Aside from maybe a few floating ice chunks on Walker Bay and Ten Mile, we should be ice free across the area! With fishing opener a few days away, we're happy to report that aside from maybe a few floating ice chunks on Walker Bay and Ten Mile, we are ice free across the area! People have traded in their ice rods for crappie rods, and the soothing sound of loons and boats on the lake are back!

Crappie action has been surprisingly good on many of the area lakes. Anglers have found nice pockets of fish hanging in 6' to 12' staging off the spawning grounds. We haven't heard of anything shallow yet except special cases on small water. We're expecting to hear more and more reports of shallow fish though with the warmer temps this week. Focus on the deeper edges during the day, and maybe check some shallow water in the later parts of the day in case fish start pushing shallow as temps rise throughout the day.

Bait availability for the opener is going to be down to the wire. Leeches and Rainbows have been coming in pretty steady, and this warm week will keep the bait coming. Right now everyone is hopeful the warm temps will get the shiners pushing shallow so we can have some full tanks. The weather forecast is looking pretty nice for walleye fishing as well! We'll try and update as we get more bait updates in the next few days!