Iowa Great Lakes

Iowa Great Lakes, great bassin'

Some of the finest bass fishing in Iowa occurs on lakes in the Iowa Great Lakes region. Jim McDonnell, the guy they call the Fishing Professor, guides on West Lake nearly every day of the open water season. He says smallmouth fishing rivals any anywhere and largemouth opportunities are not far behind.

There's little reason to keep quiet about it much longer. Word's out anyway. But I just can't quite seem to say it out loud. Come over here and lend me your ear. I just can't help but whisper.

Smallmouth bass fishing on West Lake Okoboji is as good as it gets. Anywhere.

There. I've said it. It's a rash statement, I know. But I'm confident the bass will back me up. The smallies are so thick, one local guide confided to me, that walleye fishermen are complaining the bass are eating all the forage.

Imagine that. A lake where smallies are so thick those squinty-eyed walleye chasers are taking that excuse home to their wives to explain empty livewells.

When Iowa Department of Resources (IDNR) Fisheries Biologist Jim Christianson hears things like that he only smiles.

"Five years of a 15-inch length limit has gone a long ways to improve bass fishing on West Lake," he says modestly . "Catch rates are up because of that."

Long time Great Lake's fishing guide Jim McDonnell of Royal, Iowa, doesn't pull any punches. He just says it flat out.

"It's one of the best smallmouth fisheries going anywhere," he says. "West Lake right now is just a tremendous smallmouth lake and largemouth fishing has improved tremendously in recent years as well.

"I fish Minnesota, Canada and all over and, by golly, you just can't beat our smallmouth," he says. "As long as our catch and release rates are so good, I think the fishery will continue to improve."

But the true test is fish in the boat and McDonnell, the guy they call The Fishing Professor, landed four fish over five pounds last year and had one day when 43 smallmouth up to 4 1/2 pounds were brought aboard his boat and put right back over the side to swim again. The Fishing Professor, a retired middle school teacher from Royal, Iowa, doesn't string smallmouth.

Jim McDonnell
...A pair of lunkers


If you've never seen West Lake Okoboji, you're in for a treat on your first trip. It's a 3,847 acre glacial lake gem. It's nine miles long from stem to stern and probably averages a mile wide most places. It's a deep lake, 134 feet with very clear water in the spring.

For those of you who like to categorize lakes, you'd call it a mesotrophic (middle aged) lake with several eutrophic (old) bays. It's full of rock points and high, shorelines covered with hardwoods which turn riotous colors in the fall. In the summer it develops a distinct weedline which probably averages about 18 feet deep most places.

There's lots of rock shorelines and rock piles all over.

If you sat down to draw plans for a premiere multi-species freshwater lake, you'd probably draw one just like West Lake. And that brings us to the other species we're talking about here. Notice the title said Great Bassin', not Great Smallmouth Bassin'. There's good largemouth bass fishing here as well.

And as long as we're at it, we'd better not forget that we're not just talking West Okoboji in this piece. No. We're talking about fishing Iowa's Great Lakes. There are three major lakes here, Big Spirit, Iowa's largest natural lake at 4,169 acres, West Lake Okoboji and East Lake Okoboji, 1,835 acres. Then, tacked on to the northwest corner of Big Spirit is Little Spirit at 618 acres, at the southwest corner of East Lake is Upper Gar at 36 acres which falls into Minnewashta Lake at 122 acres.

Those are the lakes we're looking at. There's excellent smallmouth in West and Spirit Lake but West is rated best for consistency. Both lakes also have largemouth bass with West once again getting the nod. East Lake, Upper Gar and Minnewashta are primarily largemouth fisheries.

So, that's where we're heading in this article. But let's get back to West Lake and continue to explore the smallmouth fishing.

McDonnell says the best smallmouth locations on West are basically any of the major points. That would include Pillsbury, Fort Dodge, Pocahontas, Manhattan, Omaha, Eagle and Gull.

"Gull Point gets the most pressure," he says, "because it is big with a lot of room to work, but all of those areas are good. Those rock piles on the north end are good too."

But, where to look. Deep or shallow?

"You know, in May those smallmouth are funny," McDonnell says. "They could be anywhere from 5 feet to 15 feet. The best thing to do is start shallow and just keep working deeper."

Warming water is what bring smallmouth into the shallows of rocky shorelines and savvy smallmouth fishermen know that when the bass move up, they like to hide under and around docks. When that happens, dock fishing is an excellent pattern.

"If the water is real clear, you can go along and almost pick your rock piles," McDonnell says. "And those smallies, when they get in on those rocks they kind of back into them and take up their positions. So when you find those big boulders and scattered rock piles, there's going to be smallmouth there if there has not been too much activity and in May there usually isn't."

