Disclaimer: Before we get started, I do want to stress that this report is for current conditions as of today’s date and is based mostly on what I hear from other anglers. Many factors can cause ice conditions to vary, and what I report should NEVER be considered the final word so please be careful no matter where you fish. For up to date ice conditions please feel free to call the shop at 608.241.4225 and we can let you know what we’re hearing around town. Or, if you run into some sketchy ice yourself please call the shop and let us know or post in the comments below.

And again this week…with so much variance in ice conditions, I don’t hear about everything going on out there so posting your observations in the comments below really helps others so thanks in advance!

Weather: Well like I said last Friday if there’s no snow on the ice, sun and wind on a warm day are real ice killers and that’s exactly what we saw Tuesday. It was 53º, sunny and windy and some of our area ice took a major hit. The good news is temperatures dropped significantly on Wednesday and the ice that survived firmed back up nicely and some of the areas where we lost ice completely are starting to skim back over. The problem there is with the couple inches of snow we got last night it might be hard to tell good ice from bad so definitely be careful no matter where you fish.

The good news is after today, temps dip this weekend with some bitter cold moving in Monday and the extended forecast says we’re going to stay cold for quite some time so the funny thing is if that’s the case, we’ll be complaining about too much ice before we know it!

Ice Conditions: So like I said, with so much changing around the area it’s hard to know exactly what’s going on everywhere so please feel free to chime in with your ice updates in the comments. I’ll try and talk about the areas that I heard or have seen myself, were open water and even though they may have ice today or this weekend, that ice is new so please use caution in those areas.

Mendota has large areas of open water but also large areas where the ice held on so I guess it depends on your tolerance for thin ice but some of the ice that survived the rain and warm might be ok to fish this weekend but if you ask me, and especially with this snow covering making it hard to tell conditions, I’d probably wait til some of this cold settles in before venturing too far from shore.

So let’s start at the top:

Cherokee has around 8″ near shore and if I had to guess 6 or so inches further out. Do be careful out near the channel and the area from the island east to the shoreline near Manitowish Ln. as that was open water when I was fishing up there Tuesday.

I checked it yesterday and North bay has ice that actually looks pretty good. I couldn’t see any open water from Vieth Ave so I’m assuming that ice is still fishable but that good ice only goes out to about a line from Governor’s Island to the State Park.

The water beyond that was open just yesterday and I checked from Governor’s Island and there was open water all around the island, extending a little bit into the Warner Bay side but also stretching from the island towards the state park as far as I could see. I heard you could launch a boat at Governor Nelson State Park on Wednesday. I didn’t get a good look at the Fox Bluff area but a friend who lives in the Harbor Condos said he had open water or maybe a skim on the west basin as far as he could see but maybe some ice starting again between Marshall Park and Spring Harbor. Speaking of, I’m not sure the condition of Spring Harbor or Marshall Lagoon.

I want to thank Matt who called in this morning saying he was trying to get on University Bay and couldn’t. He said maybe an inch of ice and wanted folks to be careful because the whole bay is white with snow but the ice below is not safe.

The east end of the lake actually held up pretty well and I couldn’t see any open water from Maple Bluff Wednesday but there was a small pocket of open water right at the base of the bluff itself.

Warner Bay still has good ice out to about 200 yards like we’ve had for weeks but the ice beyond that looked pretty sketchy yesterday. I would also use caution near the outfall of Warner Lagoon as there was some open water there earlier this week.

This one is a head-scratcher. Monona is 1/3 the size of Mendota but it lost almost all the main-lake ice on Tuesday and was basically wide open by the end of the day. Wednesday I saw some ice stretching a good distance from shore on the Monona side but the majority of the lake from Olbrich Park all the way to Olin was wide open AND I saw a post from yesterday afternoon where someone said Monona had no visible ice. This amazes me because this time last week the entire lake had walkable ice outside of some holes including one large one along John Nolen Drive. That ice is now gone but somehow Mendota, which had much less ice was able to hold on to a lot of it.

