With the temperatures rising in Iowa, the weekly report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources includes some warnings about ice fishing in areas of the state. The agency warns ice conditions are changing rapidly in north central Iowa and, in northeast Iowa, ice fishing on the Upper Iowa River is not recommended.
However, opportunities in northwest Iowa the Iowa Great Lakes should be available for a few more weeks according to Andrew Carlson of the DNR’s Fisheries Bureau. He says it’s been a good season for ice fishing in the Okoboji region. “Out on Spirit Lake, in particular, the yellow perch fishing has been really good this year, lots of reports of good sized perch and some small congregations of people out there enjoying the bite. We’ve also seen a lot of people fishing in recent weeks fishing West Okoboji and Smith’s Bay as well as parts of East Okoboji.”
The DNR says “no ice is 100% safe” and no one should go ice fishing alone. In February of 2024, a man cutting a new fishing hole on the ice of a Jackson County lake feel into the water when the ice buckled. A friend nearby grabbed the auger and helped the man stay afloat until another person arrived with a sled and helped pull the man out of the water…