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Crab Orchard Lake (Illinois) — a popular fishing spot. This page shows an hourly bite forecast for today and the week ahead; the algorithm factors in the weather, atmospheric pressure, and the moon phase.
The shoreline is heavily indented — bays, points and spits. Look for pike at the mouths of the bays and on the drop-offs behind the points. The islands add structure: drop-offs around their perimeter and channels between them and the bank.
The wind builds its wave along the west — east axis — 9 mi of open water; along north — south there is only 5 mi. When it runs down the main axis, the calm water sits against the bank it blows from, while the wave and the silt go to the far one — and the fish follow them there to feed.
Other nearby waters
Illinois: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined. The bottom row counts the catches logged on this water in each month.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelhead | peak | peak | active | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | peak | peak | peak |
| White crappie | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Black crappie | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Lake trout | peak | peak | active | active | fair | slow | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak |
| Muskellunge | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Walleye | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| White bass | slow | slow | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Yellow perch | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Largemouth bass | fair | active | active | active | active | active | active | active | fair | fair | fair | fair |
| Pike | fair | fair | fair | fair | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | active | fair |
| Smallmouth bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Rainbow trout | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Blue catfish | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Carp | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Chinook salmon | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Whitefish | fair | active | active | peak | active | fair | fair | active | fair | fair | slow | slow |
| Coho salmon | slow | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow |
| Flathead catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Catches here | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
BiteGuideFrom anglers’ reports
This is a summary of anglers' reports, not a proven cause of the bite: conditions lining up does not mean they drove it.
vertical axis — number of catches
| Value | Catches | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | 10 | 67% |
| Black crappie | 4 | 27% |
| White crappie | 3 | 20% |
Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Crab Orchard Lake — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
The computed water temperature is around 62 °F — inside the 57–75 °F comfort range for Black crappie, so baseline activity is high.
Black crappie works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is dropping 0.03 inHg over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an active season for Black crappie here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Clear · feels like +66°
The day is 2 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldG1 geomagnetic storm, Kp 4.7
Kp index — NOAA forecast. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Blue check: this species appears as a catch in reports for this waterbody.
Caught here in 4 fishing reports.
Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Crab Orchard Lake — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
Cloudy: 61–72 °F
Biting
Fish in 15 of 15 reports · Mostly Largemouth bass
Anglers have logged 15 fishing reports here. Most commonly caught: Largemouth bass, Black crappie, White crappie. Peak season: April–November.