Mendota Madness

I’ve been a busy beaver the last two weekends. I’ve been doing some catfishing at Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. That lake is a catfish factory I am here to say.

Over the last two weekends, I have taken part in a channel cat fishing expedition to match no other. My freind from Madison refers to this time of the year as the Mendota Catfish Madness. After ice out, the channels go crazy until spawn usually in June (more about that later). I have participated in this fishery for two years so it is not just a fluke happening. Last weekend, we entertained some folks from Southern Illinois. A family of three women and the their Dad/Husband. The weekend before, it was just me, my son Jeff and Jerry (our host).

Our totals from the last two weekend:

146 Channel Catfish in the boats
Total weight 1720 pounds
Biggest fish…21lb5oz, 20lb12oz, 20lb0,oz 19lb13oz, multiple 16-18 pounders and I can’t count the 12-15 pounders we caught.

It was simply awesome.

One event that was a once in a lifetime occurance (never seen by many at all)…we saw these giant cats spawning last Saturday morning from 10:30AM – noon. They were in 1 1/2 FOW. Porposing, jumping, rolling, tailing and dancing together all around our boats. Tried catching some but they had something else on their mind.

Here are some pic’s from the trips:

Kim’s PB…15 something

Kara’s PB…13 something

Kristina’s PB…12 something

My PB…20-0

My sons PB…16-0

Jim’s PB..21-5

A double 17 for Jerry (our host)

And some random BIG’UNS

A total surprize…4-13 on a cut gill head.

Caught all fish in 1 1/2 to 5 FOW. Water temp in the mid 60’s.

Hope you enjoyed the pic’s…I know I enjoyed catching them all. Going to fish in a Catfish Tournament in Missouri this weekend…hope to catch a 70 pound Blue.

WhiskerKev on this forum is well aware of that fishery. He has posted many times about the action in that lake. Maybe we’ll hook up this year Kevin. That’s be fun.

And thanks to Jerry for showing me this fishery. He is an absolute outstanding host. Always let’s the new guy catch most of the fish in his boat just for the experience.

L8R…Ken

Well, I know what I’m doing on my next Madison trip!

Great catches!

Mendota, the Great Secret of Central Wisconsin!

I’ve been wanting to get over there for a number of years now. That lake must rival the Red River.

Thanks for sharing!

I forgot to mention that ALL of these fish swam away with only there lips and pride hurt. We want them all to grow up so we can catch them when they get BIG. These fish deserve to live so if you do venture to Mendota, keep CPR in mind.

L8R…Ken

Well, I’m certainly not going to be able to eat ALL of them!

Lol, sounds like they are past ideal keeping size anyways ; )

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I forgot to mention that ALL of these fish swam away with only there lips and pride hurt. We want them all to grow up so we can catch them when they get BIG. These fish deserve to live so if you do venture to Mendota, keep CPR in mind.

L8R…Ken

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Come on, you at least ate the bass, right?

Nice fish guys. If I catch you in my spots again I will plant mines.

Good God! I wish the MN DNR would start stocking Channels in some of the lakes in SO. MN that they currently consider “walleye lakes” No natural reproduction of eyes = CATFISH LAKE!!!

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Good God! I wish the MN DNR would start stocking Channels in some of the lakes in SO. MN that they currently consider “walleye lakes” No natural reproduction of eyes = CATFISH LAKE!!!

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No no no. We need to spend 20% of the budget stocking walleye in barren lakes. That’s called fish management when the public bullies the DNR.

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I forgot to mention that ALL of these fish swam away with only there lips and pride hurt. We want them all to grow up so we can catch them when they get BIG. These fish deserve to live so if you do venture to Mendota, keep CPR in mind.

L8R…Ken

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Come on, you at least ate the bass, right?

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Nope, bass taste all mossy…that’s why they came them Mossbacks. Actually, we cut it up for bait.

L8R…Ken

JK about cutting it up…we felt generous that day.

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Nice fish guys. If I catch you in my spots again I will plant mines.

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Which ‘spot’ was that Kevin…the one by the stump…wait, there aren’t any stumps out there. We looked for your jon boat, but never saw one. Did have some guy and his wife come anchor up right on top of us…only two boats we could see and he stopped right next to us. I was going to invite him in our boat for a spot of tea, but htought otherwise.

Kevin, I had an idea that I suggested to Jerry but got mixed reviews. Since you guys (at least you two) release those big old cats, how about putting some sort of tag in them so you can maybe keep track of them. Something that says who caught it before and some tracking number so you can see when it was caught and how much it has grown. Just something interesting I thought. Might be fun to see how many of those big ones you catch multiple times during the same year or if you caught one 5 years ago, how much it has grown.

L8R…Ken

It’s illegal for us to tag fish in MN.

It would be a good way to get all your gear possesed!

And I’m pretty sure everyone on the forums here release big cats, very few here keep any at all. (I might keep like 5 or so 5lbers over the course of a year.)

It is also illegal to tag fish here without the DNR as far as I understand it. Mendota fish are inedible they are so fat the meat is yellow through and through for any fish over a pound or two. I haven’t caught a fish that small in a couple years. These guys are fine in my book fishing anywhwere they want to. Fishing the lake in the spring is super easy as is ice fishing for them but the summer pattern is more difficult to master. I know it took me a few years to figure out and I’m still learning. If your approach is off you get blanked a lot. If your gear is not medium heavy or better you get broken off a lot. I’ve seen the lake empty but for me at night. The guys that try to fish cats fish it like a river and that isn’t the way to go.

I’m surprised you guys didn’t get a couple big ones. I’ve been stuck at home with weather issues or family stuff the last few weeks. I do intend to remedy that this weekend though.

Holy Catfish!

I’ll be in Madison the 31 of may thru June 3rd. Hopefully I’ll get to hook a few of those while the wife has her nursing seminar

I haven’t been on here for a week or so. Just saw this. Nice report Ken. It has been a phenomenal spring so far. I just love taking people out on the lake and having them catch the biggest fish of their lives. I think that hot weather we had back in March has had a bad effect on the bite though. I always catch fish when I go out but sometimes only a few. I don’t think it is normal for the cats to be spawning in mid May. Last Saturday most of the fish we caught were females and most had fat bellies (probably full of eggs). We have caught some females that had collapsed bellies though as if they had emptied out. I’m just wondering how long they will hang around the shallow areas after they finish spawning. I guess I’ll just have to keep pursuing them and find out how long.

The channel cats spawn when the temps are around 65-70 degrees. The main lake can still be 50 degrees. The females drop their eggs and head out to the weeds. The two weeks after they drop eggs all the males are guarding the beds. I’d be willing to bet most of the fish you guys got were males. The females rest for a day or so and go on a tear. The next 4 weeks can be great after dark.