Hopes for winter fishing needn't melt with lack of ice, although yo-yo-like weather conditions make flexibility key.

"I'll have both open water gear and ice gear with me at this time of year and I'll go to different bodies of water," cold-weather enthusiast Ron Donlan of Volant said. "If I go to Woodcock Lake and the ice isn't safe, I'll drop down to the spillway, which is an absolute honey hole for walleye in winter. At Pymatuning, Shenango -- same thing. You'll find walleyes and crappies below the dam. There are lots of trout below Shenango where they stock. Spillway fishing is more predictable in winter, and the fishing can be outstanding."

Donlan's first love, though, is ice. An avid skier when he lived around Blue Knob, he switched to hard-water angling when he moved to Western Pennsylvania and was amazed by the number of quarry ponds and farm ponds in this part of the state.

"Most are privately owned, some by sand and gravel companies and other large landholders," he said. "Of course, you have to ask permission. But I've only been turned down once."

Pennsylvania also boasts many state-owned impoundments and natural lakes such as Conneaut and Canadohta, and those, too, offer great fishing.

"The shallower bodies freeze first," said Donlan. "The Muddy Creek arm at Arthur is one of them."

Muddy Creek and Arthur's other eastern bays -- Shannon and Swamp runs -- typically draw the first ice anglers of the season. (See the sidebar for ice safety tips.) Anglers plying first ice are likely to find fish in the same spots where they caught them in late fall, according to Mike Kuna, of McCandless, who competes annually on the North American Ice Fishing Circuit.

"They'll still be holding fish and the fish will still be active," Kuna said. "When they sense water is going to freeze over, their appetite goes up. Just like last ice when days get longer and water warms up, they'll be eating voraciously then, too."

A panfish specialist, Kuna finds crappies and bluegills relate to structure more than perch, which roam deeper water foraging for insect larvae that emerge from the muck around dusk. Structure includes submerged timber and vegetation that can continue to grow where sunlight penetrates clear, snow-free ice.

"Green vegetation gives up oxygen and makes fish more comfortable," Kuna said. "When that's gone, they'll go deeper."

Finding fish then can be more of a challenge, especially in frigid water, where they tend to expend as little energy as possible to find food.

"That's why we drill so many holes in the ice," Kuna said. "We drill, dissect an area, find different structures and depths. When we're fishing new water, we sit down with lake maps and identify key spots that are likely to hold fish, like inside turns, outside turns, dropoffs, and points."

Kuna often uses sonar to detect fish and, less frequently these days, an underwater camera. Donlan is never far from his depth finder.

"Electronics can be quite helpful, especially later in the season when fish are in deeper zones," he said. "Try to locate along a dropoff or where there are stumps or a boulder field, or where you last marked fish with your GPS."

And while 8 to 12 feet is often the best strike zone, he's willing to explore.

"I'll move my tip-ups every hour or half-hour if they're not producing," Donlan said. "Moving also helps you stay warm, and you're not getting bored."

Ice anglers are allowed five devices in any combination. Donlan usually sets out four tip-ups baited with minnows for bass and walleyes, and fishes a micro-jig tipped with waxworm or maggot for panfish, with a spring bobber on the end to detect light bites. He sometimes fishes a tandem rig, with a heavier jig a foot above the micro-jig to get it to the bottom faster.

The smaller the jig the better, he said.

"Panfish are accustomed to zooplankton and other tiny baits as their natural forage, so they'll just inhale tiny jigs. If you fish a heavier jig, even in 1/32 ounce size, when a fish flares its gills to take it in, it often won't go readily into its mouth."

Subtlety is also the ticket when it comes to open water winter angling.

"If I'm fishing a spillway, I'll either target walleyes with a jig or a slip bobber," Donlan said. "Depending on how deep and strong the flow is, I'll select a jighead weight that will get my bait to the bottom, but get it there slowly and allow me to make light bottom contact on a slow retrieve."

In cold water, Donlan seeks eddies and other breaks in current.

He often traps his own creek chubs for targeting bass and walleyes.

"I set minnow traps today," he said, a week before Christmas. "I anticipate we'll have ice right after the holiday. I'm ready to go. I'm just waiting for the cold weather to get here."