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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | For those of you planning to Fish Wingra for the southern opener . They are dredging the launch area now. There are no docks there and the asphalt is tore up.
Hopefully it will be done by the opener but don't get your hopes up. Will try and update next week. This is the wisconsin opener. |
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Posts: 706
Location: Richland Center, WI. | Thanks for the info.
Ken |
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Posts: 50
| Are the muskies done jumping the little waterfall into Wingra already this year? I'll be in Madison this weekend for Crazylegs and wanted to see it...again.
JTM |
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| Are the muskies done jumping the little waterfall into Wingra already this year? I'll be in Madison this weekend for Crazylegs and wanted to see it...again.
reports i've heard is that it's starting to wind down, but worth stopping down for a look.
here's some video from the State Journal of the muskies at the spillway:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/media/muskie/index.html
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Posts: 1059
Location: Medford, WI | Mike, thanks for the link. Always love to see muskies, and it looks like the youth were getting educated about them too!
Some really good footage in there. |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Good footage! What dumb fish we fish for! Haha! |
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Location: The Yahara Chain | I heard that the pier is in but the asphalt is not repaired yet. I will check it out next week. My plan is to fish Wingra on the opener but I have a funny feeling that some how my boat will end up at Wauby instead. |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | If you fish wingra there will be about 30 other boats on the water with ya on sat.The flatlanders always have an outing on wingra on the opener,I`ll be working but might fish twin on sun. |
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | Here is the boat landing at wingra as of 4/26 2 pm
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Posts: 114
Location: Chicago | I have never fished the Madision area lakes before and would like to give Wingra a try this weekend. I have some basic questions and am having difficulty finding info. Does anyone know if:
1. If the launch shown above is a public landing, if so where is it located, and has it been repaired?
2. Is there a HP restriction on Wingra?
3. Is there a bait shop nearby?
4. Current conditions?
I know this is alot to ask, any help is appreciated.
I will report back.
Thanks
Edited by Dave K 10/3/2008 11:16 AM
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Posts: 8782
| Hi Dave.
HP restriction, Yes -- no motors allowed on weekends, i.e trolling motor only. During the week it's a 9hp limit. Dorn's in town is the closest bait shop. I haven't fished it this year, so I can't tell you about the launch or current conditions. It's the kind of lake that's good to take a kid on for their first muskie, or for the opener like many do, when you just gotta catch a fish. Not very challenging, and all the fish I've ever caught there were all the same -- 30" - 34" and skinny. It would be a riot with a flippin stick and a small crankbait, but if I'm going to go muskie fishing, and I'm driving 2 hours + to do it, I'd rather fish Monona and know that I have a shot at some heavier fish.
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Location: Contrarian Island | EA, you've actually caught fish out there? haha. the fish in there are getting bigger...7 or 8 over 40" in my boat this year with very limited time on the lake...it is very EASY to fish though....most can't screw it up ...the fish are also getting heavier with less fish stocked they are fattening up...
still not going to get the slobs you will on wauby/monona but it has it's moments it can be a riot..the other nite we moved 25 and put 5 in the net with some lost and missed..
as far as conditions...water temps are about 61.. suckers are starting to get bit....
I've never heard of a 9hp motor limit on the lake? it is slow no wake mon-fri, electric only sat/sunday
public landing gets pretty full, you have to back your trailer on to the grass, do not block sidewalk. It's straight towards the lake off Monroe street on Knickerbocker, do a mapquest search
here are a couple not so skinny 40"+ fish we've put in the boat out there....it's an easy lake yes...but when the other lakes have tons of floating weeds are you take guys that haven't caught a ton it can be a blast ...
closest bait shop is dorn hardware on midvale...baitshop is down the stairs.
Edited by MSKY HNR 10/3/2008 12:00 PM
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| During the week it's a 9hp limit.
are you sure? lots and lots of people trolling out there with mid-size 4-strokes during the week. i always thought it was "slow no wake" during the week.
Dorn's in town is the closest bait shop.
Dorn True Value Hardware
1348 S Midvale Blvd, Madison, WI 53711
(608) 274-2511
the fishing/bait shop is downstairs.
I can't tell you about the launch or current conditions.
the ramp is fine. there is very limited parking, so you'll want to get there early. park with your truck in the lot and your trailer backed up onto the grass, just don't cover any part of the walking/bike path.
It's the kind of lake that's good to take a kid on for their first muskie, or for the opener like many do, when you just gotta catch a fish. Not very challenging, and all the fish I've ever caught there were all the same -- 30" - 34" and skinny.
since the DNR stopped overstocking a few years ago the numbers have come down and the size has increased. 40" class fish are caught on Wingra quite regularly now. it's still an action lake, for sure, but it's improving quickly with better management practices.
i mean, ummm, yeah, it's terrible. stay away. 
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| deja vu, brad...lol.
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Posts: 114
Location: Chicago | EA/BN/Lambeau
Thank you for the information. I'll give it a shot this weekend and let you know how I did.
Thanks again |
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Posts: 250
| BN is right about not having your trailer across the bike path. It is not posted but if you do, they will issue a $25 fine, know that from experience. I will be there both Saturday and Sunday. I am in a little Red Ranger casting baits and soaking sausage. Say hi if you see us out there.
