Cherokee Marsh - South Boat Launch

Due to heavy rains at time, ramp under water. I was hanging U-turn to go to a moving sale on Menominee, but also wanted to check that flooding didn't disrupt play park, It didn't. 3 stars cuz ramp could be problematic.

This is a well-maintained kayak launch. As a kayak fisherman, I'm always looking for places to launch a kayak that's substantially heavy, and therefore difficult to launch on a random lakefront access point, but doesn't receive enough boat trailer activity to make it feel inconvenient. This is the perfect launch for a fishing kayak. In terms of the actual fishing, it's only decent. I've seen good quality bluegills, and a few 2-3lb bass, but the main catch consists of small northern pike. It's also very shallow with strong current, so it's difficult to maintain position at a depth that's substantial enough to fish well. For a casual evening of fishing, it fits the bill, but there are better locations on the Madison Chain for catching quality fish.

Great spot to put in for a paddle. We went for a couple-hour canoe ride and saw lots of wildlife, including Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Belted Kingfishers, and 3 Bald Eagles. Lots of weeds to fight through and massive numbers of damselflies.

As far as boat launches go, it's not good. Parking lot needs to be regraded due to large pot holes throughout. They just replaced the last delapidated dock with another delapidated dock. In past years old dock was frequently under water so knowing flooding issues were prevalent at this site. New Ramp to access the dock is underwater, at about mid thigh. There are no boat tie offs on dock making launching or retrieving boat difficult. Wood is unsealed making it dangerously slippery when moisture is present.

Good for kayaks not so much for larger boats, there is a partialy submerged dock, and usually by mid summer there is a lot of weeds.