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Lake Mendota Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The most studied lake in the world fishes back: Madison's big water of perch lore, dawn walleye and ice culture at the university's door.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~66 F est.
Air / High
86 / 89 F
Wind
SSW 8 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Lake Mendota lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSW around 8 mph, steady pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 89. Water sits around 66 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeExcellent

Jig and minnow on rock reefs and points; the evening bite on wind-blown shores is the one to plan around.

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Northern pikeExcellent

Weedline spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits; bays with fresh green weed hold the active fish.

Yellow perchGood

Drifting flats and weed edges with small jigs tipped with bait.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 81 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp86 F
High / Low89 / 71 F
WindSSW 8-17 mph
Pressure1010.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain51% cloud, 30%
Sunrise / Sunset06:25 / 19:27
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~66 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Rain, 89/71 F, wind 15 mph, rain 30%

Fair or better. A 15 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Mendota: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: May-Jun, Oct

The glass-eyed prize of northern lakes. Low light, wind-blown structure and live bait. Jig and minnow on rock reefs and points; the evening bite on wind-blown shores is the one to plan around.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: May-Oct

Current and rock. Finds gravel flats, boulders and drop-offs, and fights far above its weight. Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: spring, early winter

The ambush predator of weedbeds and cabbage edges. Aggressive, big and always worth a wire leader. Weedline spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits; bays with fresh green weed hold the active fish.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Good most of the year

The great lakes and northern panfish staple. Schools tight to bottom; where you catch one there are fifty. Drifting flats and weed edges with small jigs tipped with bait.

When to come: the Lake Mendota calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Walleye
Smallmouth bass
Northern pike
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 66 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Mendota today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 82 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 87 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 86 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Wisconsin requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Wisconsin license. Walleye 18-inch minimum on the chain; pike and bass zone rules: check DNR.

Access

Marshall Park, Warner Park, Tenney Lock, University Bay accesses.

About this water

9,842 acres on Madison's isthmus, Dane County, WI. The birthplace of limnology, still producing.

Fishing Lake Mendota: the full guide

Science's home lake

Mendota anchors Madison's isthmus and the science of limnology itself: no lake on earth has been studied longer. The fishery wears the data well: strong walleye classes, resurgent perch, big-water smallmouth, and northern pike in the weedy bays: all patrolling waters where the university's buoys log every degree.

The walleye program

Dawn and dusk rule the clear water: trolled cranks over the bars (Second Point, the Triangle) in early summer, jigs on the rock humps at ice-out, and a night-trolling fleet that owns the calm evenings. Day bites happen on the wind: Mendota's size builds real walleye chop: fish the windward structure like a northern lake.

Perch, pike and bronze

The perch fishery: once legendary, now recovering: still delivers through the ice (deep mud flats, tungsten-and-spikes) and June's shallow schools. Pike prowl University Bay's weeds (a campus-side fishery students fish between classes), and smallmouth on the rocky north shore run bigger than the lake's reputation admits.

Four seasons on the isthmus

Ice season is Madison identity: villages off Picnic Point, salamander-rig pike flags, and the university's ice records stretching to 1855. Open water splits between the sailing fleet and the fishing one: dawn belongs to anglers. Launches ring the lake (Marshall, Warner, Tenney locks to Monona): the whole chain connects for the ambitious.

Common questions

Is Lake Mendota's perch fishery back?

Recovering: strong recent classes brought the ice crowds back to the mud flats. It is not the 1980s legend yet: but the trend lines (this lake measures everything) point up.

When do Mendota walleye bite?

Low light, period: dawn trolling in June, night stickbaits in summer, and the windy-day chop bite on the bars. The clear water makes noon a scouting hour.

Is fishing good at Lake Mendota right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Lake Wisconsin24 miLake Puckaway47 miDelavan Lake53 miBig Green Lake53 miPewaukee Lake57 miCastle Rock Lake59 mi
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