Spirit Lake, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issues a weekly fishing report on Thursdays in an effort to provide the latest information heading into the weekend. The weekly fishing report is compiled from information gathered from local bait shops, angler creel surveys, and county and state parks staff. For more information contact the Spirit Lake fish Hatchery at 712-336-1840.
NORTHWEST
West Okoboji Lake
Largemouth Bass – Good: Fish football jigs, crankbaits, or Texas rigs under boat hoists, near weed lines, and on the drop offs. Smallmouth Bass – Good: Smallmouth have moved off beds and are headed towards the rocky drop offs. Fish the rock points that shoot out into the main basin of West Lake, Pillsbury, Fort Dodge, or Gull Point. Use jerk baits, football jigs, or swimbaits. Walleye – Fair: Many anglers fishing off Manhattan point after dark are reporting an increase in quality non-slot walleyes. Anglers are trolling deep diving crankbaits and are picking up these walleyes as they come up the point. Yellow Bass – Good: In Smiths bay just north of the amusement park anglers are reporting a high catch rate of large yellow bass. Anglers using orange twister tails or plain hook with worm and split shot are catching yellows on every cast. Yellow Perch – Fair: A perch bite is going on in Millers and Emerson bays with 9-11 inch fish caught in 12-18 feet of water. Crappie – Fair: Crappies are starting to bite on West. Fish the bays with 22-24 feet of water. Crappies are suspending at 5-10 feet in the deeper waters. Fish a small white jig with light line to catch 10-12 inch fish. Bluegill – Fair: Bluegills can be caught in 25 feet of water off the points using pilkies tipped with red worms.
East Okoboji Lake
Yellow Bass – Good: Large numbers of yellow bass are being caught near East Okoboji beach near the boat docks. Fish vary from small to a few larger 8-9 inch fish. Throw soft plastic shad for them. Anglers fishing under the highway 9 bridge are catching fair numbers of yellows using small plastic minnows. Yellow Perch – Fair: Numbers of smaller yellow perch are being caught while fishing for yellow bass. Pulling similar baits near the bottom will force more perch into your bucket. Largemouth Bass – Fair: Fish near the inlet to upper gar along the rocks to find a fast paced bass bite. Anglers are seeing bass bedding up in upper gar then swimming into East Okoboji. Walleye – Fair: Parks Marina and Lone Tree point are reporting a hot bite for walleye. Anglers are drifting minnows along the bottom before dark. Larger walleye are being caught in 10-12 feet of water. Bluegill – Fair: Anglers are catching low numbers of 8 inch bluegills while fishing docks throughout East Okoboji. Fish small jigs under docks tipped with wax worms. Crappie – Fair: Large numbers of crappie are being caught on the north side of the narrows. 10 inch fish are being caught using pilkies, small jigs, or minnows.
Big Spirit Lake
Largemouth Bass – Good: Fish are being caught under boat hoists around the lake. Fish jigs, wacky worms, or spinner baits. Fish the inside and outside edge of weed lines with Texas rigs, drop shots, swimbaits, or crankbaits in 8-9 feet of water Smallmouth are hitting top-water along the west shore in the evening. Walleye – Fair: Anglers are catching walleye around 7:00 till dark at the North Grade. Fish above and below the slot are being caught and creeled. Successful anglers are using jigging raps, bobber and leech, or just jigging a leech. Walleyes are also being caught along the weed line in Anglers bay in 16-17 feet of water. This weed line runs east to west and larger walleyes are swimming along this edge. Fish jigs tipped with a leech. Yellow Perch – Good: Yellow perch are biting on the south end in 12-20 feet of water. Use small jigs and wigglers. Black Bullhead – Slow: The bullhead bite at the north grade is slowing. Creeled anglers are taking home single digits of 12-14 inch fish. Successful anglers are leaving worm on the bottom and fishing around submerged vegetation. Northern Pike – Slow: Anglers using weedless frogs or surface lures in the north grade in the dense weeds are catching smaller northerns. Bluegill – Slow: A few bluegills are starting to show up on anglers’ hooks with all the rain lately. Anglers fishing at the north grade are reporting catching a few 8 inch bluegills.
Center Lake
Bluegill – Fair: 6-8 inch bluegill are being caught in low numbers along the north bank. Fish were harvested using small lipstick jigs tipped with a nightcrawler. Crappie – Good: Smaller crappies are being caught on the north and east side of Center lake. Anglers are using jigs tipped with wax worms.
Silver Lake (Dickinson)
Walleye – Good: Anglers are catching limits of walleye on Silver Lake in Lake Park using leeches, crankbaits while trolling, or slip bobbers with minnows. Yellow Perch – Fair: While setting hoop nets 10+ inch yellow perch were seen in the west end of Silver Lake. Higher numbers of 8-9 inch perch have been seen in nets in the north bay. Channel Catfish – Fair: Over a dozen 5-6 pound channel catfish were caught along the west shore of the south bay while setting hoop nets.
Lake Pahoja
Bluegill – Good: Bluegills are schooled up off the jetties. Bluegills are very large with many 7-8 inch fish. Fish a worm and bobber. Largemouth Bass – Good: Throwing spinner baits or soft plastics for the aggressive males will produce bites.
Storm Lake (including Little Storm Lake)
Boaters should use caution around the dredge barge, booster pump barge, and pipeline. Walleye regulations for Storm Lake are three fish per day, all fish between 17 and 22 inches must be released and only one over 22 inches may be kept. Walleye – Fair: Walleye have been caught while trolling shad colored crankbaits in 7 to 10 feet of water. Successful anglers are fishing the dredge cuts. Channel Catfish – Fair: Anglers are catching catfish using dip baits, cut bait, and chicken liver from boat and shore. White Bass – Fair: White bass are being caught on crankbaits while fishing for walleyes.
Five Island Lake
Walleye – Fair: Anglers fishing just north of town bay are catching 14-17 inch walleye. Anglers using bottom bouncers are stumbling upon numbers of walleyes as they approach the shallows.
Lost Island Lake
Yellow Bass – Good: Large yellow bass can be caught under the overhang at the outlet of little lake. A large number of smaller fish can be caught near the bridge where Lost Island dumps into little lake. Black Bullhead – Excellent: A large number of bullhead are being seen at the mouth of little lake just west of the bridge while crews are electrofishing on Lost Island.