Steve |
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Location: Hayward WI | I was out on 10/1. Water temp was 62 with 1-2' of visibility. Talked to guys who were catching fish out from the ramp in the middle, casting and trolling. Topwater and bucktails were working, got this one on a homemade double 10 in the dark.
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Posts: 8782
| I was told by someone who guides on the chain that "I can't run the big motor here, only the kicker, because there's a horespower limit. That's why you see so many of these little motors that are 9.9HP, the lakes with a HP restriction are usually 10HP. They even yelled at me once for power loading at the landing, so now I jsut keep the big motor trimmed up and don't even start it."
Never actually looked up the regulations myself, so I could be wrong.
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| you are wrong |
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Location: Contrarian Island | sorry EA that was me and I forgot to put in my initials...no really you rock..you chime in like you know the lake so well but you admit you don't even fish it, and clearly haven't fished it in years? And have only caught 30 -34 inchers..maybe next time save the keyboard wizardry and let those that actually fish it chime in....sort of like me posting on the fox chain...um yah, wouldn't do it...cuz i don't fish it.
there are plenty of fish in there over 40...maybe you should go try to catch one...
Edited by MSKY HNR 10/3/2008 2:07 PM
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | there are times i'd consider punting on second down |
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Posts: 250
| Jeff, Jeff, things are getting better on Wingra. Last year we had a 38 inch average in my boat out of there. This year we will find out once the fall is over. Right now, no, but I have not fished there like I have in years past. I will post on how we do this weekend. Should be good with the cooler weather. The biggest in my boat out of there is 44, but I know of a 48 caught about 5 years back and a 47 caught this year. Yes, it is a numbers lake, but like you, I have to put $40 in gas to get to Madison and I want to get bit. I like Wauby and Monona, but don't belittle a lake because it has small fish and is getting back to having a good number of 40 inch class fish. You are cutting me deep with those comments.
Steve |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | Fumble |
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | There aren't any big muskies in there only lots of 30''. Any way water temps there this morning were 58 degrees when we left . We had some action and thats all I'm going to say. Sounds like its going to be a zoo out there. You boys play nice if your out there. We were out on Monona last friday at 6:30. First boat we see is the Dane county sheriff. Hard to believe at 6:30 in the morning. At 7a.m. there are TWO water skiers. I only seen 1 other boat fishing skies We had one hit and miss . Pretty slow out there. Water temps were 65 for monona last friday. Oh yeah I see they finally pulled out the barricade for their experiment . That is nice!!!!!!!!!!
Edited by Raider150 10/3/2008 2:53 PM
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Posts: 52
| Fished it today. 58 degree water temp. Boated a 24, 35, 39. Missed a 40+ and a 45+ that were hooked as well as had a couple other blow ups. Very fun lake for the 5 hours I fished it!!!!
Edited by Jazzy 10/3/2008 5:50 PM
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Posts: 574
| temp was 60 when I left.
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Posts: 281
Location: ROckford IL | Wingra does produces 40s from time to time, I got a 41"er there today
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| BigMan, Geez, the head on that girl is huge... First musky I ever caught came out of this lake on a figure eight, he was a small thirty. Only fished the lake twice in my life, but regarding this argument of size, let's all rest assured there are big fish over 40inches in here. C'mon, don't waist breath saying there aren't any, just assume that if you believe that it's because (A) You didn't see the pictures posted all over this thread, or (B) You don't have experience with fish that big here yourself.
Musky have frequented this water for years... Bet my thirty I caught fifteen years ago is a hell of a fish now!
...Touchdown |
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| another over 40 last nite and another lost over 40 for my buddy who has 6 under his belt now....EA you better go fishin there to hone those glider skills.... ; ) |
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Posts: 8782
| gliders? No way, man -- I'm gonna try jigging a buzzbait from now on. I hear that works pretty well! |
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Location: Des Moines IA | I wish you wouldn't have let the jigging the buzzbait secret out of the bag. That was going to be my secret weapon for the PI trip next week! |
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Posts: 413
Location: Madison WI | Is the night bite back on at Wingra??? I fished their from opener to about July 7th. I caught 8 muskies from there during that time, 3 on lakeside and 5 off the dam. |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | I'm heading out here on Wendesday...I have never fished this place in the fall...Are fish generally still in the remaining weeds and edges or do they start to relate to deeper water? Any thoughts would be cool, if not, I'll try both  |
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Posts: 415
Location: madison wisconsin | the average depth is about 8 ft so casting (or trolling) down the middle or hitting the weeds or edges will be good. It's a pretty small lake. Some refer to it as "the pond". There is some deeper holes that go to about 20 ft - if you are in your boat and facing the launch, to the right of it. |
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Posts: 574
| Fall is easy here cause it doesn't turn, and the fish dont have any cover other than weeds and the 1 hole. most likely fish will be on edges, but dont be afraid to rip cranks through weeds if they arent active. |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | sweet, thanks boys |
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Posts: 619
Location: Verona, WI | Hope you do better than me - 6 hours of trolling and 3.5 hours of casting and suckers and not even a follow. Weird for this lake.
