Iowa Ice

[Bob Jensen]

Spoke with some anglers in the Iowa Great Lakes area Friday, Dec. 8. They said Smith's Bay and some areas of Spirit Lake had ice and some anglers. They didn't know about fishing success, and cautioned that some areas were still unsafe.

I drove by Clear Lake the same day and saw shelters and anglers on the ice in the narrows. Caution is urged for that area also.

Most small bodies of water have sufficient ice, but again, you've gotta be careful. Early ice can be very inconsistent.

You don't need to be the first one out there, the first one out there is usually the first one to fall through.

Let us know what you're finding in your area regarding ice conditions.

Best Fishes,

[Perch Slayer]

Ahhh don't you just love Spring time in mid-December??? Only in Iowa!

[Jason Freed]

Does anyone have any reports on how the ice is doing up on Lake Okoboji and Spirit Lake?? I am coming home for Xmas to see the family and was wondering if I will be able to wet a line??

[Fred_G]

Looks like still some open water from this:

http://www.okoboji.com/live/

[Speedy]

I took a drive around the area yesterday and in my opinion, I would stay off the ice everywhere, the rain early in the week really put a hurt on what ice we had.
West Okoboji for all practical purposes is wide open.There is some ice in Smith's Bay that looks suspect. Emerson Bay has ice out as far as the Luthern Camp point, Millers has none, north bay has some bad ice,Haywards Bay has ice floating in open spots the middle is wide open, Brown's Bay has ice but none that I would consider good.
Big Spirit had a some fishermen on Anglers Bay, the grade and Templar Park boat ramp bay. Anglers bay ice looked suspect, the grade and Templar Park are probably okay.
Be careful people a bucket of gills isn't worth the risk, in my opinion.

[Joe1]

Big Spirit lost all ice yesterday. Don't know about the bays.

[Perch Slayer]

On little Emerson Thursday morning, 12/29, drilled my first hole in 5 feet of water and reeled in an 11" perch the first five minutes and thought man this is going to be my day! Three hours and ten holes later I reeled in a hand sized gill in 15 feet of water, but called it a day after getting soaked in the rain. Also, much thinner ice further out into the bay so be very careful! I noticed as much as a 2 inch variance between holes that weren't 30 feet apart. What a bummer! Hope Janurary turns out to be a better month than December was for me on the IGLs.

[Ashton]

Clear Lake is 75% open water as of January 3rd.

[Ice-Ice-Baby]

How about a current ice conditions report for the IGLs? I'm headed up there this Saturday and would appreciate someinsight. Thanks in advance.