By Steve Weisman
So, are we early spring or late winter or a little bit of both? I mean, we go from 50s and 60s to lower 30s and upper 20s with a little bit of snow and then back to the 40s this week!
My thought is that ice fishing on much of Big Spirit is pretty much done. Although I haven’t been out there, the latest report I had from mid-week last week was that, obviously, the north end was opening more all the time.
Chasing Big Spirit gold
The fish of choice has definitely been chasing those big schools of perch! It took a lot of hole-hopping, but when you got on them, it was lights out.
My grandson, Wes Walz and three friends were out early last week. At that point, Wes told me that the ice had shrunk down to around 8” versus the 15” or so around 10 days before.
The four of them ended up with 80 really nice 10”-11” perch using either a small tungsten jig tipped with red silver wigglers and tiny Buckshot Rattle Spoon or Kastmaster tipped with a minnow head. They were in 19’ of water and were fortunate enough that no other fishermen were anywhere near them.
Then by this past Tuesday, the mixture of honeycombed ice and a 40-50 mph northwest wind ripped Big Spirit Lake wide open from the northwest corner all the way to Templar Park!
About these perch
So, where are these perch in their life cycle? Will they be around next summer/fall and into the ice season?
That’s a good question. According to Mike Hawkins, NW Regional Fisheries Management supervisor with the Iowa DNR, “Perch rarely live to be seven years old. These perch are now in that 5–6-year range, so they are moving toward the end of their life cycle.”
Hawkins then discussed two critical areas of concern for these perch. The first is what’s called the spawning mortality and the second the late summer heat mortality. “Spawning time is a very difficult time for any fish species. Between egg development and the physical toll of the spawn, this stress can be enough to cause significant mortality of older fish.”
As for the late summer stress, “If they make it through the spawn, the next tough time for older fish comes in the heat of the summer. Perch don’t like warm water, and a long hot summer can cause a mortality event.”
He continued, “Warm water carries less oxygen, algae blooms can create more stress, and fish diseases are usually more common. A combination of all these things is often too much for a fish near the end of its life.”
These are most certainly difficult times for the older adult perch.
Because of the short lifespan of yellow perch, it’s not really possible to stockpile these large perch. You know, cut down the harvest so we can keep the big ones around. We must remember that a six-year perch is an old, old perch. They just don’t go on living more years…that is their life expectancy. At the same time, very seldom do you ever get back-to-back big year classes. Most lakes will only see big year classes of perch every 3 to 5 years. Those big perch out there may even be keeping another big year class from getting started. So, what makes a lake a good perch fishery? Clean water and healthy aquatic plants. Improved water quality and habitat enhance the life of all the species in the lake.
So, are we over-catching numbers of big perch? The answer is no. According to Hawkins, the big perch being caught are nearing the end of their life. Harvest by anglers on big lake like Spirit is a drop in the bucket compared to natural mortality.
Now get this…boat fishermen were finding walleyes right up tight to the ice, and I mean some really nice slot fish. Of course, that’s over now until the May 2nd Walleye Opener! This type of bite reminds me of the days I fished the fast water at Ft. Thompson before the entire river had opened up down to Chamberlain.
Thinking Chamberlain
One of the really hot spots would be in the area called the Stilling Basin, off to the side of the fast water. When it is still iced over, I’ve anchored or slowly moved along the edge of the ice, casting a jig/plastic or jig/minnow so that it falls right below the edge of the ice! Right time and right place!
Many anglers from northwest Iowa head out there this time of the year with their own boats. However, for those that do not, one of the most popular guiding services is Allen’s Missouri River Guide Service led by father and son duo, Garry and Mike Allen. They have a host of guides ready to help out as the number of anglers increase.
In visiting with Garry last week, he said the bite has been pretty good for the past 2-3 weeks, not always on fire, and as usual, everything is pretty much weather dependent. I f the temperatures are right, the wind isn’t blowing a gale and there isn’t a snowstorm coming in, chances are good that you’ll get into some walleyes!
It especially helps if the Corp of Engineers has some of the turbines running.
Garry said, depending on the day and the weather, “Guys are fishing the fast water and along the Stilling Basing up by the Big Bend Dam, then down around Crow Creek, Kioa Flats and down by Chamberlain. It’s really clear water right now, so most of the fish are being found in 15-20’ of water.”
Talking about the bite, Garry noted, “Right now it is a jig bite. Guys are using 4–6-pound Fireline to keep the bait down. Most popular size are 1/8 to 3/8-ounce jigs (white, chartreuse) tipped with bigger minnows, casting them out from the boat.”
Many of the keepers are in the 15-18” range with the chance of catching good numbers of walleyes running in the 20” and larger size. Not a lot of walleyes have been under 15”.
From Hartley
At the same time, last week I visited with guide Dave Hennings and owner of Hennings Tackle, who lives in Hartley. He reflected, “I agree with Garry that everything really hinges on the weather. One of the days we were out there, the wind was really strong, and we had to fish closer to Chamberlain by the Pump House. There were two of us, and it took us most of the day to catch our eight fish from 15-19 inches. We caught them throwing a jig and minnow.” The next day again came with gale-force winds!
If you’re thinking about going west, I encourage you to work around and with the weather if you can. I will say this: it is definitely worth the trip!
A pile of Big Spirit yellow gold
Garry Allen (L) and son Mike Allen (R) with a pair of big Missouri River walleyes.
