40 Degrees and Raining

[bearnoob]

Reaching out to the people with more experience.

We have had one week of weather near 40F after weeks below 0F, and now we are on the second day in a row of rain on top. Ice was about a foot thick before where I was fishing and thick enough for trucks elsewhere. Assuming the ice is still safe, what are the fish up to? Would you expect them to move up shallow like early/late season?

[trophytaker1]

62 and sunny here in Northern Indiana.

[Kov619]

64 sun wall to wall....mid Jan....not good open water >

[quack]

I would start with where you had been catching them, or your usual mid winter spots. If they're not there that's when I would start heading towards latest ice spots.

[Zhitnik44]

57 degrees and sunny yesterday some of the same today. I know let's play fish, got any two's? 

[OldSailor]

64 and nice yesterday, and 61 today with rain later! No lakes have had safe ice at all this winter!!! I'm looking at my seed catalogs!!! 

[eriksat1]

I was out yesterday afternoon we are still driving our trucks out 16" of ice, but the snow is about gone and lakes back down to bare ice. Water running down the holes like late March. If it doesn't get cold again soon I will probably start going out with the snowmobile and not the truck. Looks like a nice cool down coming Wednesday, with no snow on the ice it should firm up quick and start making ice again.
Oh yea we did catch 4 nice walleye.

[fishonthebrain]

Fish should be in their mid winter pattern still.

[eriksat1]

The water under the ice is still cold, fish have no clue what the air temperature is. I think patterns have more to do with oxygen level and hours of daylight. So we are nearing mid winter. I still say February is are coldest month of the year around these parts.

[Unclegillhunter]

Going to start getting my long rods respooled and ready to go but the hope is still for a refreeze! Which ever way it goes I am going to be ready to fish! If the ice goes the fish will not race to a different depth until the water temps and oxygen levels tell them to.
Keep it safe! JDL

[eriksat1]

Just remembering last winter right now we were at 1st ice period. Last winter we were spuding our way out checking safe ice 2nd week of January.