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Posts: 251
| I'm wondering if it would be worth the drive to fish Clear Lake, IA. I live in La Crosse WI and would like to get out before that WI opener. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to PM.
Thank you |
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Posts: 89
| Great lake, The local club has the spring tune up tourney in april, Bunch of fish caught last year. Great time, great people and someone always manages to put it together. Really looking forward to it. |
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Posts: 785
| It's a decent lake, may not be easily figured out in a day but it's only 2.5 hours from LaCrosse so you could make it over a few times before WI opener. |
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Posts: 251
| Thank you for the replies. I might have to give it a shot. |
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Posts: 153
Location: MN | From the Iowa DNR fishing reports,
Clear Lake
Docks are in at MacIntosh State Park and Lynne Lorenzen ramp. Walleye - Fair: The bite has been slow this week for wader fisherman near the outlet on the east side of the lake. An occasional walleye has been taken near the Ventura grade. Channel Catfish - Good: Catfish action has been good this past week. Use cut bait, worms or minnows near inlets and windblown shorelines in the early season. The water is still very clear in the shallows, so fish a little deeper, on calm days. Bluegill - Fair: A few bluegills have been caught in the canals. Use small ice jigs under a bobber or add a split shot or two and vertical jig near structure. Muskellunge - No Report: Target shallow flats along the shoreline on the east end of the lake. Use a jig and minnow or a slow moving artificial. Walleye anglers have caught a few near the outlet on the east end and also by the Marsh inlet by the Ventura grade. Black Crappie - Good: Crappies have been caught in the canals. Use small ice jigs under a bobber or add a split shot or two and vertical jig near structure. Check out the edges or inside the rushes around the lake as crappies will likely be found near them as well. White Bass - Fair: Anglers have had some occasional good days in the past weeks for white bass near the Ventura grade.
You can subscribe to this fishing report and get it weekly. |
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Posts: 230
Location: St Paul, Minnesota | Trekked down to Clear Lake and fished all day yesterday for the first time. It was super windy which limited how much we could explore, but around 11:00am my fishing partner managed to hook a low 30's which we lost at the boat, and then we moved a healthy mid 40's a half hour later. Water temps started around 42 degrees and were around 46.4 by the end of the day.
C7 |
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Posts: 251
| Thank you for the update. Depending on the weather I may try it this weekend. |
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Posts: 19
| A dock is also now in at the ramp by City Park on the east end of the main lake as of today. |
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Posts: 118
| Cloud7, Any more info on what had them and moving and what kind of depth you were fishing? I'm headed down in a couple of weeks to shake off some of the rust. |
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Posts: 230
Location: St Paul, Minnesota | All the fish we contacted were right where you'd first expect them to be, up in 2-7 feet of water in the windblown submergent/emergent cover. Given how cold the water temps were we were throwing slower moving glides and small medussas.
C7 |
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Posts: 153
Location: MN | April 7th From Iowa DNR, Clear Lake
Water temperature is around 44 degrees. Walleye - Good: Shore fisherman near the Ventura grade have caught some walleyes during the day and at dark on minnows and twisters. Channel Catfish - Good: Catfish action has been good this past week. Use cut bait, worms or minnows near inlets and windblown shorelines in the early season. The water is still very clear in the shallows, so fish a little deeper on calm days. Bluegill - Fair: A few bluegills have been caught in the canals. Fish with small ice jigs under a bobber or add a split shot or two and vertical jig near structure. Muskellunge - Fair: Target shallow flats along the shoreline on the east end of the lake. Use a jig and a minnow or a slow moving artificial. Walleye anglers have caught a few near the outlet on the east end and also by the Marsh inlet by the Ventura grade. Black Crappie - Good: Crappies have been caught in the canals. Use small ice jigs under a bobber or add a split shot or two and vertical jig near structure. Check out the edges or inside the rushes around the lake as crappies will likely be found near them as well. Yellow Bass - Fair: Yellow bass have been caught in low numbers off the Grade. Farmer’s beach and Baptist camp shorelines can be good spots in the early season. |
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Posts: 767
Location: Ames, Iowa | Remember... it is full of zebra mussels. Soon some local who has better things to do than clean his boat will head for Brushy Creek or West Ok after spending a morning catching bullheads and yellow bass with his drinking buddies. For muskies, best fished in cooler weather like now and again in October. October on the NW side by the Methodist camp can be decent. I fished the 2001 tune up on a Muskie First outing with 39 degree temps and horizontal rain. During the summer you can get killed by the drunks pulling their kids around on tubes. |
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Posts: 767
Location: Ames, Iowa | Sorry... Baptist Camp.
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Posts: 59
| The Iowa Great Lakes chain already has zebra mussels..... |
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Posts: 767
Location: Ames, Iowa | I had not yet heard that they were in West O. |
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Posts: 767
Location: Ames, Iowa | http://www.iagreatlakes.com/2014/01/preparing-ourselves-for-zebra-m...
This bites, but it does fit into the inevitable spread of these critters. About 4 years ago I said within 5 years virtually every lake in Iowa and Minnesota will have these guys. Reality is changing. |
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Posts: 281
Location: US | Hoists coming out of okoboji last fall were covered in them. I don't know that they've seen adults on Big Spirit yet, but they have found the larvae, so it's only a matter of time. |
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Posts: 118
| Any reports from the last week or so? Headed down in a couple days. |
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Posts: 43
Location: Central IA | Fished last Saturday 4/23 with my son and he hooked a mid 40s but lost it after a couple headshakes. He did boat a 36 and I landed a 40. Weather for this week looks to make the spring tournament on Saturday 4/30 a little tough. |
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Posts: 251
| Thank you for the update. I was not able to make it over there. How were the winds last week? |
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Posts: 785
| Wind has been unpleasant basically everyday this spring but this week it's been extra nasty. On the plus side water temps were all the way up to 59 degrees. |
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