Spirit Lake

[Jason Freed]

I have been fishing Spirit Lake this last week and the fishing has been extremely slow compared to last year.

The perch seem to be very skittish and not very aggressive. Any thoughts on why this may be?? Last year the perch fishing was very good. The water seems to very clear this year, and I have a hunch that this is causing problems. Should a guy go and fish deeper in order to counteract this? I have been seeing fish on the Vexilar and have dropped down everything know to man, but nothing really wants to cooperate, just a few small walleyes and perch.

Is anyone out there showing the same frustration??

I guess I am just looking for some feedback or ice fishing reports from Spirit or the Okoboji's. What is working and so on?

Good Luck to everyone
May you drill your holes straight and bobbers stay under
Jason Freed

[Eric Wright]

The bite on the Iowa Great lakes has turned into a hit and miss on most occassions. The perch have been slow compared to last year, if you are sitting in the right place at the right time you may catch a bunch of nice ones, but that right place seems to be extremely hard to find. West Okoboji had a great Big Gil and crappie bite early in the bays, as most people were still up on spirit, but that has since slowed and turned into a late afternoon bite for the most part. I have had little success in the morning the past 2 weeks. The northerns have been fairly active. The walleye bite seems to be slow as well, have caught a few sub legals and havent heard nor seen much action for eyes on west. Good Luck and have a safe trip

[Smuck]

Spirit Lake Has sucked since the floods hit up there. The eyes are 100 to 1 all under 14inches. Like many others feel...something needs done. The lake area is loosing out and many fisherman are heading north, spending money elsewhere and having excellent luck. The great IOWA LAKES AREA is too rich for the old timers anymore. Over populated with party animals. (Guess Florida is losing out also at spring break).Don't get me wrong... I still like the area but it will never be as good as it was 15-25 years ago. Lets just go back to the old plain hook,nightcrawler and bobber days and sink the jetskies and the 35ft. yachts. Thats what the ocean and sharks were made for. Go play in it and leave us simple folks alone. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[Kolby]

That post reminds me of the picture they have in the local McDonalds. It shows an old timer with his wife standing next to a board with walleyes hanging off it. It reads something like, "a days catch on West Okoboji". It looks like the picture is from the early 1900's. The fish hanging on the rack are incredible. We are taking our family vacation for the first time up to Minnesota rather than the Iowa Great Lakes, we caught 20 to 50 fish a day last year on Spirit in August, but they were all 11 - 13 inches. There were so many people fishing that I think the minute one hits 14 inches he gets plunked into the livewell. The guys that run Vergies said this was the first year anyones been able to catch many walleyes in that lake for a long time.

[J-Ripper]

You are both full of it. there are nice walleyes in just about all the lakes in the Iowa Lakes region yes there are alot of small walleyes but that is because of the high stocking rates every year. Walleyes have to be small before they get bigger. There are better places to fish in North America for walleye but there are many that are worse as well. If you don't like fishing here than don't! Fishing is slow right now but that can change with the weather anyday-Ripper
P.S. The Northern fishing has been excellent on West so far this season.

[Kolby]

I'm not going to argue with you, but walleye need to be alive to get bigger! The minute a group of fish in the same age class hit the minimum size limit, poof! they're dinner. Sorry if you took my comments personally. They were intended to be directed towards the people who manage the fishery. Do you think Spirit is being managed effectively?

[j-ripper]

I didn't take anyones comments personally I agreed with some. For one there are too many tourists, big boats and jetskis, snowmobiles around here. But they are the only grouping of natural lakes in Iowa practicaly. There is also too much fishing pressure on them. I don't know what the DNR can do about any of this they already have a fairly strict bag and length limit on walleyes. Maybe changing the perch and crappie limit may help I don't know. I live here and I have good days fishing and bad I think we all do. Good luck everyone.
P.S. I caught a few northerns again tonight they averaged about 5 pounds Saw some really nice walleyes as well but they were light biting and finicky tonight-Ripper

[The Sandman]

I live on West Lake and remember the flood well. Our place had an 8ft. plywood and sand bag barrier trying to keep flood water out of our basement. By the way that was an excellent summer for fishing even though there was a no-wake zone for the entire lake system.

