Lake Mendota

Out in the wind again this morning. Ran into a massive amount of Carp in about 16 FOW off Warner Park. The snapshot shows a small portion of what was out there. Tried dropping the camera down to positively identify them but the entire water column was completely churned up. Black on the bottom, no light penetration. On 2D sonar the whole screen was filled with crap. But water temp was 40.9°F, slightly warmer then it's been. Hopefully next trip will have calmer water! 

​Shore fished various areas on the south and west side of Mendota last night for a couple hours. Just used a shiner with a small split shot and slowly retrieved it bouncing off the bottom. Very slow retrieve. Had 4 hits and caught 3 of the fish. All bites were so soft I could barely notice them. Kept the 19" fish.

I found a debit card in the trailer parking area of Marshall Park today. If it could be yours, please message me.

Dropped the boat in at Gov. Nelson State Park to make sure everything was working and ready. No piers in yet.  Bring waders. The lake looks wide open, but webcams on the south side still showed some black ice a couple hundred yards out from shore. That should be gone soon. 

Unfortunate culmination of a number of factors affecting the panfish on Mendota.  Spiny water fleas and zebra/ quagga mussels affecting the perch recruitment and the blue green algae affecting the Gil’s and crappies.  Have seen the perch numbers dwindle over the last decade in my experience.  Unfortunately, I don’t think these new regs will fix the problems, it’s heading toward a situation like Lake Michigan.  Recruitment will never be the same.

Yes, it’s all over social media and the internet. Here is the other flyer. 

Correct

I just heard today that starting April 1 2024 that the pan fish limit on Mendota will be 10 fish combined Crappies,Perch,Bluegills,and sunfish not sure on Rock Bass and that the limit on Walleye's on all inland water will be 3 anyone hear about this.

Well it was kinda fun in this new climate where I fish open water in Wisconsin in February. I caught a couple walleye off shore in the last week at various spots along the south and west shore. But more often that not I ended up like tonight with nothing. I cannot figure out twitch type baits so I have been using shiners .. and I got a couple ... and missed a couple. Super light bite. Tomorrow is last night of season. Hmmm ... I still got shiners .... 

Out playing in the wind today, this time I remembered the Ulterra's remote control so I could shoot some videos. Clarity has improved in the shallows, still poor out deeper. Another I stress when doing training or seminars is to take some time and search out past the well known rock bars. The side scan snapshot shows an area of rock and smaller boulders well past a bar everyone fishes. The screen grab from the video shows (poorly because of water clarity) a lot of larger rock scattered around. As it also shows the bottom is harder around this area (lighter colored) and the depth is 43'. I've dove on some areas like this and you don't (usually) see any evidence of people being on them (no trash, beer cans, fishing lines or gear, etc.) This particular spot won't hold gamefish in the summer because of it's depth but could be worthwhile through the ice, early or late season. If I ever break down and buy an ATV I would definitely be checking out these areas. Surface temp was 36.6°F, in 40+ FOW camera showed 36.1°F. Only saw one SMB by larger rock in 15 FOW.

Stopped at Warner first to see how things looked there. All iced up yet past the breakwater but city Parks was there, looked like they were going to repair the busted up pier. Wish they'd pull that extra railing off the pier, so far everyone (including handicapped users) all say it makes it a lot worse getting into/out of their boats. The original short piece was a pain, now with the longer one added onto it it's an accident just waiting to happen. I caught myself before taking a header when I crawled between the horizontal posts to stand on my boat to get out. If it's supposed to be a handicap pier for fishing that's not what those piers are for. I have nothing against fishing off the piers, I've done it myself, but if that's the logic than add a floating pier (like at Marshall) and dedicate it for fishing or just mellowing out on the water on a nice day. OK, done ranting!