This article first appeared in our 2020 Annual Newsletter. Earlier this summer, Ted Bier was out on Lake Monona with the Madison skyline bobbing in the background collecting samples for the North Temperate Lakes (NTL) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. It was Bier’s 18th year with the NTL-LTER but, like most things in 2020, …
After a week of our walleye research in the news, it made us think back on past posts. Then we stumbled upon this one from 2013 when, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist, Kurt Welke, poured more than a quarter of a million fish into our boat slip here at Hasler Lab. Enjoy! …
We’re swamped here at the CFL, so apologies for the slow posting. Today, though, we’ve dug up a classic post on one of the aquatic rites of spring – the crazy sex life of bluegill. I know, I know, bluegill aren’t exactly a rare species. In fact, they’re often the first fish kids learn to …
Last Wednesday, a couple of researchers ventured out onto frozen Lake Mendota to drill through the ice and take their yearly winter samples for the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. A surprise awaited them as they broke through the ice. Instead of the usual cold-weather conditions of clear water with not much growing in it, …
Obviously Lake Mendota is still frozen over here in the Spring of 2014. But, two years ago, Madison lakes had officially opened up (i.e. thawed) on March 10th and, by early April, we were writing what proved to be one of the most popular posts in CFL blog history. Since we’ve been dreaming of spring …
Ted Bier, our senior research specialist for the Long-Term Ecological Research program, was recently photographed on Lake Monona holding this massive chunk of ice in front of the Madison skyline. That picture led to the following story on The Capital Times website: How thick is the ice on Madison’s lakes? Researcher Ted Bier almost didn’t …
Remember the polar vortex? It was just a vague memory before we stumbled across the following post from our archives. Perhaps we had blocked out memories of the winter of subzero temps cold enough to close down schools strictly on a windchill basis. But one thing is certain – it was a good year for …
Once again, the batter is coming out in the kitchens of restaurants across Wisconsin and folks are preparing to cap off another work week with the time-honored ritual of eating fried fish – happy Fish Fry Day everyone! Today’s special: black crappie. As any angler knows, May and June are good months for crappie fishing …