Oxygen depletion is a winter concern on Le-Aqua-Na. By the end of this month, most of the lake's biomass will be foregathered a short distance from an aerator placed to maintain adequate oxygen levels. Be careful, because adjacent ice can be dangerous.

For years, Carlton's claim to fame was as a muskie fishery. Nowadays most anglers target saugeyes, a sauger/hybrid cross. Saugeyes grow bigger than saugers, but not as big as walleyes can. The appeal of chasing them on this lake lies in the fact that DNR fisheries surveys have cranked up saugeyes in excess of the state record for the past several years.

Evergreen Lake, just north of Bloomington, also has potential record-breaking saugeyes swimming in its 1,000 acres located in Comlara County Park. But if we have a mild winter, you may break through ice to break the record. Those Stearns SOSuspenders are more important than a pail full of fatheads if Evergreen is in your fishing future this winter!

THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI
Many backwaters of pools 12, 13 and 14 of the Mississippi River that ice-anglers have enjoyed for decades are in genuine peril due to siltation. There's obvious and direct conflict between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on how to manage this greatest of natural resources.

The Corps is winning the battle. Their goal is to turn the Mississippi into a barge channel. Let the silt fall where it may -- and it has!

Details regarding a "refuge-use plan" scheduled to go in effect later this year have not been finalized by the deadline for this article. There will certainly be more restrictions on hunters and anglers using these upper river pools. Although ice-anglers could see less immediate impact -- beyond the specter of siltation -- you would be wise to check for any new regulations before heading out.

The fact that areas near the main river channel now hold the best potential for fish on the ice speaks volumes about this fishery.

On Pool 12, one of the best areas is around the wood in the second cut below the Julien Dubuque Bridge. At the south end of this pool, just north of Bellevue on the Iowa side near the cement plant, winter anglers have been having good success on crappies around the pilings between the main channel and a small island.

On Pool 13 to the south, the ice just out from Savanna's sewer plant has been a multi-species hotspot over the past couple of winters. South Sabula Lake just across the river has some deeper areas and has produced as well.

Several years ago, Illinois Game & Fish ran an article on the reclaiming of Potter's Marsh outside of Thomson near the midpoint of Pool 13. Profound siltation of this perennial fishery pushed the federal government into aggressive dredging action, which touted to keep Potter's Marsh a viable fishery for at least 20 years. Less than a decade after pouring a dragline of millions of dollars money into the Potter's Marsh rathole, the siltation is almost as bad as what took nearly a century to dump prior to the dredging. "If you can find one of the areas that isn't entirely silted in, you can still have a good day," said river activist Mike Cyze, "but you'll have bad days, too."

You can still ice a mess of fish at the "perch hole" on Pool 14 directly below the dam. Crappies will still hit a Li'l Cecil north of the Sabula boat ramp around the islands on Pool 13. And you can have memorable days on Pool 12 on Sunfish and Kehough sloughs west of Galena and south of town at the base of Chestnut Mountain, which is just off the main river channel. But the river just ain't what it used to be. And it's going downhill fast.

For more information on fishing prospects and ice conditions on the Mississippi, call Mike Cyze at (563) 872-3717 or e-mail him at lastcast13@yahoo.com.

Here's hoping Mother Nature cooperates this winter by giving us perfect ice-fishing conditions in Illinois. Ha! That would make it too easy! See you out on the ice. I'll be the guy wearing the PFD.