Here we are at Mom’s for Easter. Getting away from Pool 4 was tough, but since the ice is long-gone from our Aitkin area lakes, we brought the fishing tools. 
Water temps hovered at 40.4 in our lake. Using a traditional search method–mostly vertical drop and slow lift–and traditional graph, we hunted around for a few hours…shallow, deep, mid-depth. Caught a monster bass–fought like a stick. Eventually found crappies off a steep drop just out of the wind in about 12 fow–mid-depth for our lake. They weren’t smacking it, but a little inhale, it seemed. Caught perch and a little walleye mixed in with crappies.
We reviewed the other early ice adventures and this one beat all others. It was also amazing how many docks, boat lifts, and boats were already in place. This early ice out truly extends open water opportunities by several weeks. Get out there!
Side note: I wondered several times out loud to my fishing partner if Humminbird SI would have allowed to reduce the fishless waters more quickly. I think it would, but how I use SI to attack the lake differently has got to be a mind-set I need to learn when I buy mine later this month. Any views on techniques? 