Shane |
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| goin good on meat tonite, 3 hrs, 3 boated....took a guy out who had only boated 3 lifetime..gave him all the sucker hits..went 2 for 3 and I got a suicidal ski that ate my creeper as it sat motionless in the water next to the boat while I drank my beer...water temp at 55...
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | I was surprised to see so many boats out on a cold weekday today...
Artificial bite went dead after noon, picked up some suckers and banged a few. Had a suicidial fish cream a Spanky bait, that was kinda unexpected. |
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Posts: 3
| I would like to thank each of you for your commitment to Lake Wingra. If it weren't for your efforts I wouldn't have had another Madtown lake all to myself for the first 2 1/2 hours this morning. Thanks for making it possible for me to top my previous personal best of 40 with a thick 42.
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Posts: 413
Location: Madison WI | mikew - 10/24/2008 6:58 PM
I would like to thank each of you for your commitment to Lake Wingra. If it weren't for your efforts I wouldn't have had another Madtown lake all to myself for the first 2 1/2 hours this morning. Thanks for making it possible for me to top my previous personal best of 40 with a thick 42.
I was wondering if you had a picture showing the full fish, it kind of looks like the muskie I pulled out of there early in the season, just wondering if maybe its the same fish. |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | click on the picture of the fish,it will exspand. |
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Posts: 413
Location: Madison WI | Nope not the same fish, yours is tagged, mine wasn't |
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Posts: 280
Location: McFarland | Buddy finally got his first sucker fish last night after going 0 for 10 or so.
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Location: Twin Cities | Motor implies electric....
Gas would be an engine....
Find the loophole! |
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| I would buy an extra battery or two like was already mentioned. Problem solved. |
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Posts: 281
Location: ROckford IL | yeah Im going to have to get a extra for the weekends, that would give me a extra 6 hours on my boat. Sorry about using the motor out there guys, it will not happen again, I will use the trolling motor when im out there on the weekends, sorry if i caused any problems. I will jumping the gun for no reason
Edited by Bigman 10/30/2008 4:24 PM
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Posts: 281
Location: ROckford IL | Yeah I understand and like i said it wont happen again, I was being dumb before and should have known better. The extra battery that im getting today will help bigtime. |
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Posts: 8782
| Side note:
Are you guys calling in those tag #'s on those fish? I had a pretty lengthy discussion a while back with Kurt Welke (one of the local fisheries guys from the DNR) If you give them the tag # they'll tell you whatever history they have on the fish as far as when they tagged it, length and weight, and how many times its been caught or netted since then. Cool stuff... |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | esoxaddict - 10/30/2008 4:47 PM
Side note:
Are you guys calling in those tag #'s on those fish? I had a pretty lengthy discussion a while back with Kurt Welke (one of the local fisheries guys from the DNR) If you give them the tag # they'll tell you whatever history they have on the fish as far as when they tagged it, length and weight, and how many times its been caught or netted since then. Cool stuff...
Most of the tags are covered in pretty narley algue, it would take a wire brush to get to the number and probably too much time. Fingernails don't have enough force to get the stuff off. |
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Posts: 386
| Hey guys,
I'm taking my pop out next week -- he's never caught a musky and I'd love to get him on one. Any suggestions of what's working out there these days?
I'd greatly appreciate any advice! |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | cast the weed lines and have suckers out,your follows might end up behind the suckers.cranks,dawgs,gliders,krushers work good on that lake,and if your going during the week you can troll,small cranks. |
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| a buddy fishing w/ me got a 41.25 that was tagged..the DNR official emailed me the info on it...it was tagged back in 03 at 37 inches....in Waubesa...so it made the trek all the way up and ended up in Wingra....
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | is that an abnormally slow growth rate for 5 years or no? |
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| it was the fall of 03...about an inch a year...probably just a male....about normal...maybe a touch slow...I don't think Wingra fish grow as fast as fish that stay out in monona/waubesa |
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Posts: 315
| caught one on wauby that appeared to be a tagged fish at one point.....had a sore right where the tag sits....no tag though
is there anything i can or should do? i know they wanna know about all tagged fish |
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Posts: 413
Location: Madison WI | Wingra had the highest population of muskies per square mile in the state recently, however this causes them to not grow as big, as they are competing for food more. I am not saying that there aren't some big muskies in wingra cause I know there are but they aren't as plentiful as muskies on monona or waubesa. |
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Posts: 15
| CASTING55 - 11/1/2008 5:28 PM
cast the weed lines and have suckers out,your follows might end up behind the suckers.cranks,dawgs,gliders,krushers work good on that lake,and if your going during the week you can troll,small cranks.
Basically, bring everything you got. |
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Posts: 661
Location: Roscoe IL | Fished Wingra for the first time in 5 years yesterday afternoon. Only got about an 1.5 hrs in before a thunderstorm forced me off. The weeds are terrible and whatever they did to imporve it back in 2006 or whenever sure backfired. Incredibly difficult to work a lure on a weed edge without weeds fouling the lure. Too bad, that used to be a great little place to fish.. |
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