Lake Manawa Fishing in Pottawattamie County, Iowa

• Overview

  Set in Pottawattamie County, Lake Manawa is an Iowa water. The surroundings are rolling bush. At 733 acres this is proper open water rather than a pond. Around 5.7 miles of bank, which is a long day on foot. The nearest place of any size is Council Bluffs, 3.9 miles away. Bellevue is 5.1 miles away, with Omaha at 5.5 miles. A border sits close enough to be relevant to the paperwork.

• Where to Fish on Lake Manawa

  25 ft is what our records show. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Public occurrence data for Pottawattamie County names bluegill, yellow bass, white crappie, black crappie and freshwater drum. Species recorded across the county may be limited to a few waters. Lake Manawa gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 77°F and January about 22°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Once it clears, about mid March, the fishing comes on quickly. Ice usually gives way near mid March, and forms again about mid December. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Anyone fishing Lake Manawa regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  It is marked public, so anyone may fish it. Boat access is recorded roughly half a mile away. Parking is mapped about half a mile from the bank. There is a pier recorded roughly half a mile away. Picnic facilities are recorded some half a mile out. Facilities include toilets around half a mile from here. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Big Lake at 6.1 miles is the sensible second choice. Confirm before you fish Lake Manawa.