Special to Greatoutdoorgames.com
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin, which sells more than 1.3 million fishing licenses each year, will be the site for the ESPN Great Outdoor Games July 8 - 11, 2004.
The state is known for its angling opportunities, with 14,927 inland lakes, 2,674 trout streams (which end-to-end would stretch almost 10,000 miles) and another 5,000 warmwater streams that extend 17,500 miles.
In addition, the state borders two Great Lakes, with 860 miles of shoreline along Lake Superior and Lake Michigan and 238 shoreline miles of the Mississippi River.
Fishing takes place year-round, from large muskellunge, Chinook salmon and lake sturgeon to smaller perch and bluegills.
The Great Outdoor Games will be held in Madison, which is located on an isthmus bordered by Lakes Monona and Mendota. The Madison Chain of Lakes (including 9,700-acre Lake Mendota, 3,300-acre Lake Monona, 2,000-acre Lake Waubesa, 300-acre Lake Wingra, and 2,700-acre Lake Kegonsa) is connected by the Yahara River, and provides fishing opportunities to thousands of anglers.
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| Bass like these await Great Outdoor Games anglers. |
"The Madison lakes are really a fine fishery and have every indication of maintaining quality and quantity," said Kurt Welke, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries biologist responsible for managing the lake fishery. "We're under a tremendous amount of user pressure but the fish are healthy and robust."
Lakes such as Monona, with a high quality musky fishery, and Lake Mendota, with a very good smallmouth bass fishery, require that people use restraint when taking fish. To promote a trophy fishery for walleyes, bass and northern pike, state fishing regulations on Lake Mendota are higher than regular state regulations, allowing more females to spawn and adult fish to reach larger sizes.
Madison area lakes
In recent spring fyke netting surveys, Welke noted the largest pike was 40.2-inches, weighing 16-pounds, 2-ounces, but the DNR crew also caught a 37 1/2-inch pike that weighed 19-pounds, and others in the 38- and 39-inch range.
"We've got some trophy fish out there, which is how that fishery is being managed: to produce high quality, top quality predator northern pike. It's working," Welke said.
Lake Mendota has been known for years for its jumbo perch. In recent years the perch population has been at a low ebb, but several good year-classes give anglers reason to look forward to future years.
"The 18-inch size limit on walleyes seems to be working to produce good numbers and good-size fish," he said. "The proof is that we see males 20- and 21 1/2-inches long, which are strong, robust fish."
The biggest walleye the DNR crew netted was 29.6-inches, weighing 11-pounds, 10-ounces. There were good numbers of fish in the high 28-inch range, indicating good trophy walleyes.
"What I'm seeing in Mendota is that even though we have an 18-inch size limit, the fish are not all 17.9-inches. There are a lot of 18, 19, and 21-inch fish, which indicates there are a lot of walleyes and fishermen releasing fish."
The crew saw good catches of largemouth bass over 18 inches, and some up to 22-inches weighing 7 pounds which is a very respectable largemouth for this far north.
"Waubesa has much natural shoreline on the west side, which along with Upper Mud Lake, contributes to a good fishery," Welke said. "When you've got the habitat, everything else falls into place."
The lake can be hard to fish, because of the wind, and its bowl-like shape without a lot of underwater structure.
Anglers watching the Great Outdoor Games this summer can look forward to good fishing competition on the Madison lakes.
