Okoboji Lake Area

Iowa's prettiest fish: The Pumpkinseed

The Great Lakes of Iowa is truly a destination for all ice anglers in the Midwest.  It is a four hour drive for me, but I try to get here a couple of times each ice season.  While the fishing isn't always as planned, the multitude of lakes gives you many options to try.

This year a group of seven us took to the lake to figure things out and enjoy the thick ice of the Okoboji Chain of lakes.  The first day there we Emerson Bay, this location is known for its nice bluegills.  We were able to find many of these nicer gills along with many other species too; black crappie, perch, walleye, northern pike, and pumpkin seeds were caught that day too.  It was a good first day after driving all morning to get there.  

Just a typical Okoboji Sunrise

As we planned for the next day we were all excited to try for some perch on Spirit Lake.  A member of our group did well the day before in the same general area, so we were anxious to get there.  We all caught some perch in the big basin of Spirit and a few bigger walleyes were caught too.  It didn't

disappoint, but it wasn't as good as the day before.  We decide to move to the northern part of Spirit Lake and fish some shallow water for panfish.  This had everyone moving about, popping holes and catch fish.  It is amazing the ground you can cover when working as a team, we all were using the Vexilar FLX-28 units.  These units are made for hopping around the lake and trying numerous holes within a seconds of each other.  The instant feedback is a must for the shallow, weedy water that we were in.  Jigs and spoons were working on this day, I really think the key was using your Vexilar to find the active pods of weeds where the fish were swimming by.  They were hungry and willing to bite when surrounded by weeds.  As the sun set we were all a bit eager to get off the ice to clean some fish and eat like kings.  Perch fillets were the menu that night, we all ate our share and maybe a little more, it's hard to beat fresh fish, especially after a day of catching them.

A surprise 22-inch Walleye in 6 feet of water

The next day we decided to try and find some yellows on East Lake Okoboji, the entire morning of searching only came up with small perch.  We spent the last afternoon of the trip back in the weeds of Spirit Lake.  It was much of the same as the previous day, which none of us minded at all!  It was a great way to end the day, and the trip; gills, crappies, and perch were all present and dozens went back into the lake for another day.  

A big thanks for everyone fishing on this trip, although the entire group had never fished all together, we worked very well as a group helping each other move around and find fish for all.  I always hate leaving Okoboji, not only because of the 4-hour drive home, but the simple fact that a fisherie of this magnitude does not exist anywhere else in the state...if you haven't been there...GET THERE!

First Ice of 2019-20 season

Mother nature just wouldn't let the ice grow this winter, this might be the latest "first day" in the past decade...nevertheless when ice fishing safety comes first and December 12th was that first day.  I headed out to a local public area and found the ice very nice.  Numerous fish were caught, including the typical three species of gills, crappie and bass. 

It is always a bit magical to walk on the ice, drill those first few holes and watch the Vexilar light up...a feeling that still gets my blood pumping!  Here's to a great ice season, be careful out there!

Fish GUMBO Recipe

I really enjoy fried fish, it is hard to beat a bluegill sandwich smothered with coleslaw.  However, a person can only have so much of the good stuff.  Over the past few years I have shared a few recipes on here that have turned out really well.  A few days ago I tried something a little different once again.  Fish Gumbo; to the side you can see all the ingredients that you will need, and your favorite fillets of course.  I always use Yellow Bass fillets when cooking them into a recipe, they have more "fishy" flavor than a crappie, perch or bluegill and I feel as though that fishy flavor helps create a unique taste after being cooked.  You can use any fillets you like or have around in freezer.  This is very simple and you can have a hot bowl of soup in about 30 minutes. 

How to make Fish Gumbo:
Ingredients needed- 
Bear Creek Gumbo Soup Mix
1 Can of Corn
1 Can of Green Beans
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
16 pieces of fish (8 fish)

~Place fish fillets on tray and cook at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes (Toaster Oven works great)

~When fillets are baked place them on a plate and break them up using a fork to desired size

~Follow the directions on the soup bag

~Add the fillet pieces to the large pot when you add the contents of the bag

~Continue to follow the directions on the bag until finished

This turned out great, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Understanding your Electronics on the ICE

Ice fishing shows in Iowa are in full swing, I was sent to Clear Lake Bait and Tackle last weekend to give a seminar on using flashers to catch more fish through the ice.  No matter where I end up speaking about how to maximize the use of a flasher a few tips always create the loudest buzz.

