In working as a guide on the Miss, my most profound source of amazement comes from the percentage of middle-aged clients who tell me this is their first trip to the river. Folks, your Wisconsin license provides the privilege of fishing boundary waters with other states. But not many anglers have fished the Cisco Chain north of Eagle River, the bays of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, the Menominee River system upstream from Marinette -- or the Mississippi, even though your fishing privilege extends clear over to the railroad tracks that parallel the river in Iowa and Minnesota.

Backwaters and sloughs along both sides of the river are generally the best places to target during winter months. Fish activity is driven by river level, which influences both water clarity and current velocity. Some sloughs and backwaters are productive when the Miss is high, and some are good when the river is low. And narrow sloughs that connect with other backwaters can be outstanding when the river is in a state of flux.

I thought the 13-inch perch that came through the Mississippi ice last winter was pretty neat until Mark Clement's kids, Cameron and Conner, both caught perch over 14 inches. The kids have a combined age of 17! Bluegill fishing is almost too easy here. And most folks target crappies by using L'il Cecils or Rembrandts. My biggest slab last winter was over 14 inches. Joe Deuster, the "crappie king" from Ferryville, caught one over 16 inches, and whined about losing a bigger one.

You wanna talk pike? Get down on the Chain-O-Lakes south of the Lansing bridge and there are some whoppers. Two winters ago, the little group of river rats I run with iced five lunker pike over 40 inches. My 40-incher was the runt of the litter.

Northern pike fishing is even better up behind the hospital in La Crosse, north of the runway in Lake Onalaska and in Lawrence Lake on the Minnesota side of the river on Pool 8. Down on Pool 10, guide Dave "Pahoo" Koonce has to go to work at 3M to rest up after a day of icing a mixed bag of panfish and bigger fish on Big and Little Missouri sloughs, or when fishing south of there in McCartney's Slough near Cassville.

Contacts: Bob's Bait & Tackle, (608) 782-5552; Cap'n Hook's Bait & Tackle, (608) 689-2900, or go to CaptainHookStackle.com

BIG GREEN LAKE
If you want to actually enjoy a day on the ice, you need to kick back in one of Mike Norton's heated shanties on our deepest inland lake.

There have been several winters recently when Big Green's ice-fishing season was short, almost bordering on non-existent, thus provoking a smirk from global-warming pundits. Because of a maximum depth of 237 feet, this water is one of the last places in central Wisconsin to freeze.