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DNR News Releases

Archive by tag: Iowa Great LakesReturn

Walleye netting season starts for Iowa DNR fish hatcheries

• 4/9/2024 12:39:00 PM
• View Count 2274

MORAVIA – The late night, annual walleye collection has begun at Clear Lake, Rathbun Reservoir, Storm Lake and the Iowa Great Lakes.

Walleye netting season starts for Iowa DNR fish hatcheries

• 4/11/2023 2:23:00 PM
• View Count 3384

MORAVIA – The late night, annual walleye collection has begun at Clear Lake, Rathbun Reservoir, and Storm Lake with collection efforts soon to follow at the Iowa Great Lakes.  

Aggressive treatment planned for Eurasian watermilfoil found in the Iowa Great Lakes

• 9/13/2022 12:22:00 PM
• View Count 4424

SPIRIT LAKE - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will start treating East Okoboji, Upper Gar, Lake Minnewashta, and Lower Gar this week with the approved aquatic herbicide, Sonar A.S. to eliminate Eurasian watermoilfoil.

Iowa DNR will treat Iowa Great Lakes for invasive Eurasian watermilfoil

• 8/9/2022 2:18:00 PM
• View Count 4302

SPIRIT LAKE - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) confirmed Eurasian watermilfoil is growing at multiple locations in East Okoboji Lake, Upper Gar Lake, Lake Minnewashta, and Lower Gar Lake in Dickinson County.

Iowa DNR annual spring prescribed fire season begins soon in the Iowa Great Lakes region

• 3/14/2022 2:10:00 PM
• View Count 1772

As the ice finally melts in the Iowa Great Lakes and spring quickly approaches, so does one of the most important and cost-effective management tools for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Snowmobilers encouraged to use safe operating practices when riding on the Iowa Great Lakes

• 2/3/2022 3:49:00 PM
• View Count 1659

SPIRIT LAKE - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is reminding snowmobilers operating on the Iowa Great Lakes to use caution as ice conditions change throughout the winter.

Iowa Great Lakes, Storm Lake and Clear Lake walleye length limit changes effective January 1, 2022

• 11/2/2021 12:32:00 PM
• View Count 13561

Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is changing the protected walleye slot limit to 19 to 25 inches at Big Spirit Lake, East and West Okoboji Lakes, Upper Gar Lake, Minnewashta Lake, Lower Gar Lake and Storm Lake. At Clear Lake, there will be a 17 to 22 inches protected slot limit.

Walleye season closes Feb. 14 on Iowa Great Lakes

• 2/10/2021 6:52:00 AM
• View Count 2014

SPIRIT LAKE – The walleye fishing season on Spirit, East and West Okoboji lakes is open through Feb. 14. It will close after that date and reopens on May 1. These are the only Iowa lakes that have a closed season for walleye.

Walleye season opens May 2 on Iowa’s Great Lakes

• 4/21/2020 12:41:00 PM
• View Count 5203

The 144th walleye fishing season officially opens May 2 at Spirit Lake, East and West Okoboji lakes.

Iowa DNR and local partners to manage the invasive curlyleaf pondweed at Iowa Great Lakes

• 3/31/2020 12:42:00 PM
• View Count 2884

Spirit Lake, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), working with the East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corporation (EOLIC), will start the first phase of the curlyleaf pondweed management strategy for the Iowa Great Lakes in April.

Walleye season closes Feb. 14 on Iowa Great Lakes

• 2/4/2020 12:30:00 PM
• View Count 2868

Spirit Lake, Iowa – The walleye fishing season on Spirit, East and West Okoboji lakes is open through Feb. 14. It will close after that date and reopens on May 2. These are the only Iowa lakes that have a closed season for walleye.

Iowa DNR, Imagine Iowa Great Lakes launch seawall repair project

• 9/24/2019 12:55:00 PM
• View Count 2976

Okoboji, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Imagine Iowa Great Lakes began work this week to repair the seawall at Arnolds Park. The project will stabilize the foundation of the sidewalk and ultimately serve as a platform for the beautification work led by Imagine Iowa Great Lakes.

Iowa DNR starts first phase to manage the invasive curlyleaf pondweed at Iowa Great Lakes

• 4/30/2019 11:45:00 AM
• View Count 3220

Spirit Lake, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), working with the East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corporation (EOLIC), started the first phase of the curlyleaf pondweed management strategy for the Iowa Great Lakes on April 26.

Iowa Great Lakes curlyleaf pondweed management plans for 2019

• 3/5/2019 12:48:00 PM
• View Count 3168

Spirit Lake - Invasive curlyleaf pondweed has become a common site in the spring on portions of the Iowa Great Lakes in recent years. The 2019 plan for managing this plant will be similar to 2018, but treat more acres.

