Waubesa Lake, Dane County (all postings)

went shore fishing Babcock at about 2:20 pm, slip bobber and ice fishing jigs with spikes. caught 4 pumpkinseeds, all over 8" and one blue gill around 9". All were released. They seemed to only to bite if you slowly retrieved the bait if you let it site they would just look at it. All in all a good day.

Went shore fishing with some crawlers and small spinner baits south of Babcock today with a buddy and his 4 year old daughter. We managed to come up with 4 short largemouths (12-15 inches) 1 bluegill and 1 black crappie between 5 and 830 pm. Lake traffic looked pretty light for a Friday evening before Memorial day...only a handful of musky and panfishermen about I could see. Water is still very clear...I could see lots of panfish and small bass cruising the shallows.

Went drop-shotting in my waders tonight off Babcock. Bass bite was steady, but unfortunately many of them were shorts. Got 18 over roughly and hour and a half. Did get one beautiful 18" Smallmouth though at the mouth of the north channel. Was using Power Worms and Peanut Butter Jelly Power Lizards. Virtually no weeds out there anywhere, but it didn't seem to matter.

Spotted a giant beaver snacking on something on the lake side of the island between the two channels. Got to within about 10 feet of him and he didn't seem to care. Always surprises me how big they are.

Headed to BP to get some fatheads to check out the night bite at the launch, but apparently I got there at 10:00:03 and they were closed. Guess I'll have to get to bed early and go out after bass again in the morning. Provided the lake has not frozen .

You can do a season pass at the drop box. They have instructions on the envelope. Forgot about that.

There is usually a daily pass box at the launch, put your money in an envelope, drop it in the box and put the ticket on your dash or stick to your window. Not sure if you can do the season permit that way or not.

You can get them at Gander Mountain out on the interstate. I bought mine there.

Possibly BP across the road?

I was also wondering if anyone could help me figure out about the lake access permits. Are those available somewhere other than online? Nearby Babcock where I'm staying?

out searching Waubesa for a couple hours yesterday. Water temp down to 25' was around 65°F. Clarity decent enough to get some videos. Crappies and a few little smallmouth hanging around some broken down cribs. Marked some schools of larger fish on the muck flats, guessing they were carp (bottom all mucked up in a couple areas that I saw fish at and dropped the camera down). Rick

Went out this morning and the crappies and gills were biting a little. Started after bass and caught 6 over 15in in about an hour and a half and couple smaller ones. All pannies and bass released to catch again!

So I know how people are that fish a particular lake all the time. But I'm going to be at Waubesa for my first time this weekend and I'm staying at Babcock. I was just wondering what's hitting good and maybe looking for a few tips on where to go for some crappie, bass or walleye. And I was wondering how the pike population is? I would be more than willing to trade some tips for lakes around me in Illinois if youre ever going to be here. Also is the Muskie fishing THAT good like people say it is or is it just over populated?

Speaking of Musky Fisherman, I had a funny experience a couple weeks ago I watched a musky fisherman bail off of his boat in chest high water to retrieve a bait. I laughed hard for probably 15 minutes or so until he was able to get back into the boat. Made my day.

Last time we were out there (last wed) we did very well on bass (LM) using plastics from Rhyno Tackle Co. There were only a few small ones and most were probably in the 15-18" range in shallow. We fished the East shore south of babcock.

I'm hoping to get out there and shoot some carp soon, assuming the water stays as clear as it has been recently. Has anyone seen evidence of the spawn starting anytime soon?

And I can see not casting within casting distance of another angler, up north somewhere, but in madison when your working a small structure with 5 people pan fishing it, it can be pretty hard to stay that distance away, and still hit the good parts of that structure. the last thing I am trying to do is start an argument, i was just letting him know, that me personally, would prefer a nice gesture to move a little farther away.

I was not trying to claim that you were generalizing, I can only speak for myself, but I would really prefer you let me know that I was close to you, one because it is rude, and two because it would be a mess to get tangled with you line. just saves both fisherman a lot of wasted time, and stress.

I was out Saturday night bowfishing. I have never seen so many musky anglers out at night. It was hard to troll the shallows without cruising out to deep water to keep from cutting between them and there shoreline. ( I hope they appreciate that and return the favor when I'm panfishing.) And I saw a lot less muskies than normal. 0 big ones. The big gills were few and spotty in water shallower than 8 ft. Plenty of small crappie moving into the shallows. No big ones sighted.

To the guy looking for carp from shore. Most of the carp seem to be at the south end in the shallows, or the shallow flat east of the railroad bridge. The east and west shorelines hold very few fish so far.

Water clarity was excellant everywhere away from where the river current comes in. Or the back of the wind blown bays.

Lots of small walleyes. Only 1 large one sighted.

Saw some MONSTER drum.

The best bluegill loaded spot was... Oh. I'm keeping that for myself.