Most all of our lakes are going to offer some crappie fishing in the winter months. While we are certainly warmer than central Illinois, many of our lakes do occasionally freeze up, but it is normally not for long. The weather is highly variable during the winter. We can have central Illinois type winter weather or Deep South mild weather, often within the same two week period. Personally, if I were looking for a warmer retirement place, I'd be looking in the southern half of the Gulf Coast states.