LAKE ONALASKA
The mighty Mississippi River has received a lot of buzz in recent years as restoration efforts have started to produce more quality fish. However, most natives to the area have known for a while that the area just below the Lake Onalaska spillway holds a ton of crappies. In fact, it is called the “Crappie Capital of Wisconsin.” The area where the Black River dumps out below the dam is the place to go. You can access it by walking over the train tracks and fishing along the bank. If you want to try it with a boat, look for the weedbeds and use a float with a minnow.

Just west of Brice’s Prairie around the Black Deer area -- where the Red Sails Resort burned down a few years ago -- is a channel on the north side of the lake. “This is incredible for late-ice and ice-out crappies and bluegills,” Tostrud said. “There is a channel between the dike and the main lake that you should fish first. The depth is between 2 and 6 feet.”

There can be some fluctuation depending on if the gates are open, and fishing can change based on the depth. Regardless, you should be able to find this channel without much difficulty.

Color preferences are white/pink or blue/black marabou jigs tipped with fathead minnows. You can also try smaller Yummys tipped with one or two wax worms or eurolarva.

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If you’re looking for a cure for cabin fever, buy a few dozen minnows and head on out. The action may be so good that spring could go by in the blink of an eye.

(Editor’s note: You can listen to Judy Nugent on the radio every week on “Outdoors with Dan Small and Judy Nugent” on stations across Wisconsin. It is also available at Lake-Link.com; keyword: radio.)