Early spring is a true schizophrenic, sending an ice storm one day and answering a golfer's prayer the next. Little by little, winter's armlock loosens: Ice uncorks itself from lake heads where the streams enter, and the pack ice grows yellow and rots at the lake's other end where the drain plug is an outflowing river.

Now is when other things besides rivers and icebergs are on the move. North-winging waterfowl talk from columns high above. Love-hungry raccoons play Russian roulette on the highway. Panfish, ripe with eggs and milt, move toward spawning sites in the shallows.

Panfish? Surprised, you wonder why I'm writing about panfish when trout, salmon and walleye fever is building. True, panfish don't electrify the angler like spring steelhead do. Nor do panfish sink a scale like a hog salmon does. Let's face it: Anyone can pick up a 25-fish limit of Michigan bluegills with one hand.

Sportsmen mount their trophy pike but rarely their yellow perch.

Who has not joked about the crappie's unfortunate name?

Sunfish are like a bluegill dressed for church and they're not nearly as big as the pint-sized bluegill. So why bother with them?

Because it's fun. The Big Four Panfish--crappies, bluegills, red-eared sunfish and yellow perch--are fun to catch by any method. Seek them with ultralight spinning tackle or a flyrod and their sporting merits rise in proportion. Is there anything better to eat than a platter of bluegill or perch fillets? Panfish live in inland lakes, rivers, streams, ponds and Great Lakes harbors and bays throughout Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Everyone knows that little kids and little fish go together like a Coke and fries.

A man can take his family panfishing for pocket change. He doesn't need a bass boat with triple-digit horsepower. Sonar is useless in the shallows anyway. Yes, that $100 rod and reel combo is really handsome, but this cane pole, bobber and handful of hooks and sinkers will do just fine, thank you.

Panfishing is what angling used to be about--simple fun and simple sport. That doesn't mean, of course, that you can plunk a worm anywhere and catch a pail of crappies. Timing, stealth and deliberate presentation are as important to the bluegill angler as to the stream fisherman trying to get a wary brown to rise. The big advantage the springtime panfisherman has, though, is that fish are in the shallows to spawn and feed. The Case for Crappies

Crappies, which are also members of the sunfish family, spawn when water temperatures creep well into the 60s. This phenomenon occurs by late April in southern Ohio and Indiana, as late as early June in northern Michigan. Typical of their breed, the males fan out a depression for eggs in the sandy bottom or among weeds. Drowned timber and brush is often nearby. Once the female lays eggs, the male guards them and fans away particulates that otherwide would settle over the eggs and rob them of life-giving oxygen.

Spawning usually begins along the north shore of lakes, which, because of their southern exposure, are first to warm. The largest crappies usually spawn first, but the females may go back and forth from deep water to shallow several times over several days before unloading all their eggs. Cold fronts send fish back to deeper water where they bury themselves in structure or weeds, just as bass do. The best time to fish for crappies is on the second or third day of a warm weather pattern that is holding. Besides temperature, water level plays a key role.

Like the other panfish species, crappies know there is safety in numbers, and so they travel in schools, usually according to age group. Ice anglers know that crappies often suspend in or near stickups, fallen trees and other woody structure. As the ice goes, fish move closer to shallow water, taking advantage of protective vegetation and wood debris. Deep-water points and submerged creek channels also attract them.

Although able to tolerate fairly dirty water, crappies also inhabit clear lakes and clean water. To catch them in either environment, fish small jigs in 1/32 oz. to 1/4 oz. size and tip the hook with a small shiner minnow or a waxworm. Tube jigs and lures with small twister-type tails work best on suspended crappies because the lures' design slows its descent and provides for better action. Hungry crappies might chase something to eat a couple of feet if the tidbit is swimming by, but the predators rarely move vertically to nail lunch. That's why slow-falling offerings work best.

Prespawn fish are usually willing biters. Use wrist action to hop jigs back to the boat or shore. If no strikes occur, slow the presentation with a deliberate lift-and-drop tactic of a couple feet at a time. The technique is like walking a plastic worm through weeds for bass. If that doesn't work, try a slow, steady retrieve. Vertical jigging will also take crappies if they are deep enough to avoid being spooked. Start near bottom and then work your lure and bait toward the surface 12 to 18 inches at a time.

A good trick to get bait over shallow-water fish in clear water is to use a lightweight European float or a small slip bobber, which can be preset to any depth you wish. The tinier bobbers work best because they offer little resistance to a striking crappie. You can also toss No. 0 or No. 1 Mepps Comet spinners, which contain a rubber minnow and can be retrieved slowly to simulate a crippled baitfish.

Besides the spring spawning period, crappies return to the shallows in fall to feed. I have caught them in October in only one foot of water along a wind-swept shore when waves stirred up food.

Getting crappies to bite is often less difficult than finding them in the first place. If none of these tactics work, find another spot to fish. You might have to move a dozen times in order to get a crappie bite going.

Four- to six-pound-test line is usually sufficient, but in really thick cover consider stronger monofilament to avoid breakoffs. Battling Bluegills

Bluegills invade the shallows to spawn from mid-April to mid-June or when water temperatures warm to 67 degrees. They seek a firm bottom--preferably sand--near weeds. A sharp- eyed angler can spot their oval-shaped beds of six inches to two feet in diameter in water from one to 12 feet deep. Spawning usually occurs in one or more shallow areas of a lake, including islands and reefs far from the mainland. Because bluegills colonize, spawning beds may be only a couple of feet apart. To my mind, an active spawning area looks like a lunar landscape--opaque yellowish pockmarks in the lake basement.

