A Monster Swims Among Us - DNR crew nets record yellow bass in Lake Mendota

FITCHBURG – A potential world record yellow bass is alive and well and swimming in Lake Mendota.

DNR’s South Central Region fisheries crew here netted and released the 16.7 inch, three pound fish on Tuesday, April 14, reports fisheries technician Scott Harpold, Fitchburg.

Crews were conducting a comprehensive fishery survey using fyke nets on Lake Mendota where they collected and released the fish on the north end of the lake near Governor Nelson State Park.

“Yellow bass are a unique fish and it was pretty neat,” said Mr. Harpold.

Although present in Lake Mendota and the Yahara Chain-of-Lakes, Mr. Harpold noted that yellow bass are more abundant in nearby Lake Kegonsa.

The fish would better the existing state record – 14.4 inches, 2.2 pounds caught in 1972 from another Yahara Lake, Monona – and, according to the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, it would better the existing all tackle world record by one-half pound.