Gustafson Lake

Gustafson Pond has around five inches of ice. Bluegill – Fair: Some nice bluegill have been caught using tungsten tear drops and plastics, such as the Trigger X Mustache Worm. Yellow Perch – Slow: The yellow perch that are being caught are on the small side.

Bacon Creek Lake

1,500 rainbow trout were stocked in November. Fishing for trout should remain good throughout the season. The next stocking will occur in January. Rainbow Trout – Good:

North Twin Lake

Ice thickness ranges from 1-5 inches.  As of Wednesday there were some open areas along the east side.  Channel Catfish – No Report:

Swan Lake

The aerators have been turned on at Swan Lake.  Some anglers have been on the ice, but no reports have been received.  Channel Catfish – No Report:

Moorland Pond

1,500 rainbow trout were stocked in November.  Trout fishing should remain good throughout the season.  The next stocking will occur in January.  Rainbow Trout – Good:

Lakes are starting to freeze over.  Some of the larger lakes still have pockets of open water.

Storm Lake (including Little Storm Lake)

There is about 6.5 inches of ice in the east part of the lake, but the rest of the lake has around four inches. Walleye – Fair: Some walleye are being picked up on the east side of the lake off the east boat ramp and campground area.

Most lakes are now frozen over, but ice thickness may be variable with the new ice.

Lower Pine Lake

No activity on the Pine Lakes because of open water. Crappie – No Report:

Lake Catherine

Bluegill – Good: 9 1/2-inch bluegills were being caught at Lake Catherine on Dec 5th.

Lake Cornelia

Bluegill – Fair:   Yellow Bass – Good: Yellows biting in 15-17 feet of water with small jigs with cutbait or waxies.

Little Wall Lake

Ice was 5-6 inches on Dec 9.  Fishing has been very slow, water clarity is bad. The aerator is in operation, so beware of thin ice around the aerator (southeast end of the lake).  Crappie – No Report:

Lake Smith

Smith Lake froze over again, but ice is unsafe as of Dec 23.  Bluegill – No Report:

Bluebill Lake

Recent rainfall and warmer temperatures have degraded the quality of ice at Bluebill.  At last check it was 5-7 inches, but most likely is not that thick anymore.  There is a layer of slush over the ice now; anglers venturing out should use extreme caution. Bluegill – Good: Anglers are having some success fishing for bluegill and crappie near submerged tree clumps.

Iowa River (above Iowa Falls)

There has been good open water fishing this week on the Iowa River for walleyes and smallmouth bass from the dam at Steamboat Rock to Daisy Long County Park with jigs and jerk baits.  Walleye – Good:

Clear Lake

With the below zero temps most of the main lake is frozen but use extreme caution if going out as ice will vary greatly due to open water last week. Ice thickness on the Little Lake is 5-6 inches. Use caution near the channel. Crappie – Good: Anglers are reporting decent numbers of crappies in the deeper water (15-22 feet) on the little lake. Some of the crappies are 10-12 inches.  Yellow Bass – Good: Yellows have been caught in 8-10 feet of water on the little lake.

Crystal Lake

Ice thickness on most of the lake is 5-6 inches but the warm weather last week opened a big area (from the campground to the jetty by the big bullhead) which is now frozen, use extreme caution when venturing out on the new formed ice.   Bluegill – Good: Anglers are doing best on the dredge cut (11-13 feet of water). Crappie – Fair: Bluegill anglers are picking up a few crappies on the bottom in same location.

Warm weather and rain have caused lakes south of Clear Lake and Hwy. 18 to have open water and unstable ice conditions. North of Hwy. 18 lakes have ice but ice is thin and extreme caution is advised.  For lake updates and fishing information in the north central area contact the Clear Lake Fish and Wildlife office at 641-357-3517.

Big Spirit Lake

Walleye – Good: Walleye still being caught off of Big Stoney Point. With ice thickness increasing, atv and snowmobile traffic should be safe at this point. The walleye are being caught using Minnows below a bobber. The bite is slow but many walleyes are being caught.

Center Lake

Crappie – No Report: Poor ice conditions exist from the boat ramp north including the whole north shoreline.  

East Okoboji Lake

Channel Catfish – No Report: Limited fishing activity, foot traffic only.

Silver Lake (Dickinson)

Walleye – No Report: Poor ice conditions exist on the east end of the lake extending from the north to south shorelines.

Five Island Lake

Bluegill – No Report: Thin ice conditions exist in Town Bay as this area was open and had limited ice cover prior to the latest ice up.

Minnewashta Lake

Good panfish action (bluegill and crappie) was reported this week.  Sorting is in order as numbers of small fish are being caught; however, persistence and patience will be rewarded with good numbers of angler acceptable size fish in the bag.  Crappie – Good:

Ingham Lake

Aeration system located on the south west corner is active with open water and thin ice exists in this area.  Crappie – No Report:

Limited ice fishing activity in the Spirit Lake District.   Lakes are ice covered and ice conditions have improved, with six inches measured on area lakes.