In May, Jim catches a lot of fish on 1/8-ounce jig heads with Berkley Power Grubs tipped with a fathead minnow.

"I hardly ever use a jig head larger than 1/8-ounce," McDonnell says. "I like the mushroom heads made by Northland the best. Color does make a difference. I usually start with chartreuse then move around from there. A 4-inch Berkley worm, purple and black in color, on a jig head is another good presentation in May. A slip bobber and minnow is another good presentation at this time. We just anchor on rock piles and stillfish."

When fishing shallow water or the dock pattern, Jim prefers the jig and minnow but when he goes into deeper water he prefers the live bait rig.

And when he's searching for trophies, everything takes a back seat to live bait.

"Live bait presentations will always, well, I shouldn't say always, but more than likely will produce your biggest fish," he says. "Anything from big golden shiners to big silver shiners to big blue chubs, perch or bluegill will do it.

"All the big fish we caught last year were caught on live bait," he adds.

And when Jim says "big" live bait, he means it. He's talking baitfish in the 5 to 6 inch range. That's in warm water. When the chill is on, a small fathead will produce well.

"I like a Northland Roach Rig and a three-foot snell," he says. "I like to go with 12 pound test on the snell because once in a while you get those toothy critters grabbing it too. I like a good-sized hook with the big baits, probably a 1/0 most of the time."

If there's a common mistake beginning smallmouth fishermen make, it's that they use too much weight--a jig or sinker that's too heavy.

"Most of the time you will be using a 1/8-ounce sinker," he says. "Once in a while you might have to go to a 1/4-ounce sinker if you have to go 15 feet or deeper. I use a bullet sinker."

While backtrolling is an excellent technique for presenting live bait, McDonnell often drifts using drift socks to slow his speed. Depending upon how many guys are in his guide party, he might drift with two live bait rods in rod holders and cast the other side of the boat with jigs.

West Okoboji's largemouth bass population has grown since the return of high water during the early and mid-'80s. Reproduction has improved and the bass population has grown as a result.


Lunker largemouth
...another trophy release


In May on West Lake anglers would do well to concentrate on shallow waters at the back ends of Little Miller's Bay and Little Emerson Bay. And the canals shouldn't be overlooked either. In fact the canals are your best early season largemouth bet. Between Emerson and Miller's bays a canal network dug years ago for excursion boats today is a haven for largemouth and crappies.

You can access the canals by boat in Miller's Bay just behind Hiawatha Point. From Emerson the best access is just north of Eagle Point.

Good early largemouth fishing can also be found at the north end of the lake, particularly along the shoreline north of Lazy Lagoon. Smith's Bay is home to largemouth as well. Try the very northeast corner from Okoboji Boats to Fisherman's Wharf.

"There's a good population of largemouth in West Lake," Jim says. "They are really under-fished. You can have a lot of fun pitching worms in early spring for those fish. You can really have a ball with them with floating Rapalas, spinnerbaits, Slug-Gos and such in emerging weeds.

"When the weedlines start developing the bass move out there," he adds. "At that time I use a lot of 7-inch worms on jigheads."

West Lake's largemouth are good sized. Expect to do battle with 2 and 3 pound fish on the average with bigger fish available as well.

SPIRIT LAKE

The return of high water has also sparked reproduction of large and smallmouth bass in Big Spirit Lake.

Highest concentrations of largemouth are found in Angler's Bay with some also along the North Grade and Templar Park area in the southwest corner of the lake.

There are several rock piles along the eastern shore of the lake from the south boat ramp to Big Stoney Point.

"This is awfully good smallmouth fishing all along that shore," McDonnell says. "Angler's Bay has a few rocky, gravely points that have smallies on them."

Other areas to seek smallies include Big Stoney Point, Little Stoney Point, Cottonwood Point, the Foot Bridge, Buffalo Run and the Templar Park area.

The same angling techniques used on West will produce smallies on Big Spirit, but McDonnell has a favorite bait which he uses here predominately.

"I probably use more shiners on Spirit than the other live baits," he says. "I like about a 4- or 5-inch shiner here. That's the forage base. Spottail shiners. A fathead minnow and a jig will work good here, too, especially early."

Bass anglers who like to crank 'em up should try the Fat Rap in crawfish colors, the Rebel Crawfish in green and white and the number 5 Shadling in orange crawdad. Rat-L-Traps are good for big fish in the fall and Zara Spooks will pull fish out of deep water all summer long.

Little Spirit Lake

Little Spirit is a neat little lake which can offer good fishing for a variety of species at times. Right now there are other lakes here which offer better bass fishing but Little Spirit doesn't get a lot of pressure and I like to give it a try now and then.

