Iowa Fishing Report from Anglers

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January 25, 2014 - Iowa River Crappie and Flathead

June 23, 2013 - Mississippi River - Seven pound walleye - Mark

July 9, 2012 - Iowa River in Iowa City Crappie -

June 9, 2012 -Iowa River in Iowa City - Got this 22 inch walleye on May 27 th in Iowa City on the Iowa River. CPR , ensuring future fishing !

March 20, 2012 - Sand Lake - Hello my name is Scotty Falkenhan , I live in Iowa City Iowa and on March 18 th I fished at Sand Lake in Southeast Iowa City. Lots of people on the lake , I walked the shoreline and picked up 15 large mouth bass , most fish were in the 12 inch range but I picked up 3 largeys over 3 lbs also. Got them all on a chartreuse single bladed spinner in about 2 hours. I released all fish. I also got 6 walleye on the Iowa River down from the Burlington St dam , 2 of the 6 walleye were over 5 lbs ! Beauties ! Got all 6 walleye on chartreuse jig with 4 inch tail tipped with a minnow ! That's my report , great week of fishing. Where are people getting crappie at Sand Lake ? Any hints would be much appreciated , thanks I'm out.

October 22, 2011 - Lake Rathbun - Bass are big at Lake Rathbun. Caught a 5lb bass last weekend using a black spinner with a trailer. Also caught a 2 1/2 lb walleye on same bait.

Julie Magnani

July 6, 2011 - Three Mile Lake, Iowa - A few of us from Cajun Custom Rods headed down the road, east this time to Three Mile Lake in Iowa … just east of the city of Creston. We’ve not fished too many of the reservoirs or lakes in Iowa, so with the day off and decent weather predicted, decided to load the boat and give it a try. It takes about 2.5 hours to drive with the boat from Omaha to Three Mile Lake and we arrived about noon at the ramp. After rigging out our custom fishing rods, we dropped in and headed toward the dam – expecting the water to be a little cooler and deeper … draw the fish up with some crankbait action. When we got to the dam, the average depth 20-25 yards from the rocks was only 7-10 feet, but we decided to give it a shot anyway. Tristan threw an alewife color KVD square-bill crankbait (1-3 feet) and I threw a sexy sunfish colored KVD square-bill (1-3 feet). We picked up a few smaller bass in the 11-14 inch size, but nothing to brag about to mom. So we picked up and headed back into the timber to try our luck there. We threw the cranks, but with the shallow water and weeds, opted to tie on a few frogs. Tristan threw a Bully Wa 55 (bullfrog color with dark yellow spot on white belly) and I threw a Spro all-black with yellow highlights bullfrog.

After just a few casts on the still water, we found what the bass wanted … frogs! The sky was dark overcast with little to no wind throughout the day so that’s why we opted to pitch frogs that had darker colors … so the silhouettes could be seen by the fish as they looked overhead to their target. Our planning paid off as we didn’t have but a few missed hits … and good follow-ups on the ones that did strike and miss. We pitched frogs to timber and cover on the deeper drop-off banks for the rest of the afternoon into the evening and did well for never having fished the reservoir. All in all, we managed 22 fish, with a solid 10 of them in the 3 pound range and a few in the four pound weight-class. The remainder of the bass we caught were smaller ones from 9-14/15 inches.

For those who don’t know, Three Mile Lake has excellent cover and in its deepest area (about 1/4 mile from the dam) is only 35-40 feet. Much of the cover is old timber with lots of brush and old fall-downs along the banks. The vast majority of the banks slope to shallow, but within 10 yards of the bank drop to deeper water in the range of 15-20 or so feet. There are weed-lines (now submerged), but prevalent throughout the lake and surrounding its perimeter. Several rock jetties extend into the lake in and around the boat ramp, near the dam with lots of rock banks around the dam area. The day we fished, there was very little wind and air temps were 80-85 degrees. Water clarity was maybe a foot and stained (tea color). Water temp throughout the lake was a solid 80-81 degrees and overall, the day could just be called “muggy.”

