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Posts: 794
Location: North Central IL USA | Anyone fish this lake? Do the Muskie make it down to this one. I hear it's good for Pike. Went to the state park yesterday to check out the ramp - VERY nice!!! Sunday afternoon and there was still enough parking for maybe a dozen vehicles with trailers. |
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Posts: 255
Location: MadCity Wisconsin | Although Lake Kegonsa is not stocked with muskie a few of them make it down the Yahara River from Waubesa, which is stocked. Some chance catches have been made but most muskie anglers dont actively fish it due to low numbers of muskie in the lake. The lake is full of Northern Pike.
The Lake Association there made some inquiries as to whether our local Muskies Inc. club would help them with stocking muskies. We were interested in helping but refered them to DNR for approval. Since then we have heard nothing.
FYI.........All Yahara Chain of Lakes have surface water temps way above 80 degrees as of last Wed. We are not fishing muskie until the water cools down. Could be a few weeks. |
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| Um... no they're not. Monona has only been north of 80 a few days.
Regardless, skip a photo and the fish will be fine either way. Fish on. |
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| Wauby was <80 today |
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Posts: 222
Location: c.wis | those mad city guys dont want extra pressure so they say the waters too warm- the fish really get snappin when the temps are up!!!!!!! dont bother with kegnosa, waubesa and monona are all you need- |
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| Not true.....we just like to take care of the fish better then most.....use some common sense and give the fish a break for a few weeks until the water cools down some. Already saw a dead 43" when out gill fishing.... |
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| the buoy on Mendota can give you a pretty good estimate of what temps will be on Monona and Waubesa. if anything, Mendota will be slightly cooler than the other two lakes due to size and depth.
http://metobs.ssec.wisc.edu/buoy/
looks like it's 76 degrees this morning after a cool night. and those temps go down at least 15 feet. the surface will warm up during the day, so while they probably won't be "way" over 80, they're definitely going to be warm enough to create additional stress for a caught muskie - and added delayed mortality.
starting this weekend we're in for a stretch of hot daytime temps (mid-90s) with warm nights (upper 70s) so the water temps are going to get pretty high.
choose to fish elsewhere for a couple weeks, or at least choose to water release.
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| With all due respect, there is little common sense being used with the 80 degree magic number theory. Fish are fine to C-P-R at 79 degrees but at 80 they're dead?
Common sense is to keep fishing, but skip the 'P'.
I agree that we should give them a break once temperatures are sustained 80, such as days when it's 80 even before sunrise. But to hang up the rods at 5pm in the afternoon because temps go from 79.9 one second to 80 the next is just silly. |
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Posts: 255
Location: MadCity Wisconsin | Guests and Guest 1........I dont wish to get into an arguement with you guys about when to fish for muskie and when to stop during extreme surface temps. It is simply your choice. I would just ask that you respect the resource and keep warm surface temps in mind.
My comments are based on past experience in releasing nearly 300 muskies in all types of weather conditions. My comments are also based on discussions I have had with fish biologists from the Eau Claire Wis. area and Dane Co., Wis. as well as warm water release experiences with fellow muskie anglers.
The second year I fished for muskie I caught a healthy, fat, 44" in 81 deg. surface temps near Eau Clairie, Wis. The fish was lightly hooked and released quickly. It went belly up after release. My son and I worked with this fish or an hour and transported it to a shady area. The fish finally swam down but may not have survived. Because I had never caught a fish in such extremely warm surface temps I suspected that this was the most logical reason for its stress. Two biolgists I talked to later agreed that the lyactic acid build in the fish's muscles during the fight and the warm water temps were the reason for the fish's stress.
A few facts about surface temps on the Yahara Chain the past week........July 6 at Noon water temps at 83 on Waubesa. Same day 82 on Monona at 2pm.
July 7-11 two bass anglers reported to me that surface temps were 82+ for that time period on both Monona and Waubesa. Waubesa was at 87 surface midday on 7/10! The water didnt cool down until air temps reached high 50s over night on Tues. 7/12. Surface dropped to 76 by Wednesday morning on Monona and back up to 79 by late afternoon. More cool overnight air temps last night and guys have fished the past two days on Monona and Wauby.
As in all things in life there IS a limit to what can be tolerated, IMHO.......81deg and above surface temps can kill a muskie during release. Many anglers out there agree. Feel free to disagree.
