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Mud Lake (Indiana) — a popular fishing spot. About 81 ha in area. The town of South Bend is nearby. A smart bite calendar — moon phase, atmospheric pressure, and weather combined into an hourly fish-activity forecast for the coming days.
Nearest towns and cities
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 largest water around: all 20 neighbours are smaller.
The longest fetch is 1 mi along the west — east axis: wind along it builds a wave on the open water and pushes silt and food towards the lee bank.
Other nearby waters
Indiana: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined.
| 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 | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active | active |
| Black crappie | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Muskellunge | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Smallmouth bass | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Walleye | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| White bass | slow | fair | 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 | fair | fair |
| Rainbow trout | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Chinook salmon | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Blue catfish | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Carp | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow | 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 | fair | slow | slow | slow | slow |
Wednesday, October 21
Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Mud Lake — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 08:00–10:00 and 19:00–20:00.
The computed water temperature is around 61 °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 0.06 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 +62°
The day is 3 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?Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Mud Lake — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 08:00–10:00 and 19:00–20:00.