Spirit Lake fishing: Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Walleye

Target species: Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Walleye
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Little Spirit Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.

The lake

Spirit Lake covers 5,450 acres in Iowa, across Dickinson County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 22 feet (6.7 m). Our records hold 5 species for this water.

Stocking: 368,423,132 fish, 1999–2025

Iowa DNR records list 368,423,132 fish released into this water from 1999 to 2025.

  • Walleye: 368,238,484 in 1999–2018
  • Northern Pike: 171,408 in 2021
  • Muskellunge: 13,240 in 2000–2025

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 22 ft (6.7 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 42 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 3.2% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 3.6% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 4% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 4.4% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 4.5% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 4.8% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 5.1% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 6.5% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 9.3% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 31.3% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 23.4% of the water

3 target fish, led by Muskellunge

  • Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.

Also recorded here: Silver Carp, Common Carp.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 73°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.5. These readings span 2017–2024.

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.

  • Little Spirit Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 5,450 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Iowa DNR — Iowa DNR: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.