Below you will see the most common thing I get asked while doing shows at the beginning of winter.  This graphic shows the math behind the lines on your flasher.  We need to train our minds that the colors are not just the "size" of fish, as a lot of anglers assume.  The graphic shows how the colors can create a mental picture for us as we decipher what our flasher is telling us.  Use the colors to present the baits at the appropriate depths, never go to a GREEN or YELLOW line, always fish above it.  Also, always go after the RED lines, those fish are right beneath you and it also tells you at what depth the fish are moving through your water column.  Note, the crappies are swimming all at the same depth, however the lines on the Vexilar will appear deeper as they are farther away from the ice-ducer.  This is the reason why we need fish above the yellow and green lines.

Many great videos can be found on the Vexilar website: http://vexilar.com/pages/new-video-page

Have fun, be safe and enjoy the upcoming ice season...it might be here before many think!

Change with the Weather to Catch MORE Fall Bass

Fall has arrived here in Iowa. There have been many signs of this for quite some time; shorter days, crisp morning air, the turning of the leaves and the mysterious fog that settles in over lakes and ponds. Everything around us is changing, and we have to change our fishing strategies to continue to catch fish.

Lakes: No matter if you are fishing a 100-acre lake, 8,000-acre lake or a small pond the fish will have the same general tendencies. Bass, crappies, bluegills must search out their prey to survive. Gone are the days where we need to look closely for the thermocline and plan our day around that. The water in lakes and ponds this time of year is pretty uniform and the fish will use all depths to find food. This fact alone can be troublesome as to where to start looking. As a general rule of thumb, if the water temperature is still above 50-degrees fish will be feeding shallow, and by shallow I mean a foot deep. It is all about the prey, and those small fish, minnows and crawdads that these species love to eat will still be shallow. Crawdads will go dormant around that 50-degree mark, but other prey will continue to stay shallow. Shallow coves that have quick access to deep water are always on the top of the list of places to try. If the main lake creek channel swings in towards a shallow cove, that makes an excellent stop for fish to feed up in the shallows. Coves that have distinct creek channels feeding them is also a great place to fish. Add some brushpiles, rockpiles or standing trees and this makes things even better. Looking at lake maps and studying them before your trip can help you plan your day to focus in on these starting places. Most gamefish are sight feeders, fall offers very few daylight hours, this is to the anglers’ advantage. Although fish don’t need as much food to survive during the cooler months, they still need to feed during a smaller window of time. Take full advantage of this and use those sunlight hours for your fishing adventures, and one of the best things about fall fishing, no need to get on the lake at dawn, it is best to let the sun warm the lake up, sleep in and fish the middle of the day. (Don’t forget your radio to listen to that football game!)

Rivers: There is no better time of the year to fish a river than right now. The rivers in Iowa seem to get rejuvenated during the month of September and get prime in the month of October. No matter if you are talking about the Mighty Mississippi or a small interior river which flow through most counties in the state, now is the time to hit them. When I am not fishing with my children or relatives I fish for bass, however in the fall it seems that every bass fishing excursions turns into a multi-species day. Rivers are notorious for being full of many species of gamefish; walleyes, pike, smallmouth, and largemouth are the most popular and it is quite common to catch some of each on a trip to a river this time of year. I think that is one reason why people enjoy fishing rivers so much, you just never know what you might set the hook on. Besides catching a variety of fish on the rivers right now, numbers can be fantastic as well. This is caused by Mother Nature, typically in the fall rivers will be at their lowest flow, or river height. This concentrates the fish into smaller areas where food is present. This is true for panfish too. There is just not a lot of extra water to search out these fish. The low flow also helps the water to clean and provide a steady current for fish. Typically in the fall fish will be near current and even smack in the hardest current the river has to offer. It is all about the food source. Anglers need to focus on slight or secondary currents during this time to find those large groups of fish that may offer the memory or a lifetime. Secondary current isn’t the swiftest flow in the area, but it isn’t calm water either.

Finding what current the fish want and then duplicating that will have you catching a lot of fish this month. When fishing those small rivers/streams it come down to outside bends and inside bends that control the current. Once you solve the mystery of that, then that pattern can be repeated up the stream as far as you go. Take  close note to sandbars at this time as well too. These offer a current break for prey and thus any gamefish could be lurking on the backside of a sandbar awaiting its next meal. Same goes for rivers as lakes, no need to get up with the sun, let the sun warm the rivers and keep that bait in the water.

Fall is my favorite time of year, and there is little doubt that the fishing is the main reason for this. The crisp air, the calm flow of a river, the steam rising up on a lake or pond, October is a magical month and I hope you all find a bit of that magic this year!

The full article appears in the October issue of "The Iowa Sportsman" Magazine.