Most of this lake is within Minnesota and only 214 acres of the lake is within the Iowa border. The Minnesota DNR is planning to increase the bass and panfish populations in the lake through stocking so the possibility for better fishing exists in the next few years.

East Okoboji Lake

Higher water levels in the Great Lakes have provided a renascence for East Okoboji Lake. High water brought the weeds back and with the weeds came the largemouth bass.

In May these weeds will be beginning to develop on East Lake but at this time of year you should concentrate your efforts on shoreline areas, particularly the area in front of Park's Marina and farther east and north along that shoreline.

"This area is all rock-rubble," McDonnell says. "Look for largemouth all along here particularly where tree branches are in the water or hanging down close to the water's surface.

"Its kind of an overlooked area for largemouth," McDonnell says. "The lake has a good population of fish although we very seldom hit a big one in there. Pound and a half to 2 pounds covers most of them."

Rather than concentrate efforts in the weedbeds themselves, McDonnell prefers to concentrate on shoreline areas or on the inside edge of the weedlines.

Fisheries biologist Christianson says most of the vegetation here is submergent and made up of cabbage, coontail and some milfoil.

"The weeds have been really coming on in the past four years," he says. "I think it is a natural cycle. The last time the water got low you couldn't buy a weed in that lake. I think some of your rooting vegetation takes over from floating planktonic algae during low water.

"We have seen a few more largemouth here because of the weeds, but I think it has boosted the bluegill and yellow perch populations more," he said.

Upper Gar Lake

At the southwest corner of East Lake, Upper Gar connects with a tunnel under the road. Its a small, shallow lake which gets jammed with weeds early.

But a lot of fun with largemouth bass can be had at this time of year. Begin fishing the west shoreline just south of the public boat ramp. This entire area down to the boat docks can hold early bass with fish found next to newly emerging weeds, submerged tree limbs or any other submerged structure.
At the boat docks and boat hoists bass can be taken in greater numbers. An excellent choice in this lake in May is a 1/16-ounce leadhead and a four-inch worm. You'll have to pour your own leadheads because commercial ones come with a hook too small. Most bass fishermen like a number 1 hook in this small head.

Minnewashta Lake

Minnewashta is another good largemouth bass lake early in the year. Any of the dock areas are good for bass, although most time should be concentrated along the north and east shoreline.

Again, the 1/16-ounce leadhead and 4-inch worm in black or purple colors is a good choice for fishing here because of the shallow water along these shorelines.

Catch and Release

Both McDonnell and Christianson stress that the single reason for good bass fishing on any of these lakes is because nearly all bass anglers are releasing their fish.

"Most of our fishing is catch and release," Christianson says. "There are a few guys who catch them incidental to other fish and take them home and eat them, but not many."

McDonnell, who guides most days during the week in the summertime, harvested only one 16-inch smallmouth last year which was injured too badly to survive.

Local anglers remember fishing before the size limit when small bass, both largemouth and smallmouth were the rule. Lunker fish were the exception and taken only during peak times of the year. Modern anglers recognize the benefits of releasing fish and waving around stringers of bass is definitely and thing of the past.

Contacts:McDonnell may be reached for guide service at (712)-933-5532. Leave a message on his answering machine. His guide trips are 4-hours, 6-hours or all day. He prefers one to three anglers but will take families of more than three. He can line up other part-time guides for larger groups.

For live bait, fishing tackle, lake maps or fishing information contact :

Shucks Bait Shop, Milford--(712) 338-20887;
Kable's Trading Post Bait Shop--(712) 336-1512;
Pioneer Beach Resort Bait Shop on East Okoboji-- (712) 336-3785;
Sandbar Beach Resort Bait Shop on Spirit Lake-- (712) 336-3108; or
Virgie's South Side on Spirit Lake--(712) 336-3491.

Boat ramps: West Lake has two major boat ramps. One is located at the southwest corner of the lake in Emerson's Bay. The ramp, at Emerson's Bay Public Campground is accessed by a service road off of Highway 32. The other ramp is at Lazy Lagoon at the extreme northwest corner of the lake this ramp is also accessed by a service road from Highway 32.

East Lake is accessed by a boat ramp just off Highway 71 just north of the Highway 71 bridge between West and East Lakes. Another ramp popular with East Lake fisherman is located at the north end of Upper Gar Lake near the tunnel under the road which divides East and Gar.

Spirit Lake has three boat ramps. One is located at Marble Beach on the west side of the lake just off Highway 276. Another ramp is located at the outlet into East Okoboji Lake at the south end of Spirit. A third ramp is located at the south end of Angler's Bay in the northeast corner of the lake near Hales Slough just of county road M.