Guess you could call it a resurrection, albeit brief. Somehow, winter's cold, dead hands reached up and sunk its nails into spring's neck. Arctic blasts returned, dumping over a foot of snow in parts of the Dakotas and western Minnesota. A wide swath of the Midwest woke-up to tulip and daffodil greens entombed by the white stuff. Enough already.
Fortuitously, the forecast is a warming one, sending winter back to its seasonal grave. For the most part, the continental United States is ice-free, save the highland oddity. Likewise for the populated areas of Canada. Warming coastal trends are eating ice from the outside in. The Great Lakes are wide open. An utter obsession to ice fish forces you to the upper reaches of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
Meanwhile, back in the land of the everyday angler, panfish are popping. Cloud cover and cool air drove crappies and sunfish out of the shallows in many regions. But they'll be back, like clockwork, following sunshine and the return of southern breezes. Don't abandon the mission, however, if you encounter vacated shallows. Motor to the first break or just outside the bay. Panfish will restage, hovering in 5, 10 or 15 feet of water waiting for spring's renaissance, and your jig to slide by.
Hopefully, next time we talk the word "ice" will relate to the beginning of next season.