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Home › Waters › Iowa › Lake Panorama
Lake · Guthrie County, west-central Iowa, a long impoundment of the Middle Raccoon River at Panora, about an hour west of Des Moines · Iowa

Lake Panorama Fishing Guides

Iowa's largest private lake, on the Middle Raccoon River at Panora, a deep clear impoundment managed intensively for walleye, bass and muskellunge an hour west of Des Moines.

A small boat pulled up on a calm reservoir bank at sunset
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Lake Panorama

Lake Panorama impounds the Middle Raccoon River at Panora in Guthrie County, about an hour west of Des Moines, and it is the largest private lake in Iowa. It was developed in the late 1960s as a recreational community, and that origin shapes the fishery in ways that set it apart from the state-owned lakes around it. The lake is long and relatively deep for Iowa, with clearer water than the shallow natural lakes to the north, a shoreline of wooded bluffs and residential development, and a management association that stocks, monitors and manages the fish population far more actively than a typical public impoundment receives.

That management shows in what swims there. Walleye are stocked and grown deliberately and are the species most anglers target, worked along the rocky points, the old river channel and the drop-offs. Largemouth bass are abundant and well distributed through the coves and the shoreline structure. Muskellunge have been introduced and give the lake a genuine trophy fishery that very few Iowa waters can match. Bluegill, crappie and yellow perch provide the panfishing, and channel catfish are common through the warm months. White bass chase shad in open water. Access is the one real constraint on a visit: this is private water, and non-resident anglers need to arrange access through the association or through a member, which is worth sorting out well before a trip rather than on arrival.

The USGS gauge at Panora reports lake stage, which is the practical planning number on an impoundment fed by a river. The Middle Raccoon drains agricultural west-central Iowa and responds quickly to heavy rain, so the lake takes in runoff that lifts the stage and carries sediment into the upper end. After a big spring storm the upper lake will colour up and fish will shift toward the clearer middle and lower sections near the dam. In a settled dry stretch the whole lake clears and the fishing moves deeper and earlier in the day.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Lake Panorama.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Panora - the town at the lake, with the association office, lodging, fuel and services.
Guthrie Center - the county seat southwest, with additional services.
Lake Panorama National Resort - the golf and resort facility on the lake.
Middle Raccoon River - the inflow at the upper end and the river the lake impounds.
Springbrook State Park - a state park north of the lake with camping and public water.
Des Moines - about an hour east, and where most visiting anglers fly in or stay.
Raccoon River Valley Trail - the regional rail trail running through Panora.

Seasons

Spring: the strongest season, with walleye on the points and rocks, bass moving shallow and crappie in the coves.
Summer: recreational boating dominates midday, so fishing runs early and late, with catfish and bluegill dependable throughout.
Fall: walleye and muskellunge feed hard as the water cools, and the lake quiets considerably after Labor Day.
Winter: ice fishing for bluegill, crappie and yellow perch in colder years, with access subject to association rules.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Lake Panorama?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Muskellunge, Walleye, White Bass, Yellow Perch on the Lake Panorama in Iowa.

Where can you access the Lake Panorama?

Panora - the town at the lake, with the association office, lodging, fuel and services. Guthrie Center - the county seat southwest, with additional services. Lake Panorama National Resort - the golf and resort facility on the lake. Middle Raccoon River - the inflow at the upper end and the river the lake impounds. Springbrook State Park - a state park north of the lake with camping and public water. Des Moines - about an hour east, and where most visiting anglers fly in or stay. Raccoon River Valley Trail - the regional rail trail running through Panora.

When is the best time to fish the Lake Panorama?

Spring: the strongest season, with walleye on the points and rocks, bass moving shallow and crappie in the coves. Summer: recreational boating dominates midday, so fishing runs early and late, with catfish and bluegill dependable throughout. Fall: walleye and muskellunge feed hard as the water cools, and the lake quiets considerably after Labor Day. Winter: ice fishing for bluegill, crappie and yellow perch in colder years, with access subject to association rules.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Lake Panorama?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Iowa agency site: https://www.iowadnr.gov/things-do/fishing/regulations-laws