By Steve Weisman

The author with a nine-inch bluegill taken on a tiny Tungsten Clam Drop Jig.

It’s finally here for good! Ice fishing is underway…exciting times! By Thursday (Dec. 12), West Okoboji was finally locked, and the entire Iowa Great Lakes system was iced over.

Although there had been some action prior, it had been pretty sporadic, but this past Friday, my grandson, Hunter went with me for my first ice fishing trip of the year. I had talked to other anglers who had been out, and they were comfortable with the ice depth.

In addition to enjoying his company, without Hunter’s help, I could never have gone. I’ve been battling a disc problem in my back leading to a pretty angry nerve issue in my right hip. There is no way I could ever have pulled out my shack. I had all I could do to just hobble out there.

We fished Little Emerson Bay for bluegills and found the ice to be pushing five inches. However, the more you moved south toward Big Emerson, the ice became thinner. So, we stayed away from there.

We found our fish in about eight feet of water in a spot that was not weed choked. With scattered patches of snow and open ice, we set up on snow cover. In the past, I’ve found that the panfish will be spooky if they see the shadow of a shelter on clear ice.

The bait was visible near the bottom, although the water was not crystal clear. So, we were able to sight fish, which is my favorite way to ice fish the shallows. We could see the shadows of the fish as they moved through and see them open their mouth to inhale the bait.

Both of us used tiny Tungsten jigs. I tipped my Clam Drop Jig with silver wigglers, while Hunter used white/pink plastic. Our largest bluegills pushed nine inches, and I caught one 10-inch perch. Hunter had the right technique to attract the largemouth bass and ended up catching two that were 16 inches and had another on that was probably a 19-20 incher. It takes lots of patience to get a bass up the hole when you are using two-pound test mono.

The author’s grandson, Hunter with a chunky 16-inch largemouth bass.

Around the lakes

Anglers are also moving into Millers Bay canal and the Harbor on West Okoboji, but remember that both Millers Canal and the Harbor are surrounded by private property – you need permission to access. It is trespassing to just go across the ground to either of these spots. There has, however, been no movement on the main lake yet.

At this point, however, ice conditions are not safe on the main bays with two inches or less ice. However, the weather forecast for the next 10-12 days is for good ice making weather with little chance of snow!

On Big Spirit, ice is 4-6 inches. A lot of fishermen are fishing Anglers Bay and the Templar Boat Ramp for panfish. Anglers are also moving out on the north end of Big Spirit for walleyes.  Based on the late wader fishing, walleye fishing should be excellent on Big Spirit. At the same time, reports are coming in of perch being taken in Anglers Bay and out into Hales Slough. Perch numbers are strong on Big Spirit, but it’ll take some work to find the schools and to keep up with them.

Lots of other opportunities here: East Okoboji, Upper Gar, Lake Minnewashta and  Center Lake. Other northwest Iowa lakes include Silver Lake by Lake Park, Trumbull Lake, Lost Island Lake, Virgin Lake and Five Island Lake.

To me, Trumbull Lake is really an intriguing choice. Since its drawdown and renovation several years ago, water quality has improved, and the perch and northern pike have come back really well. Lots of submergent vegetation can make the fishing challenging, but during this past open water season, lots of 10-11-inch perch were taken, along with some pushing 14 inches!

It brings back memories of the first few years I lived here back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Trumbull Lake was alive in the winter with anglers chasing those big yellow perch.

Yes, the ice fishing season is upon us. Even so, continue to use caution. Remember, not all ice is created equal!