June 18, 2011 - Silver Lake - I Went To Silver Lake Wendsday And Caught 7 Walleyes Over 20 Inches.Then I Caught 4 18 inch Smallmouth And 2 8 Pound Muskies

June 16, 2011 - Clear Lake - I went to clear lake a few days ago.I caught 4 small walleye 2 yellow bass. My friend went a few days later and caught 3 keepers and 25 small walleyes.A big white bass and a ten pound muskie

Cuts to REAP, the handing of water quality programs to the Iowa Department of Agriculture, cutting watershed programs...it's all on the table during this legislative session and we need YOUR help.

We are hosting a series of public forums around the state to highlight the need for additional funding for REAP and a number of other vital conservation programs. Can you forward this to a friend? Can you make it?

10 am - 11 am -- Muscatine City Hall (Lower Level Conference Room)
                            215 Sycamore Street, Muscatine, IA

12 pm - 1 pm -- Starr's Cave Nature Center (Loft)
                           11627 Starrs Cave Park Road
                              Burlington, IA

We need you to continue your involvement as together we seek to increase funding for REAP, and protect funding for natural resources, soil conservation, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation in the state budget, and keep the conservation voice strong so we can eventually fully fund the Trust Fund.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Make Your Contribution Today!

Contributions to Iowa's Water and Land Legacy are not tax deductible and you can mail checks to:

The Conservation Campaign/Iowa's Water and Land Legacy Account
PO Box 93176 - Des Moines, IA 50393-3176

**Make Checks Payable To The Conservation Campaign/Iowa's Water & Land Legacy Account**

Thanks,

Mark Langgin - Director
515-707-0266

MANAUS, Brazil – The strike barely dimpled the water, but it sent waves hurtling throughout the freshwater fishing world by shattering a coveted world record that stood for 16 years. Read Story

September 9, 2010 - Sonar Question - Anyone experience this? I have a Lowrance LCX 19 sonar, (fish finder). Its 6 years old or so. Been experiencing when I turn it on the unit, (Cristal's) are upside down. All the readings, water temp. depth are upside down. Then after a few Min's. the problem corrects itself and functions fine. I know I can call Lowrance and be put on hold for awhile and ask them if I can get home in time before they close but just thought I'd put this out there for remarks. I'm afraid one day it's not going to correct itself.

April 20, 2007 - DeSoto Bend - Fished Desoto Bend for Crappie on Tues. 4/17 for four hours. East and NE section. Used live minnows. Zero action and asked several others who said the same. Water temp. 54 degrees.

September 16, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - Hello. I read your question about how to catch those bass you are seeing. I am a florida native and have been fishing central florida for over 30 years and i can tell you that if you put a live golden shiner in front of those fish you will indeed connect with them. If you need more information on how to fish with this kind of bait let me know and i will send to you a link to all the info you need. I have a few places where i catch my own golden shiners and keep them in a tank to use when i want to go fishing. This is another complete subject i know but once you start catching bass with shiners you won't want to stop. If you buy them they run from $16.00 to $20.00 a dozen, this is to much for me to pay so i catch my own. Catching the bait is almost as much fun as catching the bass! Jeff Morrow, Sarasota, Fla

May 22, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - You might try some garlic scent found at most tackle shops. It covers a lot of smells and bass seem to like it.
Bill Rose
Lincoln NE

March 20, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - I've fished for Florida strain bass in Texas lakes most of my life, and have found that when the big girls are on the nests, down sizing to a small 4in lizard with an 1/8 oz. weight is hard to beat. Watermelon seed or watermelon with red flake is dynamite on east Texas lakes, especially Fork (cotton candy if the water is unusually clear). Pitch the lizard in there and just leave it. This takes an extreme amount of patience, but the subtle movements created by the water look most natural and will eventually drive them nuts. And remember, if you can see them they'll likely see you first. So if the fish are leaving the nest when you make your presentation, mark the spot, leave, and come back. Sneak up with a push pole and stay off the trolling motor. Stay far enough away not to spook the fish (tie up if necessary but don't use the trolling motor); then, make your presentation. If the water is stained to murky, and your casting for spawning bass instead of site fishing, a 6in lizard with gold flake in it can be good. Zoom's mossy pumpkin color will get you tore up on Fork. If you're not having any luck getting the bedding bass to bite, leave 'em alone. Move out to 8ft deep in the mouths of spawning coves or secondary points up the creeks. Tie on a Gene Larew Hawg Craw (the big one) in black w/ blue claws, fish the trees, and hold on to your rod. Shorter trees with some broken-off limbs (laydowns) or horizontal limbs just beneath the surface in 8ft of water are best. This pattern put a 13.86 in the boat for my partner one early spring. One last comment- please do not use shiners or other live bait for bass, especially for trophy bass in the spring, as fish mortality is higher with live bait rigs. Best of luck.

