uw madison college kid - fishing around campus from the shore

Hello,

UW Madison college kid here looking for advice on fishing around campus. Decided to pick up fishing as a mental break from the rigors of study. I have a travel rod/light tackle with me so I can fish a bit during breaks, catch and release type of thing (not sure if the professors or other students would like me bringing in a string of fish to class, lol). Mainly looking to fish smallies cause they are such a hoot, especially on light tackle. I'm over by the docks by memorial union a lot (working at the limnology lab, lake mendota) and also by the engineering section. The docks look promising for smallies, rocky and quickly going from shallow to deeper. Wondering if anybody has fished here and the best tackle to use? I'm trying to keep my tackle to the bare minimum, books are heavy enough on their own!

TIA!

 

Just as an aside, UW-Madison has a buoy out on lake Mendota that can give realtime water conditions: http://metobs.ssec.wisc.edu/buoy/