Walleye season closes Feb. 14 on Iowa Great Lakes

• 1/29/2019 2:29:00 PM
• View Count 3121

SPIRIT LAKE – The walleye fishing season on Spirit, East and West Okoboji lakes is open through Feb. 14, 2019.  It will close after that date and reopen on May 4, 2019. These are the only Iowa lakes that have a closed season for walleye.

High water conditions continue on the Iowa Great Lakes

• 7/3/2018 11:49:00 AM
• View Count 14673

The U.S. Geological Survey gauging stations put the water levels on the Iowa Great Lakes at its highest since 1993. Although lake levels are far from 1993's record levels, there are concerns about shoreline erosion and property damage.

600-foot no-wake zone placed at Iowa Great Lakes, Silver Lake

• 6/26/2018 11:56:00 AM
• View Count 5040

The Emergency Management Commission in Dickinson County put into place a 600-foot no-wake zone along shore of East & West Lake Okoboji, Upper and Lower Gar, Minnewashta Lake, Silver Lake at Lake Park and Center Lake, effective immediately.

Rainfall, high lake water levels causing lakeshore to collapse into Iowa’s Great Lakes

• 6/26/2018 11:54:00 AM
• View Count 10075

LAKE OKOBOJI -- Due to the tremendous amounts of rainfall that have inundated Dickinson County, the Iowa Great Lakes and surrounding lakes are experiencing rising lake levels. With these rising lake levels, property owners are reporting erosion damage to shorelines.

Late ice delays curlyleaf pondweed growth in Iowa Great Lakes

• 5/22/2018 11:43:00 AM
• View Count 3648

SPIRIT LAKE - The record breaking late ice on the Iowa Great Lakes delayed curlyleaf pondweed growth in the Iowa Great Lakes, but it will top out in portions of East Okoboji Lake and other lakes this week.

Walleye season closes Feb. 14 on Iowa Great Lakes

• 1/30/2018 1:57:00 PM
• View Count 4227

SPIRIT LAKE – The walleye fishing season on Spirit, East and West Okoboji lakes is open through Feb. 14, 2018.  It will be closed after that date and reopens again on May 5, 2018. These are the only Iowa lakes that have a closed season for walleye.

Public meeting to discuss Iowa Great Lakes curlyleaf pondweed management plans

• 9/19/2017 2:30:00 PM
• View Count 4668

SPIRIT LAKE - Recommendations to manage the invasive curlyleaf pondweed at East Okoboji Lake and Lower Gar Lake will be presented at a public meeting at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 28, at the Sami Bedell Center for the Performing Arts on the Spirit Lake High School campus.

Gizzard Shad found in Iowa Great Lakes

• 8/29/2017 1:05:00 PM
• View Count 5487

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) discovered 26, 3- to 5-inch gizzard shad, in East Okoboji Lake on August 11 as part of routine sampling.

Walleye season closes Feb. 14 on Iowa Great Lakes

• 2/1/2017 8:48:00 AM
• View Count 3797

SPIRIT LAKE – The walleye fishing season on Spirit, East and West Okoboji lakes is open through February 14, 2017. After that date it will be closed and reopens again on May 6, 2017. These are the only Iowa lakes that have a closed season for walleye.

Walleye Season Opens May 7 On Iowa's Great Lakes

• 5/3/2016 1:18:00 PM
• View Count 10353

The 140th walleye fishing season officially opens May 7 at Spirit Lake, East and West Okoboji lakes.

Iowa Great lakes Crews Net 25 Year Old Musky

• 5/3/2016 1:11:00 PM
• View Count 5986

Excitement and pride echoed through the Iowa Great Lakes fisheries netting crew last week. “It is amazing that this male musky is alive and doing well in West Okoboji Lake 25 years later,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa DNR’s Fisheries Bureau.

Use Caution on the Ice at Iowa Great Lakes

• 1/19/2016 7:29:00 AM
• View Count 9138

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa - Officials are reminding snowmobilers, ice anglers and others that ice conditions are variable on all bodies of water and that there is no such thing as safe ice after four snowmobiles went through the ice recently at the Iowa Great Lakes.

7 Iowa Fish With Open State Records: How to Catch a Record Fish

• 6/9/2015 10:51:00 AM
• View Count 12632

Put your name as the first entry in the history books by catching one of these seven fish species we added to the eligible State Record Fish species list in 2013. With no records for these fish currently,you can be the first to set the record! Try these tips to help you catch a record fish.

Wetlands Project Sinks Hole-in-one

• 3/5/2015 4:35:00 AM
• View Count 7203

The cackle of pheasants has returned along the north and west sides of Okoboji View Golf Course in Spirit Lake after a major watershed improvement project created wetlands and native prairie on 350 acres.