A lot of people have gathered new hobbies during the pandemic and ice fishing is one of them. 

Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Jeremy King says their outdoor recreation numbers have been through the roof the last two years and ice fishing has picked up in popularity. 

“I’m seeing ice fishermen all over the place. A lot of them are fishing, public water, some fishing, private farm ponds, all those places are producing.”

King describes the best lakes in the area for fishermen to go. 

“But I can tell you locally, Guthrie County, within an hour, some of your better lakes are probably going to be in that Creston area right now. Twelve miles, you’ll probably see a lot of bluegill and crappie. They’re a little smaller on average, but you all have to do some sorting, but you’re going to catch some fish. And then you’ve got Three Mile Lake (Creston), which was renovated about five years ago. And there’s not as many fish in it, but the ones you catch are going to be bigger and they’re going to be very nice fish.”

King explains ice fishing is normally during the months of December, January, February and possibly March. He encourages people to look over the ice safety protocols the DNR has released before going ice fishing.