Upper Pine Lake near Eldora: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Set in Hardin County, Upper Pine Lake is an Iowa water. It lies 991 feet above sea level. At about 89 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The full circuit measures close to 2.0 miles on foot. Some 2.2 miles away sits Eldora, the nearest settlement. Des Moines sits 60 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. A county line runs close by, so local bylaws can differ within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Upper Pine Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. The arms fish better than the open middle whenever the water is up. Held water runs deepest at the wall and shallows back to the inflow. Hardin County records list bluegill, black crappie, white crappie, common carp and largemouth bass among the fish reported. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Treat Upper Pine Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between 16°F in January and 73°F in July. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Once it clears, about late March, the fishing comes on quickly. Averages place the thaw at late March and the freeze at early December. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. It holds true on Upper Pine Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. You can launch: the ramp is half a mile away. Toilets are half a mile away, which matters on a long session. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Should this one be busy, Gehrkes Lake is 13 miles off. Treat access at Upper Pine Lake as something to verify.