I believe folks are still getting on Wiicawak and Turville Bays although I hear the hole of open water in Wiicawak is larger than last week as is the hole near the Winnequah launch so do use caution in those areas as well.

Monona Bay probably has 6-8″ but on Wednesday I saw a large area of open water out from the discharge in the area near just north of the Brittingham shelter on the West end. Both Triangles still had ice Wednesday but do be careful around the railroad trestles.

The path back to Upper Mud is probably passable now that we’ve been cold for a couple days but I haven’t heard any specific reports.

Waubesa ice actually held up pretty well and I heard 6-8″ pretty much everywhere although there was a larger area of open water near the trestle on the north end of the lake. I heard the Goodland Park launch was in rough shape and of course open water around and in the Babcock lagoon.

Basically the same thing on Kegonsa. The Fish Camp area is wide open and definitely be careful near Pleasant Springs launch but otherwise from what I hear there’s still a good 6-8″ and even though launch areas are pretty beat up, folks are still getting on with ATVs at the Sugarbush launch.

So all that being said, again, much of the ice conditions I just reported were after the warm weather this week and the cold we got Wednesday and Thursday have certainly helped firm things back up and after this weeks’ bitter cold temps, I bet we’re seeing ATVs running all over the chain so there’s that to look forward to!

Mendota: Cherokee folks have been getting good numbers of Gills with a bonus Crappie here and there but LOTS of small fish so you have to do quite a bit of sorting to get a 10 fish limit.

Warner Bay has had pretty good tip up action or mostly small Pike and maybe a Walleye close to dark.

North Bay has been getting a few mostly smaller Pike and Walleye but the folks I talk to can’t quite get out to the water they like just yet.

I know folks had been on Marshall Park and Spring Harbor but I’ve only heard one report off Marshall and it wasn’t great.

Monona: Not much happening on the main lake as it’s almost wide open or just skimmed over.

Over to Monona Bay, the south Triangle action has been hit or miss and they’ve been getting good panfish in the North Triangle with decent action on tip-ups for Pike and the occasional Walleye.

Of course it can vary from day to day but for the most part people are having great action for Gills in Monona Bay with a Crappie here and there. Most folks have been concentrated along the Brittingham park shoreline. Also decent action for Bass and Pike down there lately.

Waubesa: If you can get back to Upper Mud, I’ve heard some better reports for Gills and Crappie out of the dredge hole with good action for mostly smaller Pike and LMB on tip-ups.

Lake Farm has has been producing some decent panfishing but depends on the day. Tip-up action has also been pretty good over there for Pike during the day with some Walleye being picked up near dark. Definitely give the trestle on the north end of the lake some space as there’s a pretty decent current coming though there.

Sounds like they’re getting fish on the south end but both in the shallow bay and along Bible Camp but getting out there has been a problem with bad ice at access points on that end of the lake.

Kegonsa: I’ve heard about some decent, but spotty action for Gills in the weeds on the South end of the lake. I know folks are running around on ATVs looking for Perch but success rates vary. I have heard about some spotty Walleye action in the Williams Point area.

Area Rivers: Not much happening on rivers in the winter but it is fun to explore the many backwater sloughs along the Wisconsin River in the winter time but with recent fluctuations in water levels please be careful until we get some more cold out there. The fishing typically isn’t as good as you might find right here in Madison but sometimes it’s just nice to get out of town and explore some cool natural areas you might not be able to access the rest of the year.

Trout: Early Inland Trout Season is open but all the rain didn’t make for great conditions. I haven’t made it out yet but I talked to a couple people who have and got a couple fish! Winter is a great time to explore streams to prepare for warmer days because the walking is usually more pleasant and the water is usually pretty clear. No matter what you’re using, slow and low is the name of the game in the winter and generally speaking this time of year your bite window runs from about 10-2:00.