By Ted Peck

Long before Prozac, Wisconsin anglers discovered that putting a mess of bluegills and crappies on the ice was a great way to cope with winter here in America's Dairyland.

Bluegills may be the most populous sportfish in our state, found almost anywhere there is water. Crappies are plentiful, too. But then there are crappie waters and there are slabber haunts.

Here is a look at some great places just down the road where you can get your string stretched and chill out without getting cold - if you remember the portable shanty and a good heater.

"You have to go looking for the really big 'gills in Pioneer," Langley said. "Mobility is a real key in finding the bigger fish."

Langley usually begins his quest behind the island on the south side in Boat Landing Bay in this 427-acre lake five miles north of town.

"There is a long finger bar and weedy delta in front of Pioneer Creek," he said. "This is a great place to look for both bluegills and crappies, especially the weed edges of the delta and the point off of the island for crappies."

"Boot Lake is a real sleeper," Langley continued. "Just full of nice bluegills and slab crappies."

Langley says that access can be difficult if the snow is deep, but if you can get on the lake, the large bay north of the boat landing at the edges of the large weedflat are notorious for holding big bluegills.

"The weedline in the dark waters of Boot Lake is very distinct," said Langley. "Just work the weedline, especially around the lake's two points, and you'll find the fish."

Contacts: Eagle Sports, (715) 479-8804 or www.eaglesports.com; Eagle River Chamber of Commerce, 1-800-359-6315.

Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Nelson is a stained, shallow flowage of the Totagatic River with an amazing array of natural timber supplemented by numerous manmade cribs. The epicenter of panfish activity is Dutchman's Hole, a community spot where woody structure and a natural hump combine to hold fish all winter long. Crappie Bay holds plenty of slab papermouths and bluegills, too.

It doesn't take long to fill a 10-fish limit once you find them. And having a limit tipping the scales at over 10 pounds is not out of the question. Nelson has produced two state-record 'gills over the years, with fisheries surveys indicating 2-pound fish still swimming here.

Nelson is one of the most popular panfish lakes in Wisconsin for at least two reasons - quality fish and easy year-round access.

At only 323 acres, Smith Lake is tiny compared with 2,502-acre Nelson just down the road. Although Smith has similar water color characteristics to Nelson, it is known for numbers of fish rather than whoppers, and as a great place to get kids hooked on fishing.

If you're looking for bluegills, target weeds near the lake's north end. A pink-glow Genz Worm tipped with a wax worm is a deadly bait. Crappies are a little tougher to find, especially during midwinter. Poke a bunch of holes across the faceless midlake basin and use electronics to find fish suspended about halfway down over about 19 to 22 feet of water.

Sawyer County is splattered with many smaller lakes, many of which are scarcely larger than farm ponds. Most of these have good to excellent panfish populations that can be probed efficiently with very little time on the ice. Derosier, Tranus and the Colton flowage are all great places to ice a mess of panfish.

Fifty-eight acre Chippanzie may be the very best of the little lakes for both size and numbers. Access is best accomplished by snowmobile. Finding fish is a run-and-gun operation using a power drill and electronics.

With very little structurally to hold fish and lower oxygen levels that come with heavy snowcover at midwinter, look for fish cruising the midlake basin, suspended over about 30 feet of water, 4 to 10 feet off the bottom. A good flasher like the Vexilar FL-18 is worth its weight in gold when fishing lakes like Chippanzie. Glow-in-the-dark Rat Finkees work quite well here, taking care to adjust the knot after each fish so that the bait hovers in a horizontal orientation.

Contacts: Hayward Lakes Resort Association, (715) 634-4801 or www.haywardlakes.com; Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce, (715) 634-8662 or www.hayward.org; Pastika's Sporting Goods, (715) 635-4466.

Green weeds are the primary key for locating this flowage's finned biomass. When a water body gets covered with heavy snow, photosynthesis becomes difficult, with dying vegetation becoming an oxygen consumer rather than an oxygen producer. Find green weeds and you are assured that oxygen levels are adequate to support fish life as well. Landing "on the green" may take a little frogging around to accomplish, but the hour it may take to find healthy weeds is worth the effort. Access to the lake is good from several different points around the lake.

You'll be fishing less than 10 feet of water. Because this flowage has typical stained color, loud, obnoxious florescent colors and glow baits are the best way to go. By far the hottest bait going on Miller Dam Flowage - also known as Chequamegon Waters Flowage - is a red or green-glow Fat Boy jig with a Lindy Techni-Glo Tail plastic trailer and no live bait. Lindy Little-Joe is marketing several new colors this year, with red-hued plastic resembling a bloodworm - a primary winter forage here - offering exciting potential.

Contacts: Fuzzy's General Store, (715) 785-7977; Taylor County Tourism, 1-888-682-9567.

Because of this long-standing notoriety, many anglers seldom venture far from established "community spots" like the vast flat out from the Babcock Park boat ramp. Access can be a little tricky here because the Yahara River remains open into the lake almost all winter long.

On the north side past the tiny island out from the ramp is a steep breakline off of Rockford Heights that is the most popular crappie spot on the lake. Although you can catch a nice mess of fish during daylight hours here, the best action is typically after mid-February - and a good hour after sunset.

Hordes of anglers camp on weedbeds on the south side of this lake out from Goodland Park in search of bluegills. If discretion is less important than filling a limit, this is the place to go.

I'll never forget a firehouse meal of Waubesa bluegills as a rookie for the City of Beloit Fire Department over 25 years ago. A firefighter known as "The Hammer" brought in a limit of fish, which was 50 in those days. When the crew of seven guys had finished eating, only a couple of filets remained on the platter. Hammer's paramedic partner decided to display the remains of our feast for the oncoming shift by tacking the filet to the wall. It was years before Hammer fed us again.

Not that all of Waubesa's gills give up mere "potato chip" filets. You can fill a limit of truly respectable bluegills by simply moving northeast away from the crowds and locating openings in the deep-water weed edge where there is at least 12 feet of water. These fish are a long walk from any access point, so few people bother to look here. And concentrations of fish move around somewhat over perhaps 15 acres of lake through the weeds. So you have to find 'em every day. But when you do find the fish, you're in business.

Contact: Ron Barefield's Fishing Adventures Guide Service, (608) 838-8756 or barefish@chorus.net.