It has been a hot minute since posting a fishing report (mostly due to technical difficulties) but we are back! This spring has been a roller coaster of weather changes making fishing somewhat interesting. That said, here is what has been going on in our area and on the Green Bay system too! With gamefish closed on the Madison Chain (and other inland waters excluding the larger rivers) we have been on the Wisconsin River getting our walleye fix. With the high water we have ha

For all of you who have been out fishing the past couple of weeks, you already know how awesome the action has been! For the rest of you, here is where the hot bites have been and what they have been biting on! Panfish The bluegill bite has been nothing short of phenomenal on Lake Monona lately with the suspended bite in full swing. Most fish are being caught on the North end of the lake out of Olbrich park with fish in 20 to 40 feet of water, about 10 to 15 feet below the su

Overall fishing on the Madison Chain has been outstanding the past few days! Despite the boat traffic and heat there is plenty of solid action from lots of different species. Here's the scoop on what has been working and what it has been working on! Hard to beat a day of chasing big bull gills in the shallows The panfish bite on Lake Monona and Waubesa has been excellent with a mixed bag of everything from bluegills and pumpkinseeds, to crappies and perch. They are hitting ju

Spring is officially here in Madison and with it, spring fishing! Although the bite hasn't been easy in some cases it certainly feels good to be chasing big fish again! Here is what has been going on here on the Madison Chain! Lake Mendota Water temperature is key this time of year. Find the warmest water, find the fish. Lake Mendota has been very dirty as result of an early cold-water algae bloom. Due to the dirty water, temps have been slightly higher on Mendota than the re

Finally open water is upon us here on the Madison Chain! Although the weather has been less than consistent the panfish bite has remained pretty good. Here's the lowdown on the fishing happenings here in Madison! PANFISH! As we all know gamefish is currently closed until the first Saturday of May, however panfish are fair game. The Bluegill and Crappie bite has been pretty decent in shallow bays and inlets all over the Madison Chain, especially on Lake Monona. Shallow mucky i

Trout are an absolute blast to catch through the ice, but they are notoriously picky fish. Using tip-ups for these fish is a great way to have extra lines in the water and increase the chances of hooking up, however, since they are so picky, a subtle presentation is often essential. The leader is one of the most important parts of the setup. Using light mono or flouro will work; try to avoid anything over 12lb test. For the hook, I use a size 6 or 8 octopus hook with a crappi

Any ice fisherman understands the value of being able to see underneath the ice, most often by means of an ice fishing sonar like the popular Vexilar or various Humminbird and Garmin units. While these pieces of equipment can be crucial to finding fish in the winter, the price tag can sometimes be hard to justify. There is, however, another way to get the same results with the gear you may already have. The main object you will need to make your own ice fishing sonar is a sim

One year ago, I entered into the best time of my life, fatherhood. Not only did I enter it, but I dove head first with a set of wonderful twin boys! The first year was everything everyone said it would be, from the zombie state of sleepless nights, all the way up to the smiles and giggles of past few months. No matter how many bottles I washed, diapers I changed, or sleepless nights I endured, one thing never totally went away. My passion for fishing. I love my boys and wi

Do you ever find that your leaders end up getting kinked, twisted, or twirled from storage? Whether they end up in a box, buried in a bucket, or spun around the tip-up spool, leaders usually wind up unorganized and usually kinked or bent up. Here is our simple and inexpensive solution to keeping tip-up leaders straight and ready to rock. What You'll Need The materials are very simple and can be substituted for larger or smaller components as you see fit for your needs. As an

With hard water right around the corner, now is the perfect time to start getting the ice fishing gear ready to rock. Unfortunately many anglers tend to neglect their ice fishing gear, especially tip-ups which can lead to the all too familiar broken line or leader right as the fish reaches the hole, or missed strikes due to poorly lubricated moving parts. Here’s a few tips to help take your tip-up game to the next level and get them ready to slam fish all season long. Tip-ups