Madison lakes 2009

[Jon]

Looks like the great diving has come to an end:
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL

Things have finally taken a turn for the worst, but we knew it was too good to last. This has been one of the best springs for diving, and spearfishing, in recent memory- especially after the lousy spring we had last year. :head

Monona had a ton of fish in her earlier in the year and Mendota is always great. We even got into Waubesa for some great days of spearing. Now that temps are above 70F the water has turned green and the Blue green algae has come in to make us sick. Looks like it's time to start driving to get to the good lakes.

I sold off all of my spearguns last year, so all of my fish were taken with my Hawaiian sling. I modified my sling with a shooting line so I wouldn't loose the shaft in the weeds. On at least a couple of the days I also used my monofin to spear in. This made things much more difficult, but I was trying to build up time in the new footpockets to get sued to the fin- and still managed to limit out in te process.

Here's a few pictures I took from some of my catches.

Jon

 

[Jon]

I should also note that I've been using a ankle brace all spring since I sprained my ankle while ice skating with my kids this past winter. I took the foam padding out of the brace and wrap it around the outside of my 5mm socks. With a bit of silicone spray I can even get it to fit into my monofin pocket.

Here's a few more pictures from the spring.

Jon

 

[cdavis]

Looking at the pics, I get the distinct impression that Jon's stringer is bigger than Ted's How can this be?? Trick photography? Is the sling really that good? How will this play out later in the year when the fish are not spawning? Methinks there is a good tale here somewhere.

Connor

 

[Jon]

Ted doesn't have any kids yet and can pretty much get out and dive any time he wants. Needless to say, he has MANY more stringers full of fish than I do. On the days I was able to dive with him this spring he was on a mission for certain types and sizes of fish. I was on a mission to stuff my family with as much fish as they could eat- which made my kids pretty darn happy. :inlove

Maybe he'll post some of his pics on this thread. I know that there are others who did pretty well this spring. We had over 30' of vis at one point, but that's long gone.

Jon

 

[Tass]

You are right Jon, it was a good spring. It is nice to be in the area this year, and my family is grateful too. We have had great clarity in Marquette County as well. Whopperhead and I went out a few days ago to Wood lake, and did pretty well. We had to hunt for the keeper blue gills, but in about two hours we took around 20 blue gill and a couple small crappies. Clarity in Crystal Lake (Marquette Cty) was around 20fov last week and I have another to check next week. I will be camping with family on Luna Lake (Forest Cty) next and am sure I will enjoy great vis. Spearing is also allowed in Forest Cty - so we won't starve.

 

[Whopperhead]

Most of the Fish I got this Spring came from Lake Mendota- Crystal lake had a lot of small fish, with some Decent size Crappies. Looking forward to Lake Michigan and Lake Geneva.

Had a meal of crappies tonight for dinner- was delicious. Kids loved it.

 

[the_duckinator]

Sounds like Mendota's vis is gone already? I was hoping to get out again this weekend. Oh well...

 

[unirdna]

Mendota deep hole had 25 feet of vis today, but the shorelines are all CRAP! The right wind has potential to open a fishing area here and there. But, I wouldn't make any trips to Madison, hoping for vis. Things are very day to day, and soon to be all over.

This spring was "the year of the crappie" in the Madison lakes. They were everywhere. I had my legal quota before I left for the Bahamas at the end of May. I even bought my wife a fishing license so I could double it (200 fillets). Even then, I had to eat quickly to make room for my favorites (bluegill and perch). Crappie is really good eatin' - but, bluegill and perch are even better, IMO. And both were hard to come by this spring, while crappies continued to be everywhere. I found bluegills suspended at 20 feet deep, in clouds of daphnia. Perch schooled in 20-25 feet of water at the bottom. You couldn't see any fish from the surface, so hunting required a LOT of diving. And the school kept moving, so it took a lot of calories to get them... On the day I got 14 perch, my dive watch recorded 105, ~1 min dives. Hard hunting, but that just makes the fish taste that much better.

 

[Jon]

I've been hitting Devil's Lake lately. There's no spearfishing allowed there anymore, but I'm training up my 6 year old to join me on other lakes.

There are lots of fish, especially perch, who seem to know that we are no longer allowed to spear them- because they sure weren't this big, or numerous, back when we could spear there. :head

Water temps are in the 80F's and the vis isn't half bad away from all the kids on the beach. It's been a fun way to escape the heat.

Jon

 

[Paraaronoid]

I should also note that I've been using a ankle brace all spring since I sprained my ankle while ice skating with my kids this past winter.

Too bad that happened, that's why you are supposed to leave those activities to Canadians