By Steve Weisman
Whenever something special happens in my life, I often quote the song “Oh, what a night!” made famous by The Four Seasons. It might be a family deal, a victory in a big game or as in the case of Thursday, November 14, it was the annual Fall DNR Night sponsored by the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC).
After all, 220+ members (individuals and families) were on hand for the evening’s events, beginning with an “all you can eat pizza meal” where over 600 pieces of Godfathers pizza was devoured!
A special tribute went to all veterans in attendance before the DNR programs began. All veterans received a rod and reel combo for their service to the country, compliments of the IGLFC.
The main part of the evening was the series of presentations by the Iowa DNR staff: law enforcement and fisheries biologists.
Law Enforcement
Captain Greg Harson, head of the northwest Iowa district spoke to the intense late June flooding and the difficulty it caused in so many areas of the Iowa DNR. Then, Joe Yarkosky, Clay County Conservation Officer discussed a variety of law enforcement topics in 2024.
Flooding led to Big Spirit Lake Spillway enforcement activity. With all the water going over the spillway, lots of gamefish made their way into the spillway. According to Yarkosky, nine northwest Iowa conservation officers spent significant hours enforcing fishing laws. Spillway statistics included 58 citations and another 70 written warnings. The most common violations included no fishing license, unlawful means of harvesting fish (snagging/hand fishing), out-of-season musky take/possession, over limit on bluegills.
DNR personnel in all areas dedicated many hours working in communities across northwest Iowa helping serve and protect people from the impact of flooding.
Yarkosky also reminded boat owners that boat registrations expire on April 30, 2025, and to get that taken care of before next year’s boating season. He also discussed ATV/Snowmobile registrations expiring on December 31. In making things easier for snowmobile owners, the snowmobile user permit has now been merged with the registration. ATV/UTV’s cannot be run on state highways (71,18, 9), and non-residents must get a non-resident user permit to operate on public land.
Yarkosky noted that more and more Iowans are downloading/using the “Go Outdoors Iowa App” to purchase and store licenses on their smartphone or tablet. Finally, there is a hiring push for 2025 Water Patrol Officers with many positions located in the Iowa Great Lakes. With a pay of $16.50 per hour, it is a great entry way to get into the DNR. Application forms can be found on governmentjobs.com.
Fisheries Update
Mike Hawkins and Jonathan Meerbeek, both fisheries biologists at the Spirit Lake Hatchery, shared a variety of research data. Hawkins spent a lot of time sharing information about the recent release of 1,900 American paddlefish into West Lake Okoboji.
First off, their ancestors first appeared in the fossil record, would you believe, nearly 135 million years ago. The only other paddlefish species in the world, the Chinese paddlefish, was declared extinct in 2010.
According to Hawkins, the American paddlefish is native to the Okoboji lakes, but this fish has been gone from the lakes since about 1919. “They probably disappeared because of fragmentation of the river systems with the dams that were put in place on the Little Sioux River. Those dams would stop the upstream migration. These fish don’t reproduce in lake systems and are a river fish.”
Before the dams, the paddlefish would make the long migration to the Iowa Great Lakes. There are lots of photographs floating around of paddlefish being caught in West Okoboji in the early 1900s.
Restoration efforts have been very successful across the Midwest and here in the Missouri and Mississippi river systems in Iowa. Hawkins says, “Because of the past history of this species in The Iowa Great Lakes it was a natural choice to reintroduce them here.” They are a big fish with news articles and pictures from 1916 with two monsters, one at 185 pounds and another caught two weeks after the first weighing an astonishing 210 pounds, both caught on West Okoboji.
Of the 1,900 paddlefish released on October, 25 of the paddlefish were implanted with acoustic tags so that their movements can be studied over the next 1 1/2 years. With 20 listening stations on the bottom of the lake, the stations will log daily and seasonal migration around the lakes and even detect a fish leaving the lakes and going downstream.
Hawkins explained, “We don’t know a lot about how well they will survive, and if they will stay in the lake, or what they will do and where they will go. So, to answer some of those questions, we are implanting tags into the body cavity of the fish. Every six months the hydrophones that are listening for the tags are pulled to the surface and they data downloaded.” The hydrophones in the lake are being used for other studies, so the total cost for this tracking study is only for the tags which are about $260 a piece. Hawkins thanked the club for their assistance, “The tag cost was donated by the IGL Fishing Club and other lake residents. The IGL Fishing Club stepped up to organize these donations and order the tags.”
Hawkins also discussed the shallow water lakes that have been restored in northwest Iowa. Unfortunately, several of these water bodies experienced severe flooding during late June, which brought in the undesired carp back into the lakes. Each of these is being assessed and plans are being designed to address the rough fish issues. He also touched on the three miles of shoreline restoration completed at Silver Lake by Lake Park and also restocking of Diamond and Trumble lakes.
Meerbeek, meanwhile, updated the crowd about the success of the low-dose Rotenone treatment on Lake Cornelia for yellow bass. At this point, the results have been positive.
An important muskie tracking study continues. Meerbeek noted that during the late June high water, only one of the tagged muskie went over the Lower Gar overflow. However, one that had gone over the dam previously returned to the Okoboji’s during the late June flood! So, one left, while one came back.
The biologists talked about the impact of zebra mussels on local lakes. It appears that the zebra mussels in the Okobojis have reached a plateau, and the population has moderated at much lower level than experienced in previous years. It seems that Mother Nature has adjusted with an explosion of pumpkinseed panfish and freshwater drum that both feast on zebra mussels. However, Spirit Lake is still experiencing a zebra mussel explosion, and the lake environment has not yet adjusted to the invaders. Only time and Mother Nature will provide the answer to that.
At the same time, vegetation growth on Big Spirit continues to be variable and changing, while an uptick in blue-green algae blooms have occurred. Two years ago, the vegetation growth was incredible and lots of anglers complained about it, while in 2024, the vegetation growth was less significant.
Meerbeek concluded his presentation by inviting people to come to the Spirit Lake Hatchery to visit. “Please stop in and tell us what you are seeing and finding. We always welcome anglers and are happy to answer questions and listen to your concerns.”
The big raffle
The end of the evening was the drawing for 40 special fishing raffle items with all proceeds going to working with youth across northwest Iowa in the next year. According to Dean Jacobson, treasurer of the IGLFC, “We had so many sponsors step up and help both sponsor and minimize the cost of these items. We had a total of $15,000 in sales with over $5000 in profit. All of this will go to fund our youth projects.”
IGLFC president, Terry Thomsen gave a huge shout out to all who attended. “What a great night with the most people in attendance we have ever had for one of our special nights. For 2024, we are now at 350 memberships, and on DNR night we signed up 100 members for 2025!”
The largest crowd ever – with over 220 people – attended the Fall DNR night on Thursday, November 14. (photo by Steve Weisman)
Terry Thomsen, IGLFC president, offered a welcome to all in attendance, recognized the veterans in the crowd and introduced the DNR guest speakers. (photo by Steve Weisman)
