It sure has gotten hard to spot any ice on area lakes, which is good news! I’ve seen a few anglers venturing out to break their boats in for the year. I was one of those boats, and I must say it felt great getting back out on the water. I ventured out to one lake last Friday and I saw surface water temperatures between 40-47 degrees, with the warmest temperatures found in shallow bays. Right now, I recommend fishing near weedlines for crappies, especially if you can find green weeds (they do exist!). Rapidly changing conditions over the next couple weeks will usher in the spawn and they will transition to shallow warm bays. Plastics will excel during this time, but you can’t go wrong with live minnows either. If you mark fish but can’t get them to bite, change your presentation. While bobbers will produce fish some days, slowly sinking jigs may outproduce the next day. If you go out, be prepared to launch without a dock for now. Good luck!