0-5 mph)

    7.1 of 10 pts

    Modeled about 15% 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 Walleye 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: Cold front passing through — ×0.90 (90% of the ungated score)

A multi-hour frontal pattern read from the day's forecast trajectory. Because a front IS a barometric event, it replaces the single-reading pressure factor above, which is held neutral — the barometer is never counted twice.

Those five factors add up to 80.7 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 73. 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 31, 2026 at 1:21 PM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently summer. Walleye typically hold 20-40 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 78.7°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

20-40 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: 2:16 AM4:16 AM
  • Minor: 9:48 AM10:48 AM
  • Major: 2:39 PM4:39 PM
  • Minor: 8:19 PM9:19 PM

Best times

When do walleye feed during the day?

Walleye feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 19% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  • Dawn1.40x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 40%.

  • 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
1 PM
58
FairDay7 mph WSW
2 PM
67
GoodDay8 mph W
3 PM
67
GoodDay8 mph W
4 PM
67
GoodDay8 mph W
5 PM
58
FairDay8 mph WNW
6 PM
58
FairDay7 mph NNW
7 PM
71
GoodDusk6 mph NNW
8 PM
73
GoodDusk3 mph NNW
9 PM
71
GoodNight3 mph NNW
10 PM
67
GoodNight2 mph NNW
11 PM
67
GoodNight1 mph N

Where to find Walleye right now

Typical Summer depth: 20-40 ft

Walleye feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 19% above the daily average across all four light windows.

Spider Lake's deepest measurement on record is 43 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 Walleye trip to Spider Lake

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

Other species on record at Spider Lake

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Walleye in Spider Lake?

A state fisheries survey records Walleye in Spider Lake.

When do Walleye bite at Spider Lake?

Walleye feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 19% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Spider Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Walleye at Spider Lake?

Typical Walleye depth by season: Pre-Spawn 8-15 ft, Spawn 1-6 ft, Post-Spawn 8-15 ft, Summer 20-40 ft, Fall 20-55 ft, Winter 10-40 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Spider Lake itself.