When Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin froze over a few days after New Year’s Eve, it marked the beginning of “ice season,” a time of year when (once the ice gets thick enough, of course) …
ice fishing
Where Does Lake Mendota’s Freeze Date Fall in Historic Average?
In case you missed the news, Lake Mendota was officially deemed “frozen” by the Wisconsin State Climatology Office on Sunday. That January 3rd “ice on” date is about two weeks later than the median freeze …
Video Uses Virtual Reality to Talk Ice Safety
The “ice off” pool has officially opened here at the Center for Limnology, which means we’re all waiting to see when Lake Mendota will thaw this spring. (The forecast indicates it won’t be this week, …
Winter is Coming? Tens of Thousands of Lakes May Spend Winters Ice Free as Climate Warms
MADISON – In many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, frozen lakes define the winter experience and create an indelible sense of place. From ice fishing and hockey to skating, skiing and snowmobiling, icy lakes enable …
Do You Ever Wonder What Happens to Fish in a Frozen Lake?
by Mason Muerhoff, @UWMadScience It is winter in the Northern Hemisphere. The vicious cold has transformed the scattered blue lakes of the North Woods into white disks — barren wastelands of ice. The harsh winds …
Guest Post: How Do Fish Handle Cold Water?
Each winter people ask us what, exactly, is everything doing down under that ice? As those ice fishing shanties dotting the frozen surface of our lakes attest, fish are still active. So how, exactly, do …
Holidays Are Over, 2018 Has Begun and Lake Mendota is Frozen
Welcome back to our blog! We’ve got big plans in store for 2018, but first wanted to touch base on something that happened way back in 2017 – December 27th, to be exact. If you …
Blog Redux: What Less Lake Ice Means for Ecology, Economy and Ourselves
NOTE: This post originally ran on January 17, 2012. In the four of the five years since this post, Lake Mendota has frozen over well after its “median” freeze date, and in three of the …
Best of the Blog, 2016: What Do Fish Do Under the Ice?
We’re taking a look back at some of the CFL’s most popular blog posts from 2016. Here’s one originally published on back in 2015 about what life is like under the ice – considering Lake …
Fish Fry Day Video: Ice Fishing in Madison, Wisconsin
Andrew Stevens is a graduate student working on a master’s degree both with Pete McIntyre in Freshwater and Marine Sciences as well as the Water Resources Management Program here at UW-Madison. He’s also an avid …