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Posts: 720
| Steve,
Great post. You've given all of us something to think about without coming across like a big jerk. While I agree with you 100 percent on fishing or not fishing when the water gets to its summer high. I would also make the same arguement you did for making your point. Your not judging, name calling or berating anyone. I hope people read this wheather you agree or not. Steve's made his point and without making anyone feel like a idiot.
I wish the people would take this approach more when trying to educate folks about catch and release. Great job Steve.
Edited by Hunter4 7/14/2011 8:19 PM
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| I do respect your opinion Steve, but I'll take you up on the "feel free to disagree" since nobody actually knows what fish can tolerate. 80 degrees is an arbitrary number (just a round number) based on zero science. I too have caught a large number of fish and have had exactly 2 fish go belly up after short battles and quick releases. Temps ranged from 76-78 in each case. So should we all quit fishing when temps hit 76? No, of course not. Fish sometimes just die. I've seen a couple dead muskies floating lately as well 'guest', but I saw a lot more in June. Can't suddenly conclusively blame warm water temps.
If fish can survive catch, photo, release at 79 degrees then they are certainly capable of surviving just catch and release at 80, 81, 82..... Keep the fight brief, keep the head in the water while unhooking, then let them swim.
To claim it's COMMON SENSE to give them a break at 80 is laughable. People shouldn't feel guilty for fishing because of some invented rule. |
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| Guest 1- with your logic
fish can survive catch, photo, release at 79 degrees then they are certainly capable of surviving just catch and release at 80, 81, 82.....
I would assume that 95 degree water temp would be fine. You can always make the case that one more degree will not hurt the fish. People in fishing clubs around this area including Steve put in alot of time, money, and effort into stocking these lakes. Almost all of these same people take a break during the high water temps for the sake of the fish. The 80 degree mark is a suggestion and you can do what you want but consider how you might be effecting others when you do it. Killing just one large musky costs the clubs alot of of money. I dont remember the fact but only a select few of the stocked fish make it to the 40" size |
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| That's exactly what I'm talking about Guest, you are assuming that I'm killing fish but we have no clue as to what the thresholds actually are. We know that warmer temps equates to more stress on the fish but the 80 degree mark is just a guess, not even educated because it's not based any science. But you feel comfortable taking a photo of a fish when temps are 79 but claim I'm killing fish at 80 even if I skip the photo op? It just doesn't make any sense.
As I stated previously, sustained 80 is the number I go by. My logic is if it's alright at 79.9, then there is no reason to think 80 is deadly. However, if temps are at or above 80, I reduce stress during capture (ie no photo) to compensate for the additional stress from warm water. Once mid day temps push 85+, I'll hang it up. Isn't that sound logic?
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| I think you're taking this a little to literal guess 1. Nobody is saying 80 degrees is instant death. Its only being stated that 80 is the threshold that many people stop fishing for muskies. That doesn't mean that those same people take no precautions when the surface temps are in the high 70s. I can only speak for myself but I can tell you that I and many people that I fish with use that 80 degree mark as a rough guide. I may choose to fish in the high 70s but I can assure you that I take plenty of caution then too. |
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Posts: 132
Location: Missouri | mitcj - 7/14/2011 10:34 PM
I think you're taking this a little to literal guess 1. Nobody is saying 80 degrees is instant death. Its only being stated that 80 is the threshold that many people stop fishing for muskies. That doesn't mean that those same people take no precautions when the surface temps are in the high 70s. I can only speak for myself but I can tell you that I and many people that I fish with use that 80 degree mark as a rough guide. I may choose to fish in the high 70s but I can assure you that I take plenty of caution then too.
X2 |
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| i would give the lake a break once you have sustained water temps in the low 80's. If water temps shoot up during the day to the low 80's and back down at night just use some common sense. Bring extra hooks, split ring pliers, and a hook cutters. Those 3 tools should be the most important this time of the year. I start snipping hooks the second the fish is in the net unless it has thrown the lure. last year when the temps reached the 80's I was still pulling bigger fish out of open water. All swam away like hammer handle pike. Be fast and use some confidence when unhooking the fish. NO Matter what the water temps get the fish back in the water asap. |
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Posts: 794
Location: North Central IL USA | Well I'd more than likely be fishing alone so any pics taken of a caught muskie in 80 degree water would be of one in the net, in the water. |
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Lake Kegonsa, WI