How was the water level? I'm following the Jump River (trib of the Chippewa) conditions and need to get up that way before the summer's over.
Muskie fishing in Iowa?
- Thread starter psychlone99
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How was the water level? I'm following the Jump River (trib of the Chippewa) conditions and need to get up that way before the summer's over.
Water was as high as I can remember. A lot of areas that are typically exposed or very shallow were passable with a boat. Hard to say how that was affecting the fishing. Like I said, I had five follows in six days of fishing, which is really good. But also no strikes. I did see a 43" fish get boated.
When I lived in the Iowa Great Lakes region, and this was many years ago, Big Spirit was THE muskie lake in Iowa. However, the fisheries guys up there always told me they tried to keep the muskies and pike in Big Spirit and not in the other lakes because the muskies and pike liked to eat the other fish, especially the walleyes, which is what West Lake Okoboji is known for. Center lake used to be known for it's crappie and bream. The other smaller lakes around there have a mix of bullheads, catfish and bream.
Iowa State record is 50 pounds, 6 ounces - Spirit Lake, Dickinson County, September 2000 - Kevin Cardwell, Spirit Lake, Iowa.
Just for fun, I saw the specimen collected from the Skunk River, near Ames in Story County 1892, in Iowa State Collection. It was over 40 inches.
I hooked one by accident at Greene Iowa and have family who fish Harper's Ferry on the Mississippi for Muskies.
Good info source for Iowa by DNR: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/Iowa-Fish-Species/Fish-Details/SpeciesCode/MUE
Just for fun, I saw the specimen collected from the Skunk River, near Ames in Story County 1892, in Iowa State Collection. It was over 40 inches.
I hooked one by accident at Greene Iowa and have family who fish Harper's Ferry on the Mississippi for Muskies.
Good info source for Iowa by DNR: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/Iowa-Fish-Species/Fish-Details/SpeciesCode/MUE
I was there once at Pleasant Creek probably 20 years ago when they stocked a bunch of muskies and I kept catching 12 inch musky in the shallows.
