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The walleye bite seems to have really tapered off as of late, but anglers out on the area lakes looking for fast and furious panfish action have been anything but disappointed.

Consistent with mid-winter fishing, look to deeper water to hold active, suspended crappies. The (oftentimes) tricky transition period between early ice and mid-winter patterns is over, so finding the fish shouldn’t be as time-consuming a chore as it might have been a couple of weeks ago. Locating and working breaks that drop off into a lake’s deep-water basin is the key this time of year, and reports indicate that 25-30 feet of water is the best place to look for crappies right now. The cold front that blew into town last Saturday will be with us through the weekend, so the fish should be well acclimated to pressure changes and on the prowl for an easy meal.

Areas near the A-frame and eagle nest on Chisago Lake have been red hot as of late, with crappies consistently coming out of 30 feet of water. Watch your flasher and adjust your depth accordingly, as the active feeders are suspended 7-10 feet off the bottom. Also, look at the deep-water breaks off the “saddle” between Sunset Point and Park Point during the late afternoon and on top of the saddle itself during the evening hours.

Northern pike remain very active in the shallower waters near Pancake Island, so if you’re willing to give up one of your jigging sticks for a tip-up and a good shot at a potentially big fish, now is the time to do it with only a couple of weeks remaining in the pike season.

If you’re bound and determined to catch walleyes and possess a Wisconsin license, Jason, at St. Croix Outdoors, reported that Lake Wapogasset (near Amery) has been giving up ‘eyes in 30 feet of water.

My brother and I are heading up to Remer, Minn., on the 17th and our plan is to give Big Winnie a shot for walleyes and jumbo perch. If we do any good, I’ll let you know what happened.

Dan Brown’s weekly outdoor column is brought to you by Frankie’s Bait and Marine, in Chisago City, and St. Croix Outdoors, in St. Croix Falls, Wis.

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