Spirit Lake Fisheries Management

The Spirit Lake Fisheries Management office is located at the Spirit Lake Fish Hatchery near Orleans. The team manages public fishing waters in Clay, Emmet, Dickinson, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth and Sioux counties. Some of the larger and more popular bodies of water in this area are: Big Spirit Lake, East Okoboji Lake, Five Island Lake, Lost Island Lake, Silver Lake (Dickinson), West Okoboji Lake and the Big Sioux, Little Sioux and West Fork Des Moines Rivers.

Spirit Lake management team activities include:

• Survey and assess fish populations in lakes and rivers.
• Creel surveys on the Iowa Great Lakes.
• Watershed management and lake restoration of natural lakes.
• Shallow lakes management on several small natural lakes.
• Public outreach and education of aquatic resources.