By Louie Stout

Much to the chagrin of avid ice anglers, the winter has been pretty darn mild.

What does that mean for our lakes come spring? Will it impact fish in those lakes?

We posed that to northern Indiana and southern Michigan fisheries biologists.

Call it wishful thinking, but one might think that predators fed better through the winter and should show signs of accelerated growth and weight.

Indiana biologist Matt Horsley said it might happen, but unlikely.

“Ice or no ice, fish activity is based upon water temperatures and less about ice cover,” he said. “During winter, temps below ice remain around 37 degrees, and lakes have been hovering at or just above that.”

Fish go into survival mode during the winter and their metabolism slows down, he added.

“I wouldn’t expect them to put on much weight, except for females (that will spawn),” Horsley noted.

He went on to say he wish bass would feed more in the winter when vegetation is minimal.

“Our lakes are definitely seeing more bluegill today than we ever had and they need to be thinned out,” Horsley said.

Fellow district biologist agrees with Horsley’s assessment, but noted that a reduced angler harvest on panfish and bass during the winter months could provide the biggest change.

“It could make for very good spring fishing,” he said.

Michigan biologist Matt Diana pointed to some potential drawbacks.

First, without extended periods of snow-covered ice, vegetation will get an early start and lakes likely will become weedier earlier in the year.

Could that mean more frog fishing for bass anglers?

Secondly, said Diana, lakes will stratify earlier which leads to warmer surface water and increased algae blooms.

If that happens, look for crankbaits to be a player earlier in the season.

On the bright side, Diana added, ice fishing often becomes a significant part of the annual harvest on some lakes. Without that, you could have more fish surviving to older year classes which could increase size structure.

And what about the spawning season?

“Spawning tends to be both temperature and photoperiod linked, so some staging may happen earlier, but spawning will occur around the normal times,” he said. “Bass and panfish may spawn near the early part of the spawning period. It’s an interesting question and with climate change, there is more research on the subject all the time.”