Pike in Iowa

[Stellahound]

Hi all,

So I am new to the forum and live in Southeast Iowa by Mt. Pleasant. I am looking at getting into some pike. I went on a guided trip earlier this season in Lacrosse in the backwaters of the Mississippi River and caught several with the largest being a 38". I am looking for areas that are safe to access to catch pike in Iowa. I think the river is a good place, but I get nervous going out there without having much knowledge of safe ice.

Anybody have ideas/thoughts on this topic?

Thanks for the insight

[Mr.Seaguar]

They do a lot of ice fishing on the Mississippi in Iowa. If you fish the right place, you can use 5 lines on the Miss. That would be alright.  I catch lots of pike in Okoboji but at Okoboji a 30" is a really nice one. At Lacrosse,  a 30" is medium sized.

[Stellahound]

Thanks for the fast reply. I fished Okoboji 3 or so years ago. It is about a 5 1/2 hour drive for us. It was a pretty fun experience though and we caught a pile of bluegill. I think the river is probably my best bet, I just get worried being inexperienced walking out on the ice on the river. I do not have many pike down my way. Every once in a while we will see one caught in pool 18/19.

[Kevin23]

They do a lot of ice fishing on the Mississippi in Iowa. If you fish the right place, you can use 5 lines on the Miss. That would be alright.  I catch lots of pike in Okoboji but at Okoboji a 30" is a really nice one. At Lacrosse,  a 30" is medium sized.

6 if you buy the 3rd rod license. 3 tipups plus two lines on a normal license, extra line permit allows one more of either.

Pool 13 is full of them, as is pool 12 backwaters. Just do a little google maps searching around the backwaters then look for ice reports on the ones that look good- bait shops are very willing to share info around here. You wont find much for ice fishing pike south of pool 13 though, not saying they cant be caught... I catch them every year, just not easy to target and its more random chance than anything.