By Steve Weisman
The author’s grandson, Hunter Wheatley with a nice bucket of yellow perch taken from Big Spirit in January.
What a deep freeze! What else can you say about temperatures of -25+ degrees and -50 degree wind chills? Then came the about face for two days with temperatures well above freezing. Then back into the semi deep freeze with several more nights below zero . Whew! It is pretty obvious that Mother Nature does her own thing. About all we can do about the weather is talk about it!
It is hard to believe that we are moving toward mid-February already. That means that we need to remember an important fishing regulation coming up. The walleye fishing season on Spirit, East and West Okoboji lakes will be open through Feb. 14. It will close after that date and reopen on May 4, 2019.
These are the only Iowa lakes that have a closed season for walleye, there will be some excellent walleye opportunities on other northwest Iowa lakes as we move toward iceout. Even other lakes on the chain such as Upper Gar, Lake Minnewashta and Lower Gar will still be open for walleye fishing.
Something that has been amazing is the perch bite that has been going on Big Spirit for the past few weeks. It takes sorting with a mix of 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 inch fish along with a few in the 11-12 inch range. To me, that is good news, however, because it means there are good numbers of multiple year classes in the lake.
Most of the action has taken place out in 20+ feet of water on the north end of the lake. Just look for the “fishing town.” There are up and down days, but it seems anglers are catching fish each day.
Small tungsten jigs tipped and spoons tipped with silver wigglers or wax worms are two go-to presentations along with a slip bobber and a minnow.
The only issue now is the drifting that has occurred, which makes travel a little tougher. Be patient and watch carefully for drifts.
As always, be alert and careful of the ice. Some very close calls occurred during Winter Games weekend. After all, not all ice is created equal.
The Perch Cycle
As one of the large group of perch anglers, I know that we are an impatient group. When we get a great bite like this one, we become spoiled. However, sooner or later it will end, because this is the end of their life cycle. As a result, perch fishing is an up and down cycle as evidenced by angler harvest collected by the fisheries biologists at the Spirit Lake Hatchery since the 1950s.
First, we must remember that perch have a maximum life span of 5-6 years. So, these perch are probably nearing the end of their life cycle. There really is no way to stockpile these perch. When the life cycle is up, it’s up!
Whether a year class of perch reaches adulthood depends greatly on the life cycle. First, perch are one of the main forage fish for most of the predator fish in Big Spirit. They are also cannibalistic predators of themselves. So, everything including the big perch, will make a meal of the young-of-the-year and the larger perch. Ironically, if a year class is too large, then their growth slows as they compete for food, and they take longer to reach angler acceptable size. In other words, the bigger the year class and when there are back to back huge year classes, the fewer resources there are for each fish.
So, although it does happen once in a while, the chances of getting back to back to back great year classes becoming 9-11 inchers is not very good.
Let’s look at some recent perch fishing history. Going back to 2008, 2009 and 2010, we actually had back to back to back great fishing years. In 2008, the perch were mostly 8-9 inchers. That was followed by two unbelievable years of huge numbers and great sized perch being taken. It didn’t seem to matter where; anglers caught fish all over the lake. Anglers came from several states just to ice fish Big Spirit in 2009 and 2010. During the fall, boats bunched together in huge towns catching fish.
Then the crash came in 2011, and for the next three years, it was tough going. For the past couple of years, the bite has gotten better and better. And now? Well, they’re back! Take advantage of what Big Spirit has to offer, because we know it won’t last!
