Icing Iowa 'eyes can be a pretty consistent thing for anglers plying the natural glacial lakes of northwest Iowa. When Mother Nature gouged out those basins which later came to be known as Big Spirit, West Okoboji and East Okoboji, the stage was set for an almost ideal home for walleye.

These rock-rimmed lakes boast points, reefs, gravel flats, bars and just about everything else a walleye population needs to thrive. And thriving they are, right now, as anglers fishing those waters can tell you.

Sure, there are other places in western Iowa where walleyes can be caught and we'll profile them later, but right now the center stage spotlight for ice fishing Iowa walleyes has to be Big Spirit Lake, at 4,169 acres, Iowa's largest natural lake.

Big Spirit is full of rock piles and rocky shoals. It has many shoreline points with rock reaching out into the lake's basin which bottoms out at about 22 feet. Much of that basin is mud, but believe it or not, walleyes roam across it all winter.

You can expect some bigger fish here, those 17- to 20-inch fish. More likely your catch will consist of 14- to 15-inch fish and there should be plenty of them.

Traditional hot spots on Big Spirit have been Big Stony Point and Little Stony Point. Big Stony lives up to its name with a large reef of boulders guarding the southern mouth of Anglers Bay. Little Stony is just a little ways down the shoreline south of Big Stony. It has some major rock piles out in front of it which reach almost to the lake's deepest water.

Actually, the entire east shoreline from Reeds Run to Red Nose. This is an area of sand and gravel with scattered rock piles out to about the 18-foot depth.

When it comes to depth, anglers can narrow their search for winter 'eyes on this lake by concentrating on the 12- to 18-foot depth range. That seems to be the depth range most walleyes are caught at on Big Spirit.

Having said that, there are some mighty nice fish taken out of the lake's basin at 22 feet. The bigger fish seem to come out of a little deeper water. The basis has the potential for anglers to hook into walleyes weighing 6 to 9 pounds."

Walleye angling success on Iowa lakes in the wintertime definitely depends on the time of day you fish. There are two "happy hours" for walleye anglers. That hour right at sunrise and that hour right at sunset. These are two activity periods which walleye anglers just can't afford to ignore.

Presentation techniques for winter walleyes are rather simple here. Jigging spoons such as the Kastmaster and the Swedish pimple have put a lot of walleyes into the bucket over the years. A newer kid on the block is the Jiggin' Rapala but it's been around along enough now to become one of the traditional presentations.

All of these lures require meat in the wintertime to be most effective. One of the most effective tipping materials for these lures is a perch eye or walleye eye. The smaller perch eye will capture most fish but if it is a lunker you are looking for a walleye eye might be just the ticket.

A minnow or parts of a minnow such as the head or tail may be just as effective. And sometimes just a gob of grubs will work as well as anything. It can pay to carry all of the above.

Walleye fishing can also been good on West Okoboji.

Mostly you will get 15- to 18-inch fish there but trophy fish, those 8- to 10-pounders are available.

Concentrate on the classic areas such as Fort Dodge and Pillsbury points. The reef between Pocohontas and Eagle points is also good. So too, is the rock reef at the north end of the lake.

East Lake hosts a good number of walleyes as well, however, it is traditionally an early lake. And the walleyes generally run small. Early fishing is traditionally best, with the fishery slowing after the first couple weeks of ice-up.

Most of the good early fishing will be in front of Parks Marina. There are a lot of rocks and reefs out there. From Stony Point down to the south end of the lake is where most of the winter walleye fishing occurs.

Walleye anglers working Big Spirit Lake and the Okoboji's often run across a bonus fish. That's the yellow perch. Good populations of perch exist in both Big Spirit and West Okoboji with a smaller population in East Okoboji.

Many of the best perch areas are similar to the areas worked by walleye fisherman.

The perch action usually begins in Anglers Bay on Big Spirit right after ice-up. Then as the ice thickness increases the perch disperse. They will start showing up off Big Stony and Cottonwood points and around the lake.

West Okoboji perch fishermen will find bigger fish. There are a lot of perch in the 7 1/2- to 8 1/2-inch size right now.

Some of the more popular areas are Emersons and Millers bays in 12 to 18 feet of water. Perch are also caught off of Manhattan Beach and in Hawards Bay on the east side of the lake. There's also good activity up in the north end, from Pikes Point on north.

Anglers often go deep, as much as 50 feet, to find perch in West Okoboji.

The most popular presentation for perch is the mini jig tipped with wigglers. The most common grub used in the area are locally known as silver wrigglers. They are available at local bait shops. Other baits include small jigging spoons such as Kastmaster and Swedish Pimple. Small Jiggin' Raps also produce perch.

Free IDNR maps of these lakes and current fishing information are available from the Spirit Lake Fish Hatchery, Box 7722, Spirit Lake, IA 51360; (712) 336-1840.

Oh Shucks Bait Shop, Milford, (712) 338-2087 is a good source for bait and fishing information as well as Kable's Trading Post, Spirit Lake, (712) 336-1512.

Larry Myhre is outdoors editor of the Journal. Reach him at (712) 276-5965 or email at lfentfish@msn.com