As spring settles in. lure of making new fishing memories beckons

Life is an all-encompassing series of markers firmly implanted in the memory lobe of our brains.

As we age, some of us have a tendency to trigger those memories and relive those moments from our past. I can draw from that bank and relive wonderful experiences from my childhood with my late father, especially on the Fox Chain O' Lakes.

I have walked the dock at Pink Harrison's on Pistakee and looked out to an area where Irv had staked out a large school of crappie and white bass.

We are eager mortals who enjoy fishing - or catching as one friend put it.

The official arrival or start of the sacred 2017 boating season is "miles away." Or as some prefer to call it, "the annual duel of motorized gladiators."

Regular non-boating and fishing humans call that period of the year Memorial Day weekend.

And now those who enjoy good angling are out on the Fox Chain O' Lakes battling the elements while doing their best to entice walleye and jumbo crappie to attack our lures and live bait.

Even with adrenaline pumping through our physical beings, our eagerness seems to be tempered by the cold, heavy snow and high winds.

But thank goodness we don't have to contend yet with Jet Skis or similar machines of terror and mayhem. The water on each of the Chain's lakes is still a bit too cold for these reckless warriors.

Anyway, I fully understand the ad sales people look to marine dealers for ad space sales, but personally, I will not change my tune because so many of the Jet Ski operators can't help themselves and wind up being a fisherman's worst enemy.

Now the energy and focus is back on walleye and crappie.

The Fox Chain is a body of lakes that have countless channels available for fishermen to explore.

These channels are usually the first areas to warm following ice-out conditions. They warm quickly because they are generally shallow, have mud bottoms and have started showing signs of weed growth.

Crappie find their way into these areas to spawn and therefore become easier to catch. Experience tells us these fish appear to be very hungry after answering their genetic urgings (spawning).

The same holds true on other area hot spots like Lake Geneva and Delevan, but on these lakes they lack the number of channels and crappies find shelter right under docks.

I like to use a tiny float, a No. 8 or No. 6 gold hook, a small minnow, and even a tiny jig like the Mini-Mite in 1/32 oz. (white or chartreuse tail). The rod is a 7-foot, ultralight spinning rod, 4-pound mono, and an ultralight spinning reel.

Chances are once you locate a couple crappie, there's liable to be a large school in the same area.

The prime, heavy-duty crappie bite has yet to occur because the channel warming has been slightly sidetracked.

Once springlike weather returns, your chances of success are greatly enhanced.

By that time I won't have to rely upon those great memories and can start making new ones.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.