March 16, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - My answer will stay simple since each body of water is different as well as each day and down to each hour fishing can be different, but there is one method of fishing that can offer up excellent bass fishing

The secret is to simply fish at night. You only need to try a few lures to make night fishing a success. One is the buzzbait, the next will be a single big cupped bladed spinnerbait, and then you can stick with a big black juicy worm. And night fishing can be done at the shore. Only thing is it will be dark, but fishing can be very successful. Bass move to the shallows to eat, there are very few if any other fisherman out on the water as well.

Just scope out a good spot that has plenty of weeds or other cover and fish there. If you don't get a fish in ten minutes then move on. But once you get a good spot you can catch fish after fish.

March 14, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - If you are primarily sight fishing in clear water you need to be able to make repeated 100% accurate casts. When I sight fish i like to be able to cast to where the bass can't see the lure comming until it comes in front of the fishes face getting a reaction strike. you will have to experiment to know what to use whether it be crankbait, worm, jig. From my experience, i can usually find a jig that will work in any condition. you just have to modify weight and trailer size for balance and drop speed.

March 10, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - try to use a big shiner on lite line and a bobber if you are in thick vegitation use fire line 15-25 lbs test also try plastics with a lot of salt jiging for them if they are agressive and not much vegitation try a rattlie trap

March 8, 2006 - Answer to Florida Bass question - what about water clarity? If it is very clear maybe they are getting to good of a look at your bait. if this is the case i would probably use a mostly clear bait and fish a little faster possibly getting more reaction strikes.

February 26, 2006 - Question from Florida on catching bass - Can you help my brothers and I catch bass? Heres the problem, we see a lot of bass here in central Florida, but they just wont bite our bait! They just sniff it and swim away, and our hands dont have anything like oil or anything that will repel the bass! Can you please help us by giving us some tips and telling us what tackle to use on bass? Thank You so much. Send us and answer and we will post it.

October 25, 2005 - Three Mile Lake fishing- Union County Iowa

CRAPPIES- are fair in deep water near the flooded timber and rock piles. Fish were taken using minnows, and wax worms on small 1/32 jigs.

Walleyes- very slow/poor small eyes were caught using bottom walker rigs tipped with minnows

Catfish- were being caught by those fishing for walleyes

Bluegills- same as crappie fisherman.

The local bait shop Bj's Bait shop, home of the pink elephant was closed most of the time making it difficult to get bait close to the lake.

I love the fishing report, could you maybe expand the Iowa fishing report and cover more of the Quad City Davenport Metro area.

Sincerely,

Eric Gruenhagen

Editor's Note: We would love to cover more fishing in Iowa. We invite all Iowa anglers to submit reports.

May 13, 2005 - Hayden Park - I was fishing at hayden park outside of ames iowa. where I cought a 6.5 lbs. bass. its not the largest that I've seen swimming in the shallows. it's a great spring fishing spot.
Mackenzie.

May 13, 2005 - Hayden Park - Hi my name is Dan. I live in Story county ,recently i started fishing Hayden park just north of Ames.IT's a great place for those crappie anglers.Last Sunday i was out there and got into a mess of Slab crappies ranging from 10 to 13 inches, I have had seen larger ones in the 14 to 15 inch range.What works for me? small crankbaits or small twisters with large minnows, best times for me have been between 5pm to about sunset.So if your looking for some SLABS Hayden Park is the place for those crappie anglers,or just a place to take your family.

