I did a search here on the forums about how you'd fish the rivers and lakes this time of year. I cam upon a thread dated 2007 which explained what to throw.

It seemed that the answer was to throw buzzbaits. Followed by spinners, jerkbaits and plastics.

Now, in my neck of the woods (Ohio), we have had an awesome winter. I think so far we have had maybe 3" of snow all year and the temps have been unusually warm for this time of year. The nights have been in the 30's but no snow in sight. this weekend it has been in the 60's and close to 70's tomorrow.

I know the water is still cold as hell but I figured if I could handle the above water temps, I will try and see how the fishing is. I have tried to search my local lake for water temps but it shows the last time is was updated was November 2011. So I don;t know the current temps.

Tomorrow will be my first day on the water in my "new to me" Jonboat. So excited!!!

Would you all agree that buzzbaits, jerkbaits, spinners and plastics would work right now?

scratch that, looks like water temps are 35-40 degrees, mid day

Screw that buzzbait. Jerkbait, jig and pig, or plastics with little action would be your best bet. Long pauses on the jerkbait. Fish the jig and pig around wood and let it sit on the bottom for a little while after it sinks and after every time you work it; same goes with the plastics. Water temps in that range are never too promising but usually the bites you DO get are big ones. If the water is muddy, you're in for some tough conditions and you can forget about the jerkbait. A single colorado blade spinnerbait worked from deep water to shallow water really slow would be a good choice as well. If you know any good wintering holes on your lake, a vertical presentation like a spoon or a drop shot would be my strategy if nothing else produced. Good Luck!

Fished Batesville IN today (45 miles out of Cincinnati) both Laughery Creek and a private pond and they were hitting shallow seible cranksters. We threw jigs, wooly bugs, spinners, jerk baits, senkos, and an Alabama rig and only the shallow cranks pulled out a few 3-4# large mouth. Good luck.

BTW, Laughery creek is very similar to Little Miami and it was high and muddy.

thanks for the advice.........I shall see what happens