As the spring sun chips away at the ice on the Yahara Lakes, fishers have been steadily pulling dinner from beneath the glistening surface.
With three Fridays left in the season of Lent and limited time before warm temperatures break up the ice, anglers are taking their last opportunities to make their own Friday-night fish fry. Although the Friday-night feast is a tradition in the Upper Midwest, eating fish is never limited to one night of the week.
For Bryan McFarland, from Oregon, Wis., Saturday morning's catch was Saturday morning's meal.
\This morning I had fresh walleye with potatoes for breakfast,"" he said.
McFarland set up a shanty a quarter-mile south of the Yahara River inlet on the north side of Lake Mendota. He is an avid ice fisher who insists on the quality of the fish he pulls from the local lakes.
""You can eat fish every day for a month and not worry about it,"" he said.
Darrell Dahlk of Madison, who accompanied McFarland, explained that fisherman angle for different types of fish depending on whether they want to eat them or display them. If a fish gets too large, it does not mean it simply offers more to cook.
""A 40-inch pike might look fine on the wall, but isn't much for eating,"" Dahlk said.
For some fish, however, size matters. Walleye, for instance, are easier to clean, but perch are often preferred on the table.
""You can clean one 20-inch walleye or 10 perch,"" McFarland said. ""As for eating, I'd have the perch if it weren't for cleaning them.""
This past Saturday was the last day shanties could be on the ice, and many fishermen were reluctant to leave. One-half mile west of Governor's Island on the north shore of Lake Mendota, a cluster of people were busy taking down their shanties and pulling them off the ice.
Derek Theisen, a student at UW-Whitewater, was among those enjoying the warm weather and last day of the shantytown. He and Dustin Hermanson of Madison already improvised by taking an all-terrain vehicle and lawn chairs onto the lake. Thiesen said doing this allows fishers to stay out past March 5.
""People will be fishing here until the end of the month,"" he said.
Thiesen and Hermanson were not having much luck catching walleye as fish they pulled in were under the 18-inch limit. When they bring in something they can eat, they said they have some choice vegetables to go with their catch.
""We get potatoes, onions and mushrooms, throw them in tin foil and cook it up,"" Hermanson said.
The two usually fry their fish with an egg, milk and breading mix. Hermanson said they use a turkey deep fryer to cook their fish.
A little closer to Governor's Island, Mike Johnson and Zeke Wiske, both of Sun Prairie, Wis., were trying to catch walleye. Perch, they said, were not good enough to eat for the hassle of trying to catch them.
For Johnson and Wiske, fishing is matter of making a meal or bragging. He said the only thing he keeps goes in his stomach.
""If I don't eat it, I take a picture of it and release it,"" Johnson said.
For eating the fish, Johnson and Wiske said they usually fry it up like most fishermen do. They also prepare their fish by adding a lot of butter and grilling it.
For Johnson, Wiske and many Lake Mendota fishers, walleye and perch are their main catches. On Lake Monona and Monona Bay especially, people try to pull in bluegills and crappies.
Jeff Hisel, a senior at Madison East High School, put simply why he likes bluegill.
""It's just a good eat,"" he said.
The bluegill is a small fish, only the size of a man's hand. Though difficult to clean, bluegill is considered the finest fish to eat. Monona Bay, with its shallow water and abundance of bluegill, had the densest crowd of any of the lakes around Madison Saturday afternoon.
Dave Warner of Cross Plains sat on a five-gallon bucket and brought a bluegill out of the bay every few minutes. With half-dozen fish in a bag next to him and a couple flopping around on the ice, he did not mind that cleaning his catch would take more time than bringing it in.
""Cleaning-to me, that's part of fishing,"" he said. ""Some people clean smelt.""
Warner considered angling for walleye and perch in deep water but sticks with bluegill. He said they have no drawbacks when it comes to eating.
""There's no bad taste to them whatsoever,"" he said.
Most bluegill fishermen use their catch for a Friday-night fish fry. They freeze the weekend's fish and make one big meal. It takes approximately 10 bluegills to feed one person, and no one who catches and cleans them seems to mind.
While fishermen populate the lakes all winter and many only fish to eat, there are advisable limits to how many fish people should consume. Because many Wisconsin lakes have unhealthy levels of pollution and the Yahara Lakes have suffered problems ranging from agricultural runoff to excessive phosphorus, the Wisconsin Department of Natural has set standards for eating fish.
Kandy Schrank, a toxicologist with the Fisheries Management Program, said certain people should watch out for some types of fish.
""For women of child-bearing age and children under the age of 15, we advise that panfish like bluegill, sunfish, crappie and yellow perch are eaten one meal a week,"" she said. ""The rest of the fish should be limited to one meal a month.""
Other people should limit themselves to one meal of walleye a week while panfish has no limit for healthy individuals, Schrank said. She added there is little difference between Lake Monona and Lake Mendota in terms of contamination. Despite the advisories, fish can be a staple if people keep an eye on their diets and watch the kinds of fish they eat.
""Depending on what people consider frequently and what they're eating, it may not be a problem,"" Schrank said.
