Tell me where you caught fish today.

Just because the Rock River is not producing and lots of anglers have gave up on the Rock until Fall. I would like to know where you guys are catching fish .

managed some nice crappies from a lake in walworth county. all on small fatheads and feather jigs. i couldn’t even fish with two rods the action was so good. even though there are no secrets on this site, i’m gonna have to go against saying where this lake is. if anybody wants to know, message me!

I’m also getting several nice crappies and bluegills. I’m finding them along the shore on warm days on University Bay on Lake Mendota. I’ve also been staying occupied with blue gills on our farm pond. I’m going to try the area I fish 90% of the time on Lake Monona along the east shoreline between the Winnequah and Tonyawatha boat launches this Saturday and Sunday. I have no problems catching my limits of blue gills from early spring to late fall and also pick up several crappie, perch, and bass. Multi-specie days are common on the lake, the chain is great fish hatchery. Early spring is best inside the weed beds along the shoreline, as the water warms I do best inside the weed bed while most guys stick to the outside weed edge. I always use the lightest pencil bobber available, a dark swivel snap, pre-snelled #8 gold Eagle hooks, and Berkley Power Wiggles all year – I can’t keep ’em off the hook with that combo! This year I may try to find the walleye on the lake, I also haven’t been successful with northern pike. I usually save fishing for pike for my trips up north to Spirit Lake.

Let me know if you’re ever on Lake Monona, maybe we can hook up there since it didn’t quite happen on the river.

Get info Databoy and Thank you. I will for sure be coming to lake Mendota to fish this year. I all ready have my launch pass. Its just of matter of time when I will be there. I want to find the small mouth bite. I have all the maps for this lake also and have been studing them. When I do come over in the next couple of days I will be fishing for pan fish. I’m waiting for that 70 degree day. What is the depth that you are catching pan fish?

The pan fish are right next to shore in 1-3′ of water. The water is so clear you can watch ’em make their pods for spawning. I look for sandy bottoms on Lake Monona with some pieces of gravel the fish push together. If you quietly troll or wind drift across the sand and don’t disturb the surface you can see the little circles of gravel beds and usually a fish or 2 suspended just above them. I also look for sections along the shore that appear less developed, they seem to hold more fish. As the water warms on sunny days casting under and around the piers will guarantee a strike. I catch some fish within a foot from the shore. Moving in quietly is key or you’ll scare them off their beds and have to wait 20-30 minutes for the fish to return. I’ll be there Saturday and Sunday in my tub, if you’d like to find me and/or the fish let me know and I’ll get you some more detailed directions. My favorite launch is the Winnequah launch, my favorite spot is only a couple houses from the launch so I’m usually catching fish within 2 minutes of getting the boat in the water. Since I have such a small boat I also found that staying out of the wind in calm water produces more fish and the launch there is protected from most strong winds except straight out of the north. Last spring the smallest gill I caught there was a keeper, most run 7-9″. I can’t wait to pound them again!

hey databoy, can you give me some detailed directions to one of these launches? i have launched by the hospital with my brother but don’t know how to get there from my direction. i would be coming from 94 going west. thanks!!

Hey Lundmann23, giving up on the river eyes too? Since you guys have been good to me I’ll give away my secret pan fish spot which is right near my favorite Lake Monona launch. From I-94 hop on the beltline and go West which is an exit off the left lane onto Hwy. 12/18 as your coming into Madison. Take the 2nd exit to the right off 12/18 which is Monona Drive. After a couple miles you’ll see the Monona Golf Course on the right. At the north end of the course take a left on Dean Ave. Go 8 blocks and take a right on Winnequah Road, go 2 blocks then left on Park Trail and you’ll see the launch. My favorite hangout is a couple piers to the NE (right looking out to the lake) of the launch. If you get the DNR lake map you’ll also notice a couple deeper holes just off the beach that also hold crappie. Option 2: Continue on Monona Drive, at Madison it turns into Atwood Ave. Just past Cottage Grove Road is Olbrich Park which is one of the biggest launches with lots of rig parking (my launch only has street parking but the launch isn’t used by many people). Option 3: Go left on Winnequah Road off Dean Ave. then right on Winnequah Trail to the Tonyawatha launch, left of the launch is Squaw Bay where I hang out if I need to get out of the wind.

Mendota launches: I don’t fish Mendota much because of the higher size limits on game fish plus I don’t think the action for pan fish could get any better than on Monona. The easiest launch to get to without much city driving would be to exit off I-94 (again from the left lane) at Hwy. 30. Hwy. 30 ends at Aberg & Packers Ave. Go north on Packers Ave. toward the airport which is also Hwy. 113. Follow Hwy. 113 which veers off Packers Ave. onto Northport Drive. Just past Warner Park go left on Troy Drive then the next left onto Forester Drive. which ends at Woodward Dr. Go left on Woodward and you’ll see the Warner Park boat launch on Warner Bay (good pike bay in winter). Straight out from the launch is Governors Island with fishing hot spots off the island.

Option 2: Take Hwy. 30 but go left on Packers Ave. which turns into Pennsylvania Ave. which turns into Johnson St. Go right on Thorton Ave. then left on Sherman Ave. which will take you to the Tenny Park boat launch. which is on the Mendota side of the channel & locks (Yahara River) connecting the 2 lakes.

Option 3: If you want to experience both lakes, launch at Olbrich and go through the channel to the locks to Mendota. To keep the water levels up on Mendota they haven’t been letting much water through so Monona is down and the channel is shallower than usual so it may be slightly hazardous with a bigger boat. If you’re coming this weekend I’d recommend pan fish on Lake Monona. I could blabber some more here or you could send me email to [email protected]. Good luck

Gregg

databoy, thanks a lot for the info. i doubt i will make it this weekend but i will be there soon.

fished saturday, got our limit of crappies in 2 hours. all fish that we kept were all over 10 inches. also managed quite a few bass while fishing. i know the season is not open but they were slamming our crappie minnows. managed one near 5 pounds, pretty fun on ultra lights and 4 pound test!

Hey Lundmann23, sounds like you had some fun. I went out early Saturday morning on Lake Monona. The lake isn’t good yet. First the extremely low water made the launch I like unuseable for boats. There’s only inches of water extending several feet out and they didn’t even bother putting the pier in yet. I saw many large rocks capable of putting holes in many boats I never saw last year 30 yards from shore which will make bassing on opening day dangerous. There’s no developed weeds yet. It was pretty cold in the morning and I didn’t see any fish at all and gave up in less than 2 hours which was completely different when I went down to University Bay the last 70 degree day. I did mark several fish in the holes off the beach I mentioned before but couldn’t manage more than one nibble. I guess I should have waited until evening after it warmed up but I gotta fish when I can. Good luck to everyone on the opener, I’ll be up at Spirit Lake. For anyone wanting to fish the Madison Chain I’d recommend Lake Mendota where they’ve made an attempt to retain the water level.

it was a fun day. its about time i start catching some fish, since i din’t do to good on walleyes this spring. i’m not sure where i will be this weekend but hopefully i will be catching some nice fish!