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Ugh, there is snow 3 more times in the 7 day forecast. Might be tough dragging by next weekend. And its cold too. Last this time ice was melting off.
Anything to keep the trucks and idiot 6 year-olds on quads off the ice I don't know if you use a harness or not but a deer drag was the best thing I ever bought for my ice fishing experience.Makes the half mile from the Emerson ramp to little Emerson an easy walk.
Or you could just pay the nice people at the church camp $15 to park there.
I wouldn't drive on Spirit. That's where the bulk of the people going through are happening. Most of the accesses are junk from heaves and also people chewing the ice up when they come on and off. Long story short, Spirit sucks. Unsafe to drive on and the fishing has been crappy this year. Lots of dink perch and if you're after walleye Silver is by far a better bet and has bigger limits/no slot. In recent years there's no reason to go up Spirit when you have West, Center, East, and Silver to play on with better fishing and safer access.West on the other hand is totally fine. The ice on Emerson and Triboji is 20" plus, Miller's is the same. There is decent snow cover everywhere but it's packed and I did fine both days this past weekend with a 2WD pickup. Not sure what your experience is on West, but do NOT drive bay to bay unless you're ok with dying. Smith's, Triboji, Emerson, and Miller's all have access you can drive on from, don't risk it. If you want to move get back on land and go to the next spot.As far as fish, that you'll have to figure out. Stop into Stan's and if you spend some cash they'll be more than happy to help you out.
I love the okoboji area and our family has a vacation home condo there for summers, but damn are the locals nasty. You can sure tell when they post on forums. Fishing always sucks, stay away 😉
Disagree. I never said the fishing sucks to stay away. The fishing is great on West and East. Spirit is a Dead Sea. Dont believe me? Go waste a day there. I’m my experience we are all more than happy to help out of towners out here at the IGLs. Just ask. Don’t go getting us mixed up with SD residents...
What do you think the reason is for Spirit being down?
The lake is so full of shiners and small 5” perch that the walleyes are full. It makes them hard to catch. Come prime time, the walleyes will show up and come through just like you’d expect them to but they won’t bite. Some nights they will but not very often. You could sit out there ten evenings without a bite then all of a sudden have a good night. Not worth my time. And there hasn’t been a good ice perch bite on Spirit for at least a few years. Kabeles is located out of the way up towards Spirit and the only way the can get business is by saying the bite is good on Spirit and stop in for bait and info. Otherwise it’s way out of the way for most people. Notice how no other bait shops are posting on social media? Stans is located in Milford just south of the highway 86/71 intersection. Good bait shop and always a busy place.
Where is Stans located? I definitely want to go check it out!!!
Bags are packed and gear is loaded, Thanks for all the good info guys. For the past few years this has been my last trip of the year, with work and life lately, it will be my only trip north this season. Ice has been good in central Iowa this season, but fishing has been TERRIBLE.... So this trip is a little bigger than normal. Thanks again to ALL who weighed in Tight lines, Shoney
Got home today from my IGL trip, and my luck continues this this year, but I will give a short report anyway. I went with a few other guys targeting mostly Perch and Walleyes (we also tried yellow bass and Gills/Crappies) We fished hard Friday, Saturday and Sunday on East and West Okoboji, Big Spirit and even tried a few hours on Silver Lake. Fishing was tough as we saw a lot of fish on camera in Emerson and Miller bays but only managed a few keepers. Final tally for me was a dozen Perch (1 keeper) and a dozen Yellows (all dinks) and (1) 4" walleye. Like I mentioned we saw lots of quality fish on Camera but 99% had a vicious case of Lock jaw!!! I threw everything in every different color I had in the tackle box at em, and tipped with spikes, waxies and minnows... Still no takers. I still had a good time with the guys who made the trip. Despite our poor showing some people did OK according to the guys at Stans (sounded like mostly on yellow bass on East O). I will be back next year hopefully we get a better bite and size then. Thanks again to all!!!Tight lines,Shoney