Good morning, a big warm up on the way and looks like it may stay well above freezing for the foreseeable future. While it will rapidly deplete the ice on the lakes, it could make for a big mess for some of the roads around the area. We do still have some solid ice on the lakes, but by mid week much more runoff will be happening so anglers should be mindful of that. As far as fishing goes I have not heard a whole lot close to here. A few customers have been traveling to some of their favorite panfish lakes that they have been fishing for years. That can still benefit anglers here, as it tells me most fish are probably in shallow water staging up for the spawn.
Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–With longer days and higher sun, weeds will get some much needed sunlight to start growing under the ice. Combine that with runoff water coming into the lakes this time of year and things will be happening in shallow water for panfish. Bluegill will be feeding on any of the bugs anywhere in the water column and jigs tipped with waxies is the most common way to target them. Try different jig styles to really dial in the bite (banana style jigs seem to be producing up here right now). Perch will most likely be taking larger offerings of crappie minnow heads on spoons or baits like jigging raps or puppet minnows. The crappie bite can go either way right now, jigs tipped with plastics or waxies can catch fish and so too can larger offerings much like you would fish perch. The crappie spawn is just a few weeks away so fish will be aggressive and starting to get territorial. For all species of panfish I would start fishing anywhere from 5-10 FOW and try to find some new weed growth or fish existing weed beds.
Have a great weekend, and we will talk soon.
Greg