Late-ice, Small Lakes

[angler_for_life]

Just had a quick question about some smaller lakes I fish near my house. They are pretty small (less than 80 acres) and fairly shallow (10-20 feet). It seems that these lakes are pretty hot around early-ice, then for the most part they shut down during mid-winter, but my question is: Do these types of lakes turn back on when late-ice comes around or do the fish wait until the ice is gone in the spring to start biting again? Any help would be great!

[walleyeslammer]

A year ago this weekend I caught and released 18 walleyes between 17-22 inches all in 6 feet of water with the deepest part of the lake being 8 feet. Just a great day overall. I would have liked to eat a couple, but decided to let em all go and hope to catch them another day. I think the key is to be persistent on these small lakes and it will pay off. Good luck and stay warm this weekend

[Maximum12]

angler_for_life, like every other question ever posed on this site, it depends!

I fished a small, 60 acre lake near my house for years & took the final day off of work every season to fish it. I noticed a pattern - when the season ended & the cold was still in full force, I could fish all day with very little luck. When the season-end & a warm snap coincided, the fishing could be really good. I would guess that the warm-ups coincided with run-off into the lake & a slight uptick in oxygen levels, which might make the fish in these shallow basins more active...that's been my experience.