Mr.Crappie
Dan Wheatly

June 29, 2004 - Des Moines River - I fish by boat along the Des Moines river in southern Iowa, using nothing but Sonny's Super Sticky Catfish Dip Bait. Although I have never caught a catfish over 5 Lbs., who needs too, when your catching 20 to 30 catfish every six hour fishing trip. It doesn't matter at what time of day, or how strong the current is, Sonny's hammers 'em !
Del Wilkins
Ottumwa ,Iowa

May 20, 2004 - Wapsi near Central City - Catching channel and blue on the Wapsi in the Central City area for 3 days now May 17 - 19 using shad fillets. I've been amazed at the luck we've had!!!

May 11, 2004 - Iowa River at Coralville Reservoir - The channel cats were hitting hard and frequent with the rise in water temperature. The carp were also making a showing but not much of one. The cats were sitting on the bottom or 1-2 feet above in the fast current of the channel. The carp were hanging closer to the bank in the slower water. The bait used was a nightcrawler. The last fish of the night at midnight was a 24 inch, 10 lb. channel cat.
Timothy VanDerHorst

March 20, 2004 - 3-Mile Lake, Creston IA - I fished from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. High winds made the main lake virtually unfishable. The entire lake is stained to muddy, probably due to run off and the recent tsunamis.
I concentrated my efforts from 15ft to 1 ft of depth. I slow rolled a spinnerbait, pitched a jig, and threw a suspending jerkbait. We had a total of 3 guys in 2 boats, and not 1 fish was caught.
My electronics are down, so a water temp was not recorded.

Brannon

March 19, 2004 - Lake Aquahbi - I have been to Aquahbi twice this year. March 6th and 14th. All of the fish that have been caught in my boat have come from less than 8ft of water. If you are in a hurry, hit shallow water cover to find the most active fish (trap, jerk, spinner, jig). If you have time, better numbers fo fish are still on deeper structure.

September 24, 2003 - Iowa River -The early Iowa duck season opener provided some hot smallmouth action in the Iowa river upstream from the Steamboat rock dam....landed and released 7 smallies in the 17" range...also 3 real nice northerns.The water level is as low as I've seen it in the 40 yrs I've been fishing so use the old "duck sneak" when approaching the water.I was using a # 2 whitetailed mepps spinner and 1/16 oz roadrunner with a black body......good luck.

July 1, 2003 - Cedar River at St Ansgar - Amazingly we have been catching walleye in the cedar in st.ansger. All walleye are of nice size and easy to find.

Tip: Between halverson park and the Mitchell damn there is a sand bar. If you go a little ways upstream there is some trailers keep going and you will see a brown cabin and its an a frame style. between them to points there's a rocky area filled with walleye. Its fun and easy but please catch and release so we can let the walleye population grow. Thanks Jayden

June 30, 2003 - Cedar River at St Ansgar - On June 28 me and my cousin were fishing at our cabin located in st.ansgar,ia on the bank of the cedar r. we caught 2 yellow bullhead 2 4l.b suckers 1 8 lb carp 12 carp inbetween 4-6 L.B and a 21 1/2 inch 6pound catfish we also caught 4 14in s.m bass. all fish were caught and released exept for the carp and catfish.

June 25, 2003 - Question about Arrowhead Park - i was wondering if you know how the fishing is doing at arrowhead park, iowa. you dont have it in your
fishing reports and was wondering if u might find out something or know something about it. thank you Help a fellow angler by answering, we will forward it

April 26, 2003 - Northeast Iowa - RIVER IS COMING UP PRETTY FAST HERE POOL 12 ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER HERE. THE WALLEYE IS ALL SPAWNED OUT. JUST GOT OFF THE RIVER. FISHED 4 AND A HALF HOURS AND HAD 5 NICE WALLEYE. THERE HITTING THREE WAY AND LEECHES. HAVE TO FINESS THEM.THE RIVER IS HIGH SO ARE GETTING THEM ON FLATS WITH A GOOD CURRENT BREAK. ALSO THE RIVER TEMP IS 52 DAGREES ON THIS 26 DAY OF APRIL. CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO AT FISHINGFEVERCIT. TIGHT LINES AND GOOD FISHING TO ALL.......

