[1] It is the second-largest of a chain of four lakes along the Yahara River (also including Mendota, Kegonsa, and Waubesa) in the area and forms the south shore of the isthmus that forms downtown Madison.

Its volume is approximately 28 billion US gal (110 million m3) and it has 13 miles (21 km) of shoreline, about 40% of which is publicly owned.

Sport fish species include bluegill, lake sturgeon, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, muskellunge (muskie), northern pike, and walleye.

Twenty-six-year-old soul singer Otis Redding died when his plane crashed in Lake Monona on December 10, 1967, during a storm en route to a concert in Madison.

The pilot, who was Redding's manager, and four out of the five members of the Bar-Kays (then Otis's backup band) who were on the plane, also died, with the sole survivor being trumpeter Ben Cauley.