9/16/08 Madison Chain Fishing Report
Lake Mendota
Tuesday Evening Conditions: Winds SSW 10-15 mph, Mostly Sunny, 65 deg water temp.

I headed out this evening for a couple hours to chase some bass on Lake Mendota. Although the windy conditions made running around less-than-smooth, I was able to find some fish. I tried weedline drop-offs, rock bank and weed flats. Out of the three, the weed flats produced the best quality fish.

Both noisy topwater baits and rattling subsurface lures were productive. I burned a Rat-L-Trap just above the weeds yo-yoing it in and out of individual pockets within the weed flat. The technique was great for numbers of fish. The flat also produced a 17” smallmouth which crushed a big Super Spook worked over 6 feet of water.

I did not fish too many docks this evening, however, the first one that I stopped at yielded a healthy 18” largemouth. I flipped a Ripe Melon Gambler Ugly Otter, and the fish was positioned on the outer edge of the dock between boat lifts in 4 feet of water.

In total, I caught around a dozen fish on the evening.


Rat-L-Trap Rig: Rogue Rods Magnum Bass MB664C, with 15-pound P-Line Floroclear, ½-ounce Gold-Black Rat-L-Trap, and 7:1 Shimano Curado DVHS.

Flippin’ Rig: Rogue Rods Flipping Stick (FS 766 XC) with 65 lb Power Pro.
3/16 Ounce Gambler Florida Rig Weight. Ripe Melon Gambler Ugly Otter.