Burley McCoy

Whoa.

And the more that happens, eventually the less walleye there will be for people to catch and take home.

Yeah, especially if the food is just no longer there anymore.

And...

This is true for lakes outside of Madison as well.

Scientists are really just kind of starting to study this.

So in our last episode, we talked about how many lakes have already lost weeks of ice coverage each winter season.

And thousands are predicted to stop forming ice entirely before the end of the century.

And these are lakes where the ecosystems have evolved to be icy in the winter.

Yeah.

I mean, walleye are this cool water species that could really suffer in the coming years as the climate continues to warm.

And they're one of many where this could happen, right?

I really wanted to experience being on a walleye lake while they're still around and doing okay.

So back at Lake Wabisa, we unloaded the fishing gear from the car in a neighborhood cul-de-sac with just one house near the end of the road.

I followed Zach through the dark to a tall, chain-linked fence next to the house while he pulled the sled that had all the gear in it.

After a few minutes, the tree-lined path opened up to a dark, open expanse with one green light in the distance.

Zach sets up his insulated pop-up tent and drills some holes in the ice to fish through.

We've got some electronic machines to help us out.

One is sonar that can tell you if something is moving in the water and where.

Another is an underwater camera.