I lived in SE MO for 50 years and there was always a lake available to fish. One day it was 22 degrees on the Bank's marquis in Anna, IL. on Dec. 29th. We went to Lake of Egypt which was a private late owned by a power company and had a warm water discharge. We caught over a hundred crappie in about 2 hours. The high temp was 28F. and we were throwing jigs onto the ice and letting them fall into the warmer water. I couldn't water into the live well because the pumps were frozen.
Another day I fished and won a early spring bass tournament on Lake Wappapello in MO. The temperature was 27 degrees and it was sleeting. Most of the tournament contestants were no shows, but with a $50 entry and a first place prize guarantee of $1,200, I wasn't about to stay home. I managed to catch 6 small keepers on a 1/8 oz crappie jig on a bluff that dropped straight off into 30' of water.
Even at 75 years, I fished last winter in freezing weather. Bass and crappie can be caught in good numbers on lakes with even a very small amount of water flow. Bass tournaments shut down in my area in December, January, and February, and that is the reason I crappie fish then.
