Spearing/Clarity Report - Central Wisconsin

[kalin]

If I am not working I am coming,,(don't know yet) I have seen Devils Lake only from above

 

[Dannyk]

Scott,

I will try to make it. Of course it depends on what I have for work and family obligations. Are you meeting at the north or south end?

Dan

 

[Whopperhead]

Change of Plans- My sitter told me she can't watch my little one tuesday- due to Family emergency- So, I cannt go- I usually would enter in at North End.

 

[FishHunter]

Hey Guys,

My name's Ben and I'm from Tomah.
I just got into freediving and spearfishing this summer. I love it and can't get enough!

I've been to several lakes in WI but definitely NEED HELP and advice finding good lakes to go to.

I love shooting carp, but getting some panfish would be cool too.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Whopperhead]

Hey Ben- Welcome to Deeperblue.com! There is a load of information on this website. I hope you can find or get help with what you are looking for and maybe see you out there.

 

[Dannyk]

Hi Ben,

Have you found any lakes near you with good visibility this time of year?

Dan

 

[FishHunter]

Wazee, but I use that mostly for freediving and practicing. Haven't had much luck finding decent sized panfish or carp. Saw 1 alright crappie & 1 carp (2 occations, didn't know there was carp in there). I always see a ton of bass and sometimes a few walleyes. My speargun doesn't get much action there.
How do you guys do there?

 

[Whopperhead]

A Carp?- I've never seen a carp there- I see SUCKERS, but not carp. The Fish in Wazee are undersized. It's a Diving Lake not so much a spearfishing lake.

 

[FishHunter]

I don't know, sure looked like one to me. It was at least 24". The 1st time it really caught me off guard. I was diving and had my gun in the truck. After that, I always had it while diving. Just before Labor day I saw one again, but this one was BIG. I came around some trees, there was probably 8 nice bass, 2 walleyes, and then I saw the carp or sucker. I took a fast shot while it was moving away because I was about out of air and 30 down. I either missed or it didn't penetrate good enough.

What's the difference between carp and suckers? I've seen suckers before, maybe 12-16", but never any big ones. I've shot plenty of carp w/ a bow to know what they look like, common and buffalo.

What about lakes guys? I'm going out Saturday. I REALLY want to take a bunch of carp. Should I hit up Monona or where?

 

[slimsteve]

Hey guys I am looking to hunt on the weekend of the 3 or 10 south central south east up to about Milwaukee. Any info/imput

 

[Dannyk]

Anyone going out today? Sunny and going to be almost 70. Low last night was 50.

I had one cold/flu after another all last month, so I would really like to get out one more time this year.

I am thinking about some of the lakes by Oxford.

Dan

 

[Dannyk]

Well I went out..........well sort of. I drove the hour to the lake. This is my first year spearfishing so it was a new experience to see how the lake changed after all the plants died back. The lake looked twice as big. This lake is usually teaming with fish, but I couldn't see any. They must go deeper this time of year. Anyways after paddling around in my homemade diveyak, trying to find the fish, I decide to dive in and see if I could find them in the deeper water. Just then I heard a crack and my diveyak sagged down the middle seam So I decided to paddle back before it totally broke in two.

I will have to make a minor repair and change to it, and it should be better then before. It is probably better for my health that I didn't get in the cold water anyways, as I am not totally recovered from the cold/flu. At least my wife was happy.

Dan

 

[Whopperhead]

That sucks Dan. When we were at wood lake last week- I found most of the pan fish in about 15-20' FOW. Except for the super large PIKE and BASS- those were real shallow.

 

[Dannyk]

Hi Scott,

Have you ever tried Deep lake just west of Wolf. It only has walk in access from a parking lot. I will have to get a small inner tube to put my flag in before I can try it out.

There are so many lake I want to get into next spring. My suit is only a 3/2 mm. I don't know if it will be warm enough when the season starts. I also have a rash guard suit I put on first.

Dan

 

[Whopperhead]

Tass jumped in Deep lake ONCE - it was summer, so, the vis at that time was not the best. haven't tried it in Spring or Fall.

 

[Tass]

Man, I have to get back into the groove of spending time on here - looks like I've been missing opportunities in my backyard. I will go check out Deep Lake this morning. Not sure if I'll swim it, but I'll go look.

 

[Tass]

Checked it out and it didn't look too clear. It is really hard to tell there from the one vantage point though.

 

[FishHunter]

A Carp?- I've never seen a carp there- I see SUCKERS, but not carp. The Fish in Wazee are undersized. It's a Diving Lake not so much a spearfishing lake.

Confirmed: There are CARP in Wazee! I went out Saturday. Saw a bunch of trout, a couple smallies, and some BIG CARP. Saw the carp on 3 different dives, close encounters too. There was NO DOUBT they were carp. And they were all big (ranged from 20-30 lbs).

1st time I saw 3, hit one, but it didn't penetrate good enough. 2nd time there were 5 or 6. I shoulda just plugged the one right beneath me, but I tried to get a shot at the biggest one and couldn't. 3rd time I saw 2, but I wasn't able to get a shot off when they were within range.

The water clarity still isn't very good yet, ~10-12 ft or so where I was at. Water temp was 60 by the shore, so probably a little cooler if I would have taken it out a little bit.

 

[FishHunter]

Here are some pics from the day before Easter this year at Wazee. Water temp was 40. I found these two, Trout & Walleye, hung up on branches underwater, snags & broken lines from fishermen.

 

[unirdna]

Twenty pound carp? Those would have to have been planted.

I guess we now have a reason to bring the guns. Chara is a major part of Wazee's ecosystem. And carp ravage chara.