There is good access on either end of the lake, but the best action is typically around the island or just out from the access point on the lake's north end. Set a couple of tip-ups for pike along the weed edge and then poke a few holes in weedy pockets to look for crappies.

Mobility is the key for finding crappies here. If the Vexilar says there are no fish suspended down there and nothing takes your minnow within 10 minutes, try moving 100 yards away. Once you find 'em, don't get comfortable. Filling a bucket usually means staying on the move ahead of the silvery herd.

Pioneer Lake is another water that you can cover effectively in a very short time. This panfish and pike water is a predictable basin with fish relating to any green weeds you can find. The bay directly across from the access point on the lake's south side off of Chicago Avenue west of Highway 17 is a good place to start, with a good chance that your next move will be someplace warm to clean fish.

Contact: Eagle Sports Shop, (715) 479-8804 or www.eaglesportscenter.com.

This is classic crappie water - also known as Chequamegon Waters Flowage on some maps - with fish relating close to the amazing amount of wood. Probably the best spot is around the Bear Creek access point where a number of cribs have been placed to hold fish. An aerator placed here several years ago keeps fish active all winter long. However, use due caution because all the aeration causes weak spots under the ice.

At first ice, most anglers are up in the shallow, weedy Beaver Creek sanctuary. In a few weeks when snow cover depletes oxygen levels here, the fish will relocate along the old creek channels where you'll find them all winter long.

Although Miller Dam Flowage borders the Chequamegon National Forest, the surrounding area is more farming country than pristine wilderness, with access to all kinds of services close at hand.

Don't overlook some of the other little lakes in Taylor County. Rib, Spirit, Richter, Sackett and Esadore all hold fish. The High View Inn, overlooking Esadore, has my vote as the best fishing "shanty" in Wisconsin. There is something special about watching your tip-ups through a picture window while sipping a perfect Manhattan - and waiting for the king-cut prime rib to arrive.

Contact: Fuzzy's General Store, (715) 785-7977 or www.medfordwis.com.

Watch me pull a crappie out of a hat. Whoops! Jumbo perch! Shucks! Nice walleye. Pay no attention to my assistant who is running for another pike on a tip-up. Aha! Nuts, another bluegill. Finally, a crappie. This one's only 12 inches.

If you're fishing after dark with a Hali Jig over 45 to 50 feet of water off of Willow Point, there is a real good chance that whopper crappies will be the main attraction. During daylight hours at other points on the lake you can bank on a duke's mixture of other species, most of quality dimensions.

Delavan is one of the most heavily pressured fishing lakes in the state. But thanks to sound fisheries management, this 2,072-acre lake continues to produce year after year. The downside is, once "hooked" on Delavan, few anglers want to venture out on other southern Wisconsin lakes.

Contacts: Geneva Lake Bait & Tackle, (262) 245-6150. Delavan Chamber of Commerce, 1-800-624-0052 or www.delavanwi.org.

Between now and New Year's Day and again from Valentine's Day to ice-out sometime in March you can experience a low-tech, sure-fire bite somewhere along our western border, with fish just a short walk or quick snowmobile ride from the closest access point if the ice isn't thick enough to permit vehicular travel.

If you have an ice auger, $10 for a jigging stick and a few lures, you can be a serious player here. No ice auger? Somebody will probably tap a couple of holes for you at no charge, and even tell you what lure is working best. The Mississippi is just that kind of place.

Bass and the occasional pike come through the ice here, some of whopper proportions. But the real draw is crappies, bluegills and perch. Two years ago I thought I was hot stuff with three 11- to 12-inch perch on the ice. Then Jesse Boardman showed me a Polaroid of a 17-incher, its length confirmed by a yardstick. The fish looked like a smallmouth bass in a yellow-and-black-striped jail jumpsuit.

Sometimes you just want to see how quick you can catch fish. One morning last winter three of us planned on going crappie fishing on Pool No. 10 near Prairie du Chien. Then one - who shall remain nameless - whined about getting called into work and needing the overtime money more than a mess of crappies to feed his family. It didn't take much goading to convince this misguided soul he could cover all the bases with less than an hour on the ice. Dave Koonce and I helped him fill a 25-fish limit in 18 minutes. Koonce had seven fish flopping on the ice before the "Unknown Sportsman" or I could even get a jig down.

The fishing really can be that good. But you're only a weapon if you're out there on the ice. Doing the couch potato thing or surfing the Web won't give you any reason to fire up the deep fryer. But checking the Web site noted below before heading out will shorten the time between thinking about going fishing and looking for the fillet knife considerably - both on the Mississippi and at other waters.

Contact: www.In-depthangling.com.