In Gray's Bay, the area straight out from the old boat access is good for crappies and bluegills. The ice in Gray's is usually very solid -- as long as anglers stay away from the channel that goes under the bridge. "Hit the first deep edge around 15 feet and you have a good area that is rarely pressured as much as those other spots," Melstrom said.

For more information, contact Minnetonka Outdoors at (952) 470-8800 or at www.minnetonkaoutdoors.com.

LAKE WACONIA
This is one of those lakes mentioned by everybody who fishes the west-metro area, including Tuma, Melstrom and the folks at Mase's In-Towne Marina. In-Towne puts most of the permanent houses on the lake and rents them out.

Growing up, I spent numerous weekends on the Waconia ice in the permanent fish house my family kept on the lake. We usually fished Wagner's Bay just off of Pillsbury Reef. The walleye and crappie action was consistent, and even though we sporadically moved it to other places on the lake, we always returned there. Not to say that the midlake reefs shouldn't be fished. These areas are terrific walleyes hotspots throughout the season, and also hold tremendous crappie and pike potential.

This is one lake where the run-and-gun is not the best technique, Melstrom advised. "Waconia is almost like a mini-Mille Lacs with all the midlake structure and sandy bottom. The fish tend to roam the entire basin, and if you sit in one place, they'll come to you eventually," he said.

Waconia is also known for producing a high-quality crappie bite throughout the wintertime, though it tends to come in waves. "I know people who used to go to Mille Lacs for crappies who now go to Waconia because it's closer and the fishing is better," Tuma said.

For more information, contact Mase's In-Towne Marina at (952) 442-2096 or visit its Web site at www.fishandgame.com/intowne.

THE SECRET LAKES
Rather than ruin another excellent fishing hole for metro ice-anglers, this last one is reserved for all those other lakes that provide magnificent fishing, but are up to individual anglers to discover. Isolating only 10 lakes is tough with so many to choose from. For each lake mentioned here, my sources told me about at least two others "off the record." With so many people around, metro anglers tend to keep quiet about their most productive honeyholes. The best thing to do is check out the lake finder on the DNR's Web site or one of the metro fishing guides. Check fishing reports online, in the newspaper and at the local bait shop.

A lot of lakes in the metro have been stocked with walleyes for quite some time, though they are fished by only a half-dozen anglers who are tuned into the action. Chances are, if the lake has been stocked with walleyes for more than three years, it has quite a broad mix of fish in both numbers and sizes. Lakes surrounded by softball fields, city parks and folks engaged in every outdoor activity except fishing tend to be the best because nobody knows about them -- at least not yet.

There are a lot of fishing reports out there along with Web sites featuring regular updates of the hottest ice-fishing action. Search on www.google.com, but a very reliable one is www.exploreminnesota.com.

If you live in the metro area, what's your excuse? If you don't live there, head to the big city and give the ice-fishing a try. It may really surprise you.