FISHING REPORT ON THE IOWA GREAT LAKES

[Jim McDonnell]

BIG SPIRIT LAKE has an excellent walleye bite. The problem is you will be releasing most of them because they are under the 14-inch size limit. Trolling Crankbaits will take some, as will Slip Bobbers and leeches. Nightime dock fisherman using Thill Lighted Bobbers with leeches are doing well. Wader fisherman casting 3" Power Grubs are catching fish as well. Crappie and Bluegill action has been slow, while Smallmouth are hitting good. Work Jackson Point, Buffalo Run or the Reeds Run area.
WEST OKOBOJI is excellent on Smallmouth Bass off the rock piles in 8' to 12' of water. Crankbaits or Power Grubs are good lure choices. Some keeper Walleyes are also being caught pulling Frenzy Firesticks in that 8 to 14' of
water.
EAST OKOBOJI has lots of small Walleyes everywhere. Someone caught a 27-incher last week so there are a few nice fish around. White Bass activity is up by the fast water out of Big Spirit on East Okoboji. In fact, there is alot of everything in that current.
MINNEWASTA has some Crappie and Walleye action. CENTER LAKE is producing Walleye and some nice panfish. Crappie action on SILVER LAKE at Ayrshire is fair. Check out the walleyes on LOST ISLAND and
FIVE ISLAND, both lakes are on a pretty good bite.

NOTE TO RED DOG: Here are my thoughts on the 14-inch size limit on the Iowa Great Lakes. IT IS NOT WORKING ANYMORE. It has been in effect for 10 years now and we need to clear some smaller fish out of the system for awhile. I've fished the Iowa Great Lakes for over 50-years and have seen the ups and downs, but this is the longest down we have been in for some time. My personal thoughts are to remove the 14-inch, leave the one walleye over 20-inches and leave the limit at three. Or if interested in helping the lakes to have more big fish, put in a slot limit. Say all walleyes from 19 to 24-inches in that limit of three. Many of the little walleyes are not very fat so we must be lacking forage in a certain size. There's much work to be done but let's try something.
Don't miss any sunrises.
THE FISHING PROFESSOR

[reddog]

Thanks for the response J MAc. I feel the problem is multi-faceted, but essentially it is forage based. You no longer see the rafts of baby bullheads, or the clouds of spot tail shiners etc. Lots of small walleyes, along with Smallmouths and Large mouths take a toll on the forage base. I'm not blaming any one species in particular, but obviously, there are more of some species than at any time in history of the lake. I dont think the lake can be managed with a large population of every species that is available. Look at how many species are abundant in Big Spirit. Walleyes, Smallmouths, Largemouths, and dont forget Muskies. Maybe all of this C&R on the bass populations needs to be addressed a bit. I dont know. I love fishing smallies, as much as the next person, but I really dont think we are doing the lake any favorites by releasing every single one back into the system. As great as it is, catching 30-50 smallies a day, may not be in the best interests of the overall health of Big Spirit Lake

[Kolby]

Good subject,

Yes there are big walleyes in Spirit and they can be had at times but I've seen pretty consistent numbers of short fish for the last five years. At that lattitude a walleye should be putting on around 3 inches per year until he hits roughly 22 or 23 inches. I don't see that happening with any year classes of fish in there. A 27 and 1/2 incher that came out of there last week looked like a pike with an overgrown head. And that leads to the next topic - Spirit lake is relatively easy to fish, you can go to just about any structure on the downwind side of the lake at any time of year and catch fish like crazy. I would like to see more open water species of baitfish in there to spread out the love. More Emerald shiners possibly.

Also, she's been pretty low for the last few years, she's up high now and building all kinds of food, that could turn things around if waterlevels stay high for a few years. The lake currently appears to be very fertile with lots of moss and bug life all over the lake bottom. But in the meantime, I'd like to see 3 fish below 14 inches, everything else back in the drink. After the dinks are thinned this season, keep 2 fish 16 to 19 inches and one over 27 for a trophy. Walleye fishing is "cool" and becoming very popular - it's time to tighten the screws. Also, what have you guys been finding in the stomachs of the keepers you are getting? I'm seeing tiny insects primarily.

Kolby

[The Real Ripper]

I'm with Jim on this one. We need to drop the 14 inch minimum length limit for a season or two at least and get these year class's of walleyes thinned out but I would change the one over 20" to 18". I would leave the length limit alone in West though, most of the same year class that is crazy in east and big spirit is bigger in west 16" or so is what they seem to average. Anyway the positive thing about Big Spirit right now is you know you are going to catch fish there no matter how good of fisherman you are-Josh