East Hottes Lake in Dickinson County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for East Hottes Lake in Dickinson County, Iowa. The land about it is rolling bush. With some 71 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The whole outline is near 2.0 miles, and most of it is walkable. Our Dickinson County list holds plenty of bigger water. The nearest place of any size is Spirit Lake, 4.3 miles away. It is 80 miles to Sioux Falls, the nearest city. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on East Hottes Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. County-wide records name common carp, yellow perch and bluegill. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. At East Hottes Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 72°F at the top of summer and 13°F at the bottom of winter. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early April. Break-up sits around early April on average, with the water closing again about early December. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Time your trip to East Hottes Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public data records a boat ramp 0.9 miles out. The nearest mapped parking is 0.9 miles away, so the last stretch is on foot. A camping area sits within half a mile of here. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Sunken Lake, 0.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing on East Hottes Lake should be assumed from this page alone.