Rice Lake update

Went up to Rice Lake in North Central Iowa (straight north of Clear Lake) yesterday with my Dad and brother. The perch were everywhere! Went off on the south side by the golf course and with 14 inches of ice were able to drive out. Fished in 6′ of water with the best luck being with minnows. Had to sort out a lot of fish to get enough keepers. Managed our limit of 75 but threw back over that many. Most fish were 6-10″. Also saw a few northerns caught between 2 1/2 and 4 lbs. Overall, a good day of fishing.

Clay,thanks alot for the report.Sounds like you guys had fun.What were you using for jigs with your minnows,or did you put them on a plain hook?
Ryan Hale

Sounds like you guys had a great time. I’ve never heard anything about Rice. I heard that Silver (the Silver north of Clear) had a big fishkill a few years ago, but it’s a very shallow lake without much water to begin with.

Sounds like I have a new place to check out when the wife’s up visiting the in-laws in Austin.

I just wanted my Dad and brother to be able to catch something! We did have a fun time. Rice Lake is actually pretty big. I think it is 5-6′ on average and there is a 10 foot hole around somewhere.

We used everything from Gent’s worms, jigging rapala’s, northland jigging spoons to small tear drops. As long as it was tipped with a minnow, it didn’t matter.

If anyone wants more info, PM me anytime.

How’s the ice up this way? I am planning a trip to the in-laws in Austin this weekend and was planning on sneaking back across the border to do some fishing.

There is still plenty of ice, except by shore where it is melting. Once you get off shore, you will be ok. Don’t know if you will be able to drive on it. They were still catching them, but having to sort to get the bigger ones. I also heard Silver lake, right off the border, is also doing ok. That might be closer for you to Austin. Don’t know on the baits. Minnows were the choice earlier, but they may have switched over to waxy’s..?

South side by the golf course on Rice, and either the Southwest or North side on Silver. Good Luck.

Fished Rice on Saturday, prety much all day, but the bite was slooooow. Ended up with 6 keepers and 1 more than I kept anyway. All perch, although one other fella pulled a decent pike.

Most everyone was complaining about the slow bite, but all in all it was a very nice day on the water. People were still driving, but I’m guessing it won’t last long by the looks of the access. Things were plenty muddy/sloppy when I was getting off.