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If weather forecasts for the remainder of April are correct, the bays on our area lakes should be warming up considerably over the next couple of weeks. If you intend to go in search of crappies, that is good news because your odds of finding fish are very good indeed.

Each year I recommend that anglers pay particular attention to the water around Pancake Island on South Center Lake, the extreme north end of North Center Lake, Slimmer's Bay on Chisago Lake and the bay nearest Highway 8 on South Lindstrom Lake. These spots always get a mention in April and May for good reason; they consistently produce fish during the crappie pre-spawn and spawning periods.

I had a thought today. I hope there aren't any readers out there that actually keep track of what I write about and put my tactics to the test out on the lakes. Yes, I do fish fairly regularly, but I assure you, I'm just a guy that pokes around in the bait shops and trolls the 'net for information, no different than anybody else. I have a cartoon bubble in my head right now of some middle-aged guy still living in his parents' basement, his bedroom walls completely covered with past articles I've written. Scrawled over the yellowed and dog-eared newspaper clippings in bright red crayon are words like "Liar" and "Fishing Fraud" and "Mr. Know-It-All." He reads my stuff but he can't catch a fish to save his life, so he blames me for his piscatorial shortcomings. Wow, I sure hope he's not out there somewhere because I just seriously creeped myself out. If you're that guy, maybe you ought to take up bowling or something. Maybe fishing isn't for you.

Anyway, that was my funny mental diversion for the day. Now where was I?

Oh yes, crappies and seasonal spawning rituals. If you did look back over a few years' worth of fishing articles, you might notice that each April begs for a pre-spawn crappie article. (By the way, last week I wrote a completely extraneous and inane article about selling my crummy van because writing about crappie fishing seemed a bit premature.) That's not the case this week. As I said, with the warming temperatures, the crappie bite should be in full swing before you know it.

If you regularly chase crappies, you probably know the drill, but I'll mention it anyway. Target water that's 10 feet deep or shallower and throw a flu-flu jig (or any similar small jig) tipped with a small minnow or waxie - with or without a bobber. Heck, try both approaches. Depending on the mood of the fish on any particular day, the crappies will let you know which presentation they prefer. Some days the fish like a slow presentation and a suspended bait, other days they like to chase after a tipped jig that's retrieved back to the boat.

So that's about all the fishing wisdom I can manage for today. Get out there and fish. The first 60- and 70-degree days of the season are now upon us. They'll feel even better while you're sitting in a boat out on a lake.

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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