The HIGHS And The LOWS - Okoboji, IA Walleye Weekend ($41,000 Fish)

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After spending about 6 hours on Friday night in search of Walleye I decided to give up and go for Bass. It is officially Walleye Weekend at the Iowa Great Lakes in Okoboji. That meant that the Walleye fishing season opened up at 12pm on Friday night for the larger lakes in the chain (Primarily West Lake and Big Spirit). My Savage Gear E-Rider isn't quite equipped enough to handle the madness of Walleye opener. It was extremely calm with no wind... but, I was able to count with my own eyes nearly 200 boats on just the North end of one of the larger lakes. These chains are known for their immaculate walleye fishing. The DNR does a fantastic job regulating, maintaining, stocking, and conserving the recreational and wild population for everyone to enjoy and for the lakes to remain healthy. So, the fishing is amazing, and that alone draws in boaters. On top of that, 10 tagged fish are stocked into the chains. If you register for the weekend and catch one of those fish, you take home $41,000!!! A life changing fish!

Friday night, I spent 6 hours on the lakes in search of walleye to no avail. Like I said, I stuck to a smaller lake where only 4 other boats came to fish for Walleye. Four years ago this lake was hailed by locals as the go to low-key spot that tourists didn't fish, but four years of low rain and snow caused the lakes regulatory flow to stop. This caused a lot of fish to die and fish populations to crumble. It seems as though the population has not fully recovered because from talking to friends, the bite was incredible on the larger lakes. I don't know what I am going to do with that footage, but maybe it will come out in a video. Today, tired of solely chasing Walleye, I set my eyes on Bass. It was another incredibly tough day with a highly unpredictable weather pattern. I got one bite all day and luckily was able to land it! It was a great first fish in the boat and I was happy to land a fish and not strike out for the fourth time in a row. I hope you enjoy this one minute video to sum up my day. Be prepared for fly fishing videos on the kayak soon! I have been taking out my spinning and baitcasting setups to make transition easier, but now that I am comfortable I plan to fly fish more for these Bass.

The mountains have streams with ebbs and flows -
The lakes have waves that crash white with a glow -
Some days are great some days are bad -
But that's why we love the HIGHS and the LOWS

Tight Lines!