Spirit Lake’s softball team opened the 2023 season with a dominant home win over Forest City on Tuesday, May 23. The hosts topped the visitors 19-0 in Spirit Lake.

Harris-Lake Park’s baseball team put a beating on former Cornbelt Conference rival GT/RA on Tuesday, May 23. The Wolves whooped the Titans 17-4 in Ruthven.

“We got a great pitching performance from Caleb Hemphill tonight,” Harris-Lake Park coach Jared Rahe said. “He really battled on a mound that wasn’t in great condition. I felt like we really took advantage of their mistakes and had some key two-out hits. It was great to see us score some runs like that.”

Harris-Lake Park’s softball team took a significant lead into the final frame of Tuesday night’s contest with former Cornbelt Conference rival GT/RA, but the Titans plated five runs in the seventh to force overtime and pushed a run across in the bottom half of the eighth to steal a victory. The Titans topped the Wolves 15-14 in Ruthven.

Okoboji’s baseball team secured its first victory of the season with a thrilling one-run win over Pocahontas Area on Tuesday, May 23. The Pioneers topped the Indians 7-6 at Okoboji High School in Milford.

Okoboji’s softball team suffered a lopsided loss to Spencer to open the season on Tuesday, May 23. The Tigers topped the Pioneers 10-3 at Okoboji High School in Milford.

Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji’s girls soccer team — on a nine-game winning streak dating back to mid-April — saw its spectacular season come to a close with a first-round loss to Denison-Schleswig in the Class 2A regional tournament match held Tuesday, May 23 at Okoboji High School. SLPO fell 2-1 to the Monarchs.

Spirit Lake’s baseball team kicked off the summer with a win over former Lakes Conference rival Emmetsburg on Monday, May 22. The Indians topped the E-Hawks 13-4 in Spirit Lake.

“Beautiful night to open up our season and our guys really got the bats going,” Spirit Lake coach Ross Ackerman said. “You always like to see the offense get rolling early in the year and to make a statement in the young season is huge for our progress.”

Okoboji’s baseball team dropped its season-opening contest to MOC-Floyd Valley on Monday, May 22. The Dutchmen topped the Pioneers 16-3 in Orange City.

After dropping its first two games to powerhouses Estherville Lincoln Central and Spencer, Harris-Lake Park’s baseball team secured its first victory of the season with a 10-0 win over South O’Brien Monday, May 22 in Paullina.

Harris-Lake Park’s softball team dropped its season opener to War Eagle Conference rival South O’Brien on Monday, May 22. The Wolves fell 13-6 to the Wolverines in Paullina.

Spirit Lake-Okoboji’s postseason run ended with a narrow loss to Clarinda in the first round of state tournament play on Monday, May 22. The SLO girls tennis team fell 5-4 to the Cardinals at Kuemper Catholic High School in Carroll.

Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji’s boys soccer season came to an end with a loss to Bishop Heelan in the second round of postseason play Monday, May 22 at Bishop Heelan Catholic Memorial Field in Sioux City. The Crusaders topped SLPO 3-0 to advance to the substate championship. They scored all three goals in the second half.

Every now and then I’m asked if I have a favorite place to fish or a favorite fishing technique. For me, those are truly tough questions. They’re tough because I have had the good fortune to fish in an abundance of wonderful locations and have caught lots of fish by employing a variety of techniques.  

Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries biologists have investigated recent reports of dead bluegill and crappie in southern Iowa lakes.

These natural fish kills are a common occurrence at a number of lakes each spring during spawning season. There is little danger to the overall population of bluegill or crappie. Iowa lakes can support thousands of panfish per acre of water.