Sunny days and warm spring rains help trigger the spawning urge. To see if bluegills are on the beds, stalk around shore and watch for telltale rings of feeding fish. Polarized sunglasses may also help you to spot the dark- bodied fish against the light-colored beds. The males move in first to set up territories, which they aggressively defend, then back off when the females arrive. Later, the males return to fertilize the eggs. Hot fishing lasts from one to two weeks.

An overzealous angler can pick a lake clean of bluegills by overfishing, and the pug-nosed 'gills are especially vulnerable during their spawning period. Males readily attack anything that enters their territory. To catch them, first make a quiet, careful approach by paddling or wading into casting position just out of sight of the beds. One effective tactic is to use an 8-foot-long flyrod armed with a 6-weight floating fly line and 5X or 6X tippet (1 to 2 pounds). False cast a small popper in red, yellow or other bright color a few times and then drop the tiny lure over the beds.

Another technique is to spin cast 1/32 oz. Mister Twister jigs with pink heads and white bodies. Gear up with a two-piece, 6-foot fiberglass rod with a spinning reel stocked with 2- to 4-pound test line. Cast over the beds, allowing the jig to sink, and then slowly retrieve it, giving the jig an occasional twitch and keeping it four to six inches off bottom. To use a popper, rubber spider or other light lure with spincast gear, tie a plastic bubble bobber to the leader a couple feet from the lure.

A waxworm or piece of leafworm will take 'gills, too, but be sure to cover the barb on your No. 12 or 14 hook.

Although bedded bluegills hit at all hours of the day, early morning or late afternoon until dark are twin periods of top productivity. Prime conditions include a warm day, clear or slightly overcast sky, and no wind. Fun with Other Sunfish

Two other sunfish, the pumpkinseed and redear, are highly prized by hardcore panfishermen. Pumpkinseeds, with their yellow-green bodies and throats of Sunkist orange, are difficult to target in number and rarely exceed eight inches in length. They are nearly always caught in conjunction with redears and bluegills.

Like bluegills, red-eared sunfish can be tricky to catch. They don't bite as readily as crappies or perch and when they do, the hit can be imperceptibly soft. Often called shellcrackers, redears prefer snails, which they crush with the aid of teeth-like appendages in their throats. Males redears are easily identified by their bright red gill flap. Females look much like female bluegills except they have an overall greenish appearance. They are also a bit larger on average.

In spite of their preference for snails, redears will also take crickets and worms, especially air-injected night crawlers drifted over bottom. Like bluegills, redears have a tiny mouth, and that is why small crawlers pinned to No. 8 or 10 Aberdeen hooks are preferred. Also, like bluegills, redears sometimes suspend between the surface and bottom of lakes but are never far from weed beds, weed lines that mark the lake's contour from shallow to deep, or woody structure.

White crickets or wigglers (larvae of the mayfly) work well, along with waxworms speared to a tiny teardrop spoon. Best colors are chartreuse, white or lime green. Catalpa worms, redworms and baby ribbon leeches are also worth trying.

Redears are found throughout Indiana and Ohio, but their Michigan range is limited to a handful of southernmost lakes. Better ones include George, Silver and Coldwater in Branch County; Long Lake in Hillsdale County, Crooked Lake in Washtenaw County; and Duck, Lee and Brace lakes in Calhoun County. For other lakes call DNR district offices at Plainwell (616-685-6851) or Jackson (517-780-7900).

Spawning habits are similar to the bluegill. The size of auto hubcabs, redear nests are usually deeper than those of bluegills' and often are found on the perimeter of bluegill nests. Bedding redear males will also rush poppers and lures.

In summer when redears are on bottom, troll a lime green or silver Tiny Tad, F-4 Flatfish or other small crankbait. For suspended fish, try delivering bait on a slip bobber. In Praise of Yellow Perch

While members of the sunfish family build nests and guard their eggs, the yellow perch is a broadcast spawner. The female lays her eggs while suspended, and then one or more males fertilize them with milt. The abandoned eggs fall to bottom and attach to sticks or weeds. Soon after ice-out, perch spawn in rivers and lake shallows.

Always hungry, schooled yellow-bellies will hit almost anything and are the easiest of all panfish to catch. The best bait is a spot-tailed or lake emerald shiner. Try to sort out the larger minnows at the bait shop, keeping any that are 1 to 1 1/2 inches long. Hook the baitfish under the lower jaw and bring the barb out through the upper jaw or head. Make sure hooks are sharp and secure the minnows well because thieving perch are adept at picking clean the hooks.

Wigglers are a deadly perch bait in spring, and small ribbon leeches, leafworms and redworms are effective summer offerings. Perch will also take live hellgramites (dragonfly nymphs) and artificials when flyfished. One of the top baits in the Great Lakes during summer is live soft-shelled (molting) crayfish. Insert a longshank No. 6 or 8 hook under the shell in the crayfish's back and bring the point out the back. Or simply hook the critter through its tail.

Whether you seek good food, pure sport or family fun, Big Four Panfish offer a special magic. As the geese head north and major league baseball goes south for spring training, the magic time for panfishing begins.