If you’re from Iowa and love to fish for walleye, then you know we have some great opportunities to catch Old Marble Eyes. Rivers, shallow natural lakes, deeper lakes, large reservoirs, small reservoirs. Hey, Iowa has it all! If you can learn to consistently catch walleye here, you can catch them anywhere. It takes a diverse angler to be consistent here. A big part of consistency is fishing the right waters at the right time…
In ice out we find that small rivers will produce quality fish as they warm up first. Iowa Walleye Magazine has a list of all the places you can visit. There are many. As soon as the lakes lose their ice, we find small, shallow natural lakes that start kicking out walleye in earnest. Storm Lake is a winner for this time of year. For night fishing in April, there is nothing better than casting stickbaits from the edge of our reservoir dams. A few weeks later, Clear Lake really kicks into gear with the post-spawning season and you’ll find some really good fishing here.
As we approach the beginning of summer, the smaller reservoirs come on. In reality, all the places you fish during this time will be productive. However, May and June are wonderful times to fish the Three Mile, Twelve Mile, Brushy Creek, and Big Creek. Many anglers make the mistake of fishing too deep in these waters at this time. Spirit Lake is another must-see when looking for June walleye. With dog days, you’ll find Rathbun is a state favorite. Be sure to ride very shallow, medium depth, very deep and suspended patterns in Rathbun Lake. The fish are distributed horizontally and vertically during this time of the year.
As the waters cool down in the fall, you’ll want to visit both East and West Okoboji, as well as Spirit Lake. Our reservoir fish tend to stay more spread out and these places are teeming with forage. During the late fall period, you’ll see the reservoirs really light up for daytime action, but the nighttime sting in November is something everyone should learn more about.
Be sure to visit my website so you can learn much more about fishing for walleye in the Hawkeye State. Iowa Walleye covers walleye fishing 365 days a year and I’m sure it will help you put more walleye on the boat this season.