Sioux City Area

[tjslim3271]

Its been pretty quite on here about the Siouxland region.....Has anyone been out on lakes around Sioux City lately? Been doing alright on crappies on farm ponds but wanted to try something different. Heard of a few guys catching some walleye out of Browns Lake by Salix earlier in the year but haven't made it out there to try yet. Any reports on Crawford Creek by Battle Creek? I guess Blue Lake outside of Onawa had a pretty good run of crappie and bluegill this last open water season. Might have to give that a try. Hard water fished it a few years ago and caught some nice bluegill and also some cats.

[squ1rr31_]

Hearing a lot of chatter out in South Dakota, I think people are heading the 2-3 hours North for some jumbo's.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Bitter Lake was a Dead Sea this last weekend. However lake Ponsett up my Thompson I believe was hot.

[tla100]

Bitter Lake was a Dead Sea this last weekend. However lake Ponsett up my Thompson I believe was hot.

Hmm I got limit of eater eyes on Bitter last weekend. Few perch. Poinsette is hot and miss from what I heard.

[Mr.Seaguar]

I hope every iowa person starts fishing in SD. Yes, great fishing there, you should go there.

[Bates]

Couldn't agree more, way better fishing in South Dakota than Iowa.

[tjslim3271]

Just an update on the area for those who are interested. Been doing fair on crappie and keeper gills at Browns lake. Went out to Crawford creek and caught a zillion little gills and perch with the occasional keeper crappie. Was going to try Blue Lake but geese and aerator making it look sketchy so just kept driving. Also been catching a few suspended crappie at Gorhmans dam by soldier. 

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I hope every iowa person starts fishing in SD. Yes, great fishing there, you should go there.

Anyone who likes decent size fish does if they want any size. Just look at the DNR data from both states. Lakes in NE SD have an abundance of freshwater shrimp the average perch in NE South Dakota grows to 8inches in 2yrs. It takes at least 4-5 yrs to get a perch that size at the IGL. Not only that but those crappy yellow bass don't help the growth rate in the IGL. Numbers of perch in those SD  lakes are down right rediculous. Not only do the NE SD lakes offer more food and forage for fish like perch and walleye per acre, they have a much larger carrying capacity of fish per acre vs. lakes like the IGL. It is simple mathematics with the forage supply. NE SD lakes have shown they can handle the rediculous pressure on the lakes and still churn out limits of fish year after year of tremendous size. The IGL is on about a 6-7 year cycle. We see 1-2 years of decent perch size(7-9inch average), people over fish them and we wait for the perch to repopulate and grow after being decimated for a year or two. With the zebra mussel invasion we might see an increase in blood worms helping speed the perch growth and population in the IGL. Hoping it happens, but with the yellow bass I kinda doubt it.

Now I've seen plenty of claimed 8-10inch perch limits off of the IGL which really if you look and measure them is more like 7-8 inch limits. Put that next to 12-13 inch perch limits out of NE SD and there isn't even a comparison IMO. I see more 16inch perch pics from NE SD then pics of 12in perch form the IGL.

I believe bitter lake is now the size of all the IGL combined. Around 15,000 acres or so bitter might even be bigger then them alone...........Put lakes like Bitter, waubay, enemy swim, pickerel and slews in the NE SD area wouldn't surprise me if it approached close to 60,000acres plus.

So I do hope more people go to fish NE SD vs the Iowa Lakes. We simply have a very limited supply of fish able water and a rediculous amount of pressure causing many if not most the lakes in the state to be put and take. Once you figure out the cycles of each lake you learn where to fish and not fish......Almost like clockwork for the most part. Kinda figure a lake is good for 1-2 yrs then it's fished out....move to the next one. Even in SW MN it is basically they same way. 

Please don't take this post as being negative, but more of a factual data driven statement. If people go to areas like NE SD they will have better fishing, and it reduces the stupid pressure we have here in Iowa. Plus we all have a better experience with fishing results.

I look at it this way. When people from Minnesota buy an out of state license for $70 to fish in NE SD and they leave a land of 10,000+ lakes something must be going on in NE SD..........It fast growing fish and lots of them......just wish we had the alkaline water ph for those freshwater shrimp down here like the lakes in NE SD and Devils lake in ND have.

[Mr.Seaguar]

I hope you take all your friends and neighbors and just about everyone else you can find to SD. I will tell everyone I know to PM you for good spots.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Hmm I got limit of eater eyes on Bitter last weekend. Few perch. Poinsette is hot and miss from what I heard.

A limit of around 14 inch walleye is expected from my experience up there. Don't really go for them. we chase the limits of 12inch + perch. Usually when we go if the bite is decent we catch a limit of good sized perch and a limit of small eater walleyes. Personally I like the big perch......Had days where when you went to clean your limits we had limits of walleye around 14 inches and just has many perch being that size.

I believe that the DNR in SD took off the 14inch walleye min. Length because there was such an abundance of 13.75 inch walleye. Guessing they are thinking if they thin down the abundance of smaller walleye we will see more of the 18-20 inch ones in the future.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I hope you take all your friends and neighbors and just about everyone else you can find to SD. I will tell everyone I know to PM you for good spots.

You don't have to. Heck I have inlaws and a lot of people I know from over by lost island which is east of the IGL when they go fishing they drive past the IGL to the NE SD lakes. I didn't convince them, they found out for themselves. Then they convinced me the last two years.

I do fish the IGL, but if and when I can I do the 6hr round trip drive to NE SD. I found a day in NE SD at 6hr fishing time is way better then the 10hrs I'd get at the lakes with 2hr drive time.

Pretty simple to find the spot in NE SD. Drive to access look at where the 2,000-4,000 shacks are at on the lake and find a spot between them.....shallow=walleye......deeper=perch.....if all else fails go to the basin in 30+ ft of water. Or if your really smart find the old road bed, then get over the ditchs on the side of the road. Need a idea where to start call sportsmanship cove in Webster SD he gives great updates. Or simply buy a map at the waubay gas station that has hundreds of GPS points showing all the different structures from road ditches to stock damns for cattle watering. You either are there when the fish bite and get limits, or your sol and the fish are turned off and you don't catch anything. It's pretty much an all or none deal.

If you believe that the Fishing in Iowa is good.......consistentl y good, then you've never been to places like NE SD, Devils Lake ND, Upper Red MN, winnibigosh, mn, Lake Erie etc.......sure we have fish, but nothing like the good fisheries and lakes that have forage and aces of water. When I fish with people from those areas if they haven't caught a fish in 15min they are ready to quit. Heck here in Iowa I fish an entire day and hope to get a few maybe a limit. In those areas people expect a limit in a few hours.......

Heck I bet if you just put leach lake, winnibigosh, and red lake (upper & lower) together those 3 lakes in Minnesota would have more acres of water then all the inland lakes in Iowa added together. That's just three lakes not even considering mille lacs, otter tail, Osakis, dead, battle and the other 1,000s of lakes they have over a few 1,000 acres. LOTW alone has more shore line then the entire US has for coast line.