Have you had the opportunity to fish on one of the Iowa Great Lakes in Northwest Iowa? We had the chance to experience fishing West Okoboji Lake and loved it. It was almost mid-October and we spent a few days fishing and watching the leaves turn red, yellow, and orange on West Okoboji Lake in Northwest Iowa. 2020 is definitely a different year and it has impacted the tourist traffic in this area, just as it has everywhere else in the world. Most often this lake and the towns around it are filled with people eating, drinking, fishing, and having fun.

The perfect stay on West Okoboji Lake.

The weather was perfect for our stay at Village West Resort on West Okoboji Lake. The sun was shining and it was in the 70s for daytime temperature and a cool 50s at night. Great for having a fire in the evening which cut the chill in the air. We mostly fished for panfish and found the fish were most active in the early morning hours, late afternoon, and again in the evening. We made sure we were on the dock, ready, with our line in the water to catch the most fish during those times.

Using the right tackle.

My son brought slip bobbers along for us to use as they help with setting the depth of your hook. If you haven’t used these they are a great addition to your tackle box. We decided we would use mostly minnows for bait. We did try worms and spinnerbait and we didn’t have as much luck with those as we did using live minnows. Luckily, the first two days standing on the dock at the resort, we caught large panfish, such as bluegill, perch, yellow bass, and more.

Early one morning my son was fishing at the end of the dock. And as he reeled in a nice-sized perch he had hooked a northern pike hit the perch and tried to swallow it. He reeled both of them into the dock together. The fish were almost out of the water, the northern let go of the perch and quickly swam away disappearing into the weeds. We reeled in the small northern pike you see in the photo below. The pike gave us a good fight and was fun to catch. However, we decided to release him to grow bigger and fatter for another day.

For the most fish, hire a guide for fishing West Okoboji Lake!

The next day fishing was a little light and the perch were a bit small. My daughter-in-law set up a 4-hour fishing trip for us with the fishing guide John Grosvenor at fishokoboji.com. We met John at 11:00 a.m. on a sunny Wednesday and had the time of our life. John had all of the tackle, rods, reels, slip bobbers, and red worms. We tried fishing West Okoboji Lake in three different locations. Each spot was about 12 to 20 ft. of water. We ended the day catching and keeping 26 panfish, enough for two fish dinners for four people. If you’re thinking about fishing West Okoboji Lake, I would definitely recommend John as a guide. You can find his contact information at www.fishokoboji.com. He is a popular guide and if he’s not available he can recommend someone who can help you.

Facts about West Okoboji Lake in Northwest Iowa

West Okoboji Lake is one of five lakes in the chain of Iowa Great Lakes. Spirit Lake is the largest lake of the five. West Okoboji Lake is approximately 3,850 acres of water. At its deepest, West Okoboji Lake is 136 ft. and the average depth is 36 to 38 ft. It’s the deepest natural lake in Iowa.

West Okoboji is a crystal clear lake. It’s considered a blue water lake, created by glacial movements and is one of three blue lakes in the world. 11 species of fish are found in the lake, including musky, northern pike, bass, perch, bluegill, and more. It has 16.8 miles of shoreline and I think you can bike the trail all around the lake.

This is an absolutely gorgeous part of Iowa. Spring through fall there’s a lot of opportunities to catch plenty of fish. If you enjoy the cold of winter, you can ice fish those months, too. For people who don’t fish, there are other activities you can do. For instance, Arnold’s Park is a fun, old amusement park that has been around for decades. It’s open in the summer and swarming with people. You can shop, ride a roller coaster, and other great rides in the summer. You’ll find small boutique and antique shops scattered around the area and are fun to browse and pick up a few things to remember your trip.

There are a lot of other areas for great fishing. Click here for tips on trout fishing in Iowa or here for ice fishing in Minnesota.

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