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Fishing report

Vern Wolf Lake Black Crappie Fishing Report

Paddock Lake, WI

Illustration of a black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)

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Modeled from live National Weather Service data as of Sep 22, 2026 at 7:07 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 Vern Wolf Lake name the category Black Crappie belongs to rather than the individual species, so its presence is derived from that category, not from a species-level survey.

Overall rating

Black Crappie at Vern Wolf Lake — 2026-09-22

Good · 67/100

Best window: 9 AM (Good · 79/100)

Season
Fall
Moon
82% illuminated, waxingWaxing Gibbous
Est. surface temp
64.3°F
Pressure
30.30 inHgStable

Est. water temp

64.3°F

v1 estimate from air temperature — not a sensor reading

Below Black Crappie's 72-77°F range

Air vs. last week

7°F cooler

56°F now vs 63°F this time last week

Measured air temperature at the nearest weather station — not water

Sun & moon

Sunrise
6:39 AM
Sunset
6:49 PM
Moonrise
5:04 PM
Moonset
2:06 AM
Sky, wind & pressureat best window · 9 AM
Cloud cover
82%
Precip chance
17%
Wind
10 mph E
Pressure
30.30 inHg Stable

Species context

Why this score

Good (67/100) for Black Crappie: water is estimated at 64.3°F, below Black Crappie's 72-77°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. 30.30 inHg and stable pressure modeled flat — no change from this fish's baseline. Moderate (10-20 mph) wind modeled about 20% above this fish's baseline.

What's driving the 9 AM score

Light window (dusk) is doing the most for this score. The score gives up the most on water temperature — 64.3°F estimated, about 20.5 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: 64.3°F estimated

    19.5 of 40 pts

    Optimal range 72-77°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 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

    9.4 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: Moderate (10-20 mph)

    10 of 10 pts

    Modeled about 20% 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 Black Crappie 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 78.9 of 100 points, and the two multipliers above take that to 79. 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 22, 2026 at 7:07 AM CDT. Solunar periods and sun/moon times are computed, not fetched.

When best caught

It's currently fall. Black Crappie typically hold 0-10 ft deep this time of year — at an estimated 64.3°F, this looks like a slower time of year to target them, since water temp is outside their optimal range.

Current depth

0-10 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: 1:36 AM–2:36 AM
  • Major: 8:41 AM–10:41 AM
  • Minor: 4:34 PM–5:34 PM
  • Major: 9:04 PM–11:04 PM

Best times

When do black crappie feed during the day?

Black Crappie feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows.

  • Dawn1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Daytime0.70x

    Suppresses feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Dusk1.30x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 30%.

  • Night1.20x

    Boosts feeding activity by about 20%.

Hour by hour

Hourly bite forecast

HourBite scoreRatingLightWind
7 AM
68
GoodDawn5 mph E
8 AM
78
GoodDusk5 mph E
9 AM
79
GoodDusk10 mph E
10 AM
79
GoodDusk15 mph E
11 AM
57
FairDay15 mph E
12 PM
57
FairDay15 mph NE
1 PM
57
FairDay15 mph NE
2 PM
57
FairDay15 mph NE
3 PM
57
FairDay15 mph NE
4 PM
61
GoodDay15 mph NE
5 PM
61
GoodDay10 mph NE
6 PM
57
FairDay10 mph NE
7 PM
68
GoodDusk5 mph NE
8 PM
66
GoodNight5 mph NE
9 PM
77
GoodNight5 mph NE
10 PM
77
GoodNight5 mph E
11 PM
77
GoodNight5 mph E

Where to find Black Crappie right now

Typical Fall depth: 0-10 ft

Black Crappie feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows.

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

Plan a Black Crappie trip to Vern Wolf Lake

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

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Other species on record at Vern Wolf Lake

FAQ

Common questions

Are there Black Crappie in Vern Wolf Lake?

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

When do Black Crappie bite at Vern Wolf Lake?

Black Crappie feed most actively at Dawn and Dusk, when activity runs about 16% above the daily average across all four light windows. Today's report above scores every hour of the local day against live weather for Vern Wolf Lake, and shows what each input contributed alongside how well the evidence supports it.

How deep should you fish for Black Crappie at Vern Wolf Lake?

Typical Black Crappie depth by season: Pre-Spawn 3-10 ft, Spawn 1-8 ft, Post-Spawn 8-15 ft, Summer 10-20 ft, Fall 0-10 ft, Winter 20-40 ft. These bands come from published fisheries data for the species, not from a survey of Vern Wolf Lake itself.