Madison Lake Area Reports

Greetings to All!!! I will reporting here on a weekly basis from the new Bait Shop here in Madison Lake (Walt’s Hook Line and Sinker), from the fishermen for the fishermen!

Well another hot weekend, I think I’m ready for my favorite season, FALL! Weather wise was uber hot, maybe not so much for the fishing, it seems like some of us had luck while others, well just didn’t.

Panfish: It seems like this is the only thing to be consistently bitting, and sunfish at that! We have heard multiple reports from Lake Francis catching sunfish in 10-12
German and East Jefferson also seemed to have a lot of boat traffic and a few reports of crappie and sunfish in about the same depth 8-12. The morning hours seemed to have paided off for a few, at Madison Lake for some crappie action using fat heads and crappie minnows along the North Shore access.
I also wanted to mention if some of you parents out there are looking for a little less recreational traffic to introduce a kid fishing, I have found Lake Emily just east of St. Peter, and West Jefferson to be perfect. The panfish are not the largest, but great action and the occasional large fish, West Jefferson is packed with northern.

Bass: Thank goodness for Bass and Northern for that matter, during these tougher summer months. There has been many reports from many lakes, for that good old sport fish. Ballantyne and Madison seem to be the most mentioned lakes for Bass, around weedlines and structure, mostly using top water baits and crawlers.

Northern: I can personally say from living on this lake for 6 years, that the hot days have been fun northern fishing, trolling on West Jeff. Like I mentioned before, this Lake is full of them, and some lunkers are definitly in there!

Walleye: This is where the above saying comes into play, some had luck and others, well just didn’t. We heard of some reports from Waseca’s Clear Lake of some walleye action during the evening hours around 12-14. Some smaller walleyes have also been reported from Tetonka, abouth the same depth using leeches. The Rivers seem to be the easier means of catching the eyes. Mentioning leeches, grab them while you can they seem to be getting smaller and the leech season is coming to a close.

Minnesota, Blue Earth, Le Sueur River: The rivers are starting to come down a little and have been paying off for the cat fisherman. The flathead reports are still coming from seven mile area on the Minnesota river from multiple people, so there must be some decent action, caught with bull heads and suckers. The larger suckers for cut bait have been working well for the channel cats just north of Mankato. What a blast though, if you have not tried flathead fishing, Do It, its a huge RUSH!! The night time seems to be the best.

Nice report and nice to hear from Madison Lake again.
On my goodbye outing at the family cabin on Duck–sold after 52 years–nailed a nice 30-inch northern fishing gills off a north shore dock. Explains why the panfish appear a bit more leary these days. Whatever happened to the crappies that used to be so prolific on Duck?
It looks like the lake assn. there has done a good job getting the curly pond week under control. Congrats.
Now if the shoreline vegitation restoration movement would catch on….
The Berkley artificial leeches you sold me work well but alas will save them for bronzebacks on the Croix as they don’t last long around hungry gills. Any word yet on a feathered panfish jig with wire hook?

Thanks for the updates on the fish and the leeches.

From Jeff

So glad to hear back from you. Quick question about Duck Lake, being a jefferson lake guy, I grew up on West Jeff and then moved to Big East Jeff around the age of twelve. I have not have much of a chance to fish Duck Lake . I know a fellow that fishes that lake for crappies every time he makes it out fishing and does quite well, but only can keep 7-10 that are decent size, out of 30 to 40 caught. Were the crappies larger there in years past, or has the lake been over fished? About your feathered friends, I have located some hooks from a fellow in Kasota that makes his own jigs and a variety of swim baits. I have tinkered around a little, but it is harder than it looks, to get a good product. Thanks Ryan