November 28, 2002 - Iowa -Hi, Ive been learning how to hunt largemouth in a variety of pond conditions, courtesty of my wife's relatives. In the early summer, her uncle nabbed two 7 =poundes from the same pound on consecutive weekends. One was over 24 inches long. Im a better photographer than fisherman, so If you are
interested in brief reports and some electronic photos of some of the most
scenic bodies of water in the US.

Im going to Essex and Shenandoah Iowa tomorrow. I will give you a full
report when I return.

October 24, 2002 - Iowa -Walleye are being caught on the Wapsipinicon river using small dark colored jigs tipped with minnows in 6' to 8' of water.

July 8, 2002 - Southwest Iowa - Just wanted to give you a picture and an update. Fishing in Southwest Iowa has been great all summer. I have had most lakes and ponds to myself as the heat has been terrible. Fish the outside edge of weedlines to catch most bass. I have had best luck using Power Worms and Zoom Lizards. Sluggos also work fairly well is weighted and fished deep. I've attached a picture of a 8lb 6oz largemouth I caught in early July pitching bushes overhanging a private lake. She went 24 inches and was released. I hope to catch her next spring full of eggs. The Iowa state record measured 23'1/2''. Heading to Table Rock next week. Keep a tight line and reel'em in!

I caught these cats in southern Iowa on a river. The bigger one was pulled in
on july 4 2002 and the other five were july 6 2002 all of them were caught on
live bullheads.
The larger single flat head weight was 65lbs the other 5 were from 28lbs to
55lbs Click on photo for larger view

June 14, 2002 - Lake Rathbun - Fished Lake Rathbun in Southern Iowa for 2 days and the fishing was great. Mid-size to small crappie was being caught along rock structures at depth of 4 to 6 feet. I used ice jigs tipped with minnows on a bobber. Caught over 60 first day and over 30 the next. Also, saw some 5 and 6 pound Walleyes caught by other boaters. So far, the Rathbun lake water level seems to stable this year. Larry Jackson

May 20, 2002 - Iowa River Between Iowa Falls and Steamboat Rock - sunday morning 5-19-02 caught 3 smallies @ 18" 5 more around 15" in the iowa river between iowa falls and steamboat rock-was an excellant morning-was using chart. 1/16 oz roadrunners

April 17, 2002 - George Wyth Lake - On Monday, April 14 I caught a 4.5 lb. Largemouth Bass and a 2 lb. Small mouth bass while fishing at George Wyth Lake. I did get pictures of them. The fish were caught on a crawdad crank bait...Thank you...Mike In Waterloo

September 22, 2000 - I got a Flathead Catfish on 7/22/00 and it weighted 31.7 lbs lenth 43". On 8/13/00 got a flathead catfish weight 6 lbs and got it in the Raccon River. On 9/10/00 got a flathead weight 15 lbs lenth 32" and got it in the Raccon River. Jeremy Ertz
See more catfish pictures

May 29, 2000 - Submitted by Rob Coffey - Most lakes in southern Iowa are producing good catches of all species. The bass and crappies are done spawning and are dropping back to points and deeper timber. Bass are being caught on a variety of baits with topwater baits and crankbaits doing well.

The next two weeks are also good for walleye on crankbaits. Bluegill are starting to go on beds and are biting well.Three Mile Lake and Twelve Mile Lake both near the town of Creston are good for bass and walleye and panfish. West Lake near Osceola is good for bass and panfish. A small lake that is also very good for bass is Red Haw Kake near Chariton. A lot of the city resevoirs are also producing good catches of all species but because of low water conditions some of ramps are unusable. Walleye and bass should be coming on good at Rathbun Resevoir as wellas crappies. Rathbun is near Centerville in southeast Iowa and is always a good crankbait lake. If I can be fo help to anyone, let me know. Until next, Rob Coffey Bucknspurfarm.

April 3, 2000 - Submitted by Rob Coffey - The water temperatures in most southern Iowa lakes is staying in the 50 degree range due to cool weather. Bass are still biting fairly well on skirted twin yail grubs, jigs, and suspending jerk baits. I fished Badger Creek last friday and two of us caught seventeen bass in three hours on jerk baits.