Yes, Spirit Lake and the West Lake system can be frustrating, however there are some excellent fish there-- they just don't bite all the time. We had a few days on Spirit Lake this past season that were excellent (4-8 lber's.)., but generally it was tough. Living there, and being able to fish anytime we want, still doesn't make it easy. Our best days were usually pulling crank baits in the North end. I do wish people would return the bigger fish and just keep the eaters. Spirit has wonderful Bass, huge Muskie and some BIG Walleys. The largest Muskie in North America often is caught in the Lakes chain.

West hosted several tournaments and two National Championship Walleye tournaments, this past season, that produced some excellent big Walleyes. There was a lot of complaining about the small fish and quantity caught but SOME excellent fishermen figured things out. I personally learn something new each year with the help of some good friends and fishermen and experimenting.

In regard to jet skis and power boats. The biggest cruiser on the lake is 42 ft and beautiful. He has just as much right to have that boat as I do my 17 ft. fishing boat. I try to remember that these lakes are theirs also. There are no signs at the launches saying this lake is JUST for fishing. It is difficult to keep in mind, however, when a jet ski or power boat rocks you so bad you have to hang onto the sides of the boat to keep from falling out. I truelly don't think those people are doing this on purpose, they are just ignorant of proper boating courtesy. When I get ticked I just remember how fortunate I am to be able to fish and spend one more day on these beautiful lakes. I have too many friends and relatives who are gone!!!!!

[Clutch]

good points, sandman! No the Iowa Great Lakes are not a world class fishery but we can usually catch something, you just need to target what's there. If the walleyes don't like your method of presentation, change it. If you don't want to change it go catch some bass or bluegills. We have a lot of options that other areas don't have. Sometimes we just need to quit griping and "just be happy to be on this side of the dirt".

[Eric Wright]

I agree with the last post. The Iowa Great Lakes is a tremendous fishery in its own right. Being only a few decent lakes in iowa and this part of the country, they get a lot of pressure, and i think they hold their own. The small walleye in Spirit is a testiment that it is a good lake, it is hard to control what year classes survive, and what ones don't. the hatchery, biologist and staff have stocked several sizes and many different amounts each year to try to find the best fit for the lakes. The year class that is so strong now, didnt show up in the fall shocking survey, but in the spring survey it was very evident that there was a high survival. There are many sizes in the lake, sometimes the numbers of small ones that bite are overwhelming compared to the keeper numbers. Just remember you could be catching nothing in between keepers. The lakes area has tremendous all around fishing, not to many lakes in Iowa can you go catch walleyes, northerns, Muskellunge, crappie, bluegil,Perch, Small and largemouth bass, not to forget bullhead catfish and drum in the same day and better yet have a chance to catch a trophy! Could there be a better way to regulate the lakes, possibly but without our support it won't happen. I have fished all over and always enjoy coming home to Okoboji.

[Gone north for good]

I have to agree with smuck on this one. These "Great Lakes" as hard as it is to say are not so great anymore.While decent fishing still exists, it is very sparce. I lived in the lakes area the first 25 years of my life and have witnessed this fishery decline since the late 80's. It amazes me every year to hear so many people boast about how many 12-14 inch walleyes there are in Spirit. I've been hearing that for years, that has to tell you something doesn't it. It would be very interesting to check the ages of these 12-14 inch fish. I just don't think there is enough forage to go around. So take small numbers of small fish, along with big numbers of big fisherman and big boats, well I think you can see why I love to fish everywhere else but there. Sorry but the truth is the truth. So for the locals back home, best of luck with the crowds.

[bl]

I have been fishing Spirit lake for 20+ years. This was absolutely the best year ever for both size and number of walleyes according to my records. From opener to ice (with the exception of a 3 week period in Aug. when the lake went green / floating vegitation) the bite was consistent on walleyes. Musky fishing was also the best as far as numbers, but nothing over 45 inchs in my boat. Can't comment on panfish (don't fish em) but I have a friend who has done great on the crappies.

[tc]

I am interested in what kind of numbers you caught for muskies. Where you trying for them or catching them when walleye fishing. The people that belong to the muskie club ended up catching very few for the year.Any other info on them would be great. thanks,TC

[bl]

A little of both. I think between two of us we caught 9. Not alot, but the most I have caught in the lake in 1 year. Mostly sub-legals caught trolling