West Okoboji, IA – Smallies and Eyes

By ryan-hale 0

Finally got some time to get out on West Okoboji today.I have not been on the lake in 4 weeks.I took my brother and Erin Kelly from Cherokee,IA.Erin had only caught 1 smallmouth his whole life so we were off to try to get him on a few bronzebacks.Although we did not get any big smallies we did manage 7 with Erin catching 3.He had alot of fun watching these little guys fly out of the water.My brother also caught a nice largemouth.Here is a picture of a little guy that really put on a show for Erin.

We also worked for some walleyes in deep water.We worked live bait rigs and bouncer/spinner combo’s.It was slow but we did get 2 small walleyes.One off a leech,the other off of a crawler.Both of these fish were caught in 30′ of water.

I’ll be fishing both East and West Okoboji for the GNWC National Championship in 2 weeks.I accept some big fish to be brought to the scales.Best of luck to everyone.

Ryan Hale

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ryan-hale

I'm a part time guide on the Iowa Great Lakes.Love to fish and hunt.I have fished many open and hard water tourneys.I also run Harbor View Resort on West Okoboji lake.

0 Comments

  1. Thanks for the report Ryan. Good luck in the Championship and hopefully some big ones will be biting by then as the fall bite time is getting closer. Thanks, Bill

  2. Hey Ryan,
    I haven’t taken the time to thank you for the tips you gave me on fishing big spirit. Theperch bite was just the ticket. It kept all the relatives happy without too much trouble for me.We got lots of nice perch on the north end of the lake in 16 to 20 ft of water on the pilkies. Alittle shallower and we got some BIG gills. I even picked up a couple of eyes trolling after dark. I would like to take one more trip down this fall but with hunting coming on I don,t know. Maybe I can buy you that beverage I promised. Anyway, thanks for the info!

  3. Dog whats up? Very happy you had a good time and got some of those Spirit Lake perch.Did you find one color of pilkie that worked better for you?I like blue and silver the best.Try to get down on the hard water with me this year if you have time.Take care.
    Ryan Hale

  4. Ryan I do like to go south in the winter but I prefer a little more like San Diego.Actually we used to ice fish perch in Canada but quit when the temp dropped to 58 below. The blue & silver pilkie did get the nod but they all worked.

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