Mendota/Monona lakes fishing questions??

Hi,
I am going to be in Madison 11/15 & 11/16 and noticed that there are a couple lakes right there in town Mendota & Monona. According to the WI DNR website walleyes are common in both.
Does anyone have any info that they would be willing to share on these lakes for fall fishing? Walleyes preferably but bass or pike would be great as well.
Also…
If interested I will definitely have room for 1 more(maybe 2) in my Ranger 620 so if anyone would like to join me and another guy for the day either Sat, Sun or both they are more than welcome.
Thanks in advance for any info.
John

Buckshot:

Do you have your lake maps already? Once you got them in hand let me know and I will try to start you in the right direction. fishinginfo.com, go to fishing reports, then Wisconsin, then in the middle of the 26 threads they have a thread hosted by Gene Dellinger from Madison who owns a bait shop down there. Fire me some questions, some I will answer here, others I will by PM. Both are quality lakes, my choice would be Mendota, but Monona has a quality fishery as well.

Mark

Mark,
Thanks for getting back to me. I will check that link as well.
I may have trouble finding maps for those lakes here in Mpls but I will hit Gander Mtn and check to see if they have anything.
Questions:
How good are the boat ramps for getting in and out?
How is the parking?
Any restrictions on those lakes(speed, horsepower, slot sizes) that a guy should be aware of?
What is the best presentation this time of year for walleyes?
Jigging, rigging, cranking…..other?
Is the daytime bite good or do I need to fish at night?
I appreciate the help and if you are in the area and interested in fishing those days you are more than welcome to join us.
Thanks
John

I live right by Madison and fish it during the summer for bass, but I am at school now in Menomonie, so I haven’t been out there in a long time. But there are a lof of ramps to use, Olin on Monona is nice and there is a lot of parking. I know from past years that on the weedlines, you can pick up nothern, smallies, and walleyes.

Buckshot:

Check Gander and if there is nothing there let me know. There are several boat ramps. Do you know where you are going to be staying? Again that fishinginfo.com thread will give you some ideas about landings. Parking shouldn’t be a problem at all. There shouldn’t be a problem with the boating, although how long was your boat again? Get to any bait shop or if you want I can get you a dnr website for the regs on the slot sizes. Mendota is restrictive to some degree, but I think that is the charm of fishing that lake. Bigger fish!!! Those lake should be like any lakes you fish further north, they are not even that far behind in water temp right now. I fished a little lake east of Madison last weekend and water temps were in the low 50’s. Jigging, yes; rigging, yes; cranking, yes; trolling, yes? I don’t know why the daytime bite wouldn’t be good, but that I really don’t know. See if you can’t glean any info off that site above. Keep it up and we might have something, including me in Madison!!!

Bassboy:

I am from Cambridge and went to school at Stout!!! I worked at Jakes and my wife at the Creamery. We were there in the late 80’s!!!

Mark

I checked Gander and no maps, they only had maps for NW Wisconsin. I put a post on fishinginfo.com as well but haven’t heard anything on the walleyes just from one guy fishing muskies.
Thanks for the info Mark and Bassboy. Looks like I might have to settle for the hockey games(go Gophers ) and bar hoppin instead of hockey and fishin.
I have a couple days yet so I am going to keep diggin.
John

Buckshot:

I saw the posts on the fishinginfo.com. Sorry I had a brain cramp and didn’t get back to you sooner. I hope you were able to put something together. How ’bout them Badgers holding off such an outstanding team as the Gophs’. Go Big Red!!!

Mark