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Fishing report

Spruce Lake Northern Pike Fishing Report

Clam Lake, WI

Illustration of a northern pike (Esox lucius)

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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Oct 27, 2026 at 4:22 AM CDT, plus solunar and sun/moon times computed in-house. This is a computed report, not an eyewitness catch report.

Spruce Lake has no state survey naming Northern Pike. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

Overall rating

Northern Pike at Spruce Lake — 2026-10-27

Good · 76/100

Best window: 1 PM (Excellent · 87/100)

Season
Fall
Moon
98% illuminated, waningFull Moon
Est. surface temp
54.7°F
Pressure
30.33 inHgFalling

Est. water temp

54.7°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Northern Pike's 60-68°F range

Air vs. last week

8°F warmer

39°F now vs 31°F this time last week

Measured air temperature at the nearest weather station — not water

Sun & moon

Sunrise
7:38 AM
Sunset
5:56 PM
Moonrise
6:26 PM
Moonset
9:47 AM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 1 PM
Cloud cover
86%
Precip chance
65%
Wind
5 mph SE
Pressure
30.33 inHg Falling

Species context

Why this score

Good (76/100) for Northern Pike: water is estimated at 54.7°F, below Northern Pike's 60-68°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. 30.33 inHg and falling 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

Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 54.7°F estimated, about 15.9 points below its best. The whole day is then scaled to 104% for pre-frontal warm sector.

  • Water temperature · neutral
  • Light window · helping
  • Solunar period · helping
  • Barometric pressure · helping
  • Wind · helping
Show the numbers behind this
  1. Water temperature: 54.7°F estimated

    29.1 of 45 pts

    Optimal range 60-68°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

    30 of 30 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

    5 of 5 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. The owner reviewed this evidence and demoted its weight accordingly.

  4. Barometric pressure: Stable (held neutral by the front)

    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: Light (5-10 mph)

    9.6 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: Fall — ×1.00 (100% of the ungated score)

How catchable Northern Pike 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: Pre-frontal warm sector — ×1.04 (104% 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 83.7 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 87. The weights are tuning constants — solunar's was demoted after peer-reviewed testing found no predictive effect (#456), and the rest remain under owner review — 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 Oct 27, 2026 at 4:22 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently fall. Northern Pike typically hold 8-18 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 54.7°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

8-18 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: 12:40 AM–2:40 AM
  • Minor: 9:17 AM–10:17 AM
  • Major: 1:10 PM–3:10 PM
  • Minor: 5:56 PM–6:56 PM

Best times

When do northern pike feed during the day?

Northern Pike feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 27% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  • Dawn1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Daytime1.00x

    Has no measurable effect on feeding activity.

  • Dusk1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Night0.50x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 50%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
3 AM
62
GoodNight0 mph
4 AM
64
GoodNight5 mph E
5 AM
64
GoodNight5 mph E
6 AM
64
GoodNight5 mph E
7 AM
83
ExcellentDawn5 mph SE
8 AM
83
ExcellentDawn5 mph SE
9 AM
85
ExcellentDusk5 mph SE
10 AM
85
ExcellentDusk5 mph SE
11 AM
83
ExcellentDusk5 mph SE
12 PM
83
ExcellentDusk5 mph SE
1 PM
87
ExcellentDusk5 mph SE
2 PM
87
ExcellentDusk5 mph S
3 PM
87
ExcellentDusk5 mph S
4 PM
83
ExcellentDusk5 mph S
5 PM
85
ExcellentDusk5 mph S
6 PM
85
ExcellentDusk10 mph S
7 PM
65
GoodNight10 mph S
8 PM
65
GoodNight10 mph S
9 PM
65
GoodNight10 mph S
10 PM
65
GoodNight10 mph S
11 PM
65
GoodNight10 mph S

Where to find Northern Pike right now

Typical Fall depth: 8-18 ft

Northern Pike feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 27% above the daily average across all four light windows.

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

Plan a Northern Pike trip to Spruce Lake

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

Other species on record at Spruce Lake

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Northern Pike in Spruce Lake?

Spruce Lake has no state survey naming Northern Pike. Its presence is an estimate inferred from 8 confirmed lakes within 40 miles — not a record of a catch.

When do Northern Pike bite at Spruce Lake?

Northern Pike feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 27% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Spruce Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Northern Pike at Spruce Lake?

Typical Northern Pike depth by season: Pre-Spawn 2-6 ft, Spawn 0-1 ft, Post-Spawn 3-10 ft, Summer 6-20 ft, Fall 8-18 ft, Winter 4-15 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Spruce Lake itself.