Walleye is Iowa’s most prized gamefish, and the state stocks and manages a network of excellent walleye lakes – from clear glacial naturals to big flood-control reservoirs. This guide rounds up the best places to catch walleye in Iowa and how to do it. Every lake links to a full guide in our Iowa Lakes Database.
The Iowa Great Lakes
The clear glacial lakes of the northwest are classic walleye water. West Okoboji and Big Spirit Lake are renowned for walleye and yellow perch, fished over deep structure and at low light.
Storm Lake
Storm Lake is one of Iowa’s top walleye producers – a fertile natural lake, restored by dredging, that grows fish fast and fishes well in open water and through the ice.
The big reservoirs
Iowa’s Corps reservoirs are walleye factories: Saylorville, Lake Red Rock, Rathbun and Coralville all hold strong walleye, with the tailwaters below their dams especially productive. The Rathbun hatchery – Iowa’s largest – supplies walleye statewide.
More walleye waters
Lake Manawa, Big Creek and many state-park lakes like Prairie Rose and Lake Anita are stocked with walleye too.
How and when to fish
Iowa walleye come on jigs and live bait in spring, trolled crankbaits and spinner rigs in summer, and again on jigs in fall – fished over points, flats, the old river channels and tailwaters. Low light (dawn, dusk, night) and the spring spawn are prime. Winter ice fishing for walleye is a statewide tradition. An Iowa fishing license is required – check current length and creel limits, which vary by lake.
See our broader fishing in Iowa guide, browse all the lakes, or head back to the Iowa Lakes Database.