Fished Twelve Mile Lake near Creston this morning for three hours and only caught two nice fish on jigs. The air temperature was 39 degrees and stout north wind maid for not the best of conditions. Crappies were starting to turn on on the nice days we have had but then the cold fronts slow them down again.

The weather is supposed to get warm this week so things shoud improve. Until next time: Rob Bucknspurfarm

April 3, 2000 - Submitted by Rob Coffey - Last week the fishing in southern Iowa has started to improve. My son and I fished four times last week with several dozen bass brought to boat. We had one seven pounder and several between three and five pounds. All fish were caught on twin tail grubs and spider craws.

West lake near Osceola and Three Mile Lake near Creston are starting to produce very well. Most fish are coming from four to ten feet and water temps are about fifty degrees. The crappies are starting to bite fairly well but are in ten to twenty feet of water. Minnows are producing most of the fish. Walleyes are still being caught in the Des Moines River system and I have heard reports of some ten pounders being caught.

Rathbun Resevoir near Centerville will be very good again this year for good crappies and walleye. It also has some very good bass but they can be hard to find at times. We have been very dry this spring and some small lakes and city resevoirs are very low and boat access can be limited. Until next time. Rob Bucknspurfarm.

March 21, 2000 - Submitted by Rob Coffey - The water temperatures have dropped about eight degrees in the last ten days, but bass are still being caught fairly well. I caught six fish a week ago in a city resevoir that were between a pound and six pounds. Fished for three hours but the fish came in about a half an hour period right in the middle of a major period.

My son went out Sunday afternoon in a light snow and water temperature of forty five and caught twelve fish about a pound each. Caught those fish on a Husky Jerk at Lake Ahquabi near Indianola.

I fished today for a couple of hours at Twelve mile lake in southwestern Iowa. I caught four bass. Two fish were fourteen inches and the other two were about four and half pounds each. Almost all of my fish for the last week have been caught on twin tail grubs with garlic scent. The crappies have slowed down with the cooler water temps but walleyes are still doing pretty well in the Des Moines river system in and aroud Des Moines. Until next time, Rob bucknspurfarm and Alternative Outdoors.

March 13, 2000 - Due to cooler weather, most water temps have dropped about six degrees. Most of the lakes in the southern part of the state are in the 45 to 48 degree range. We are still catching bass fairly well on craws and suspending jerk baits. Last Friday I caught 26 bass in three and half hours and eighteen of them came on a Husky Jerk. Sunday my son and I caught thirteen bass in a couple of hours. About half were on salt craws and half on jerk baits. There are also some crappies being caught on minnows in fairly deep water and walleyes are biting in the Des Moines river system. until next time. rob bucknspurfarm and alternative outdoors.

March 3, 2000 - THOUGHT I WOULD DROP YOU A LINE WITH AN EARLY REPORT. THE ICE IN THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE STATE WENT OFF ABOUT TEN DAYS AGO. STARTED CATCHING LARGEMOUTH THE NEXT DAY. VERY SLOW BUT HAS IMPROVED THE LAST FEW DAYS. MOST FISH HAVE BEEN TAKEN ON SALT CRAWS OR JIG AND CRAWS. A FEW NICE CRAPPIE HAVE BEEN TAKEN ON MINNOWS. LAST THURSDAY WAS MY BEST WITH SIX FISH FROM THREE POUNDS TO FIVE AND A HALF IN AN HOUR. ALL WERE ON BLACK AND BLUE SALT CRAWS. LAKES NAD CITY RESEVOIRS UNDER 200 ACRES ARE THE BEST EARLY. TWO VERY GOOD LAKES FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON WILL BE TWELVE MILE AND THREE MILE LAKES. THEY ARE BOTH LOCATED NEAR CRESTON IN SOUTHWEST IOWA. BOTH LAKES ARE VERY GOOD FOR BASS, WALLEYES AND CRAPPIES. RATHBUN RESEVOIR IN SOUTHEAST IOWA IS ALWAYS GOOD FOR CRAPPIE AND WALLEYE. UNTIL NEXT TIME ROB BUCKNSPURFARM AND ALTERNATIVE OUTDOORS