LET'S TALK FISH-This is our blog!
2007 Photo Album- send us your photo of a great fish you caught this year or any year and we will publish it. If you can attach some vital information that would be great. Pictures should be in a JPEG format or other web friendly formats and sizes. Just contact us and we will see what we can do to share great photo's.
Fishing Report for May 11-18, 2008
Things are very good now. Its hard for me to fully explain to you how good fishing is now. I let go four fish of 20" plus and lost two others of similiar size. A little inside information for those of you not familiar with Brown trout. They are cannibalistic! I threw a floating Rapala that mimiced a brown trout. To say big browns eat their younger siblings, or children is an understatement. Switching gears, the UIR is looking fantastic. I've heard multiple good reports for Walleyes and Smallies. Its time for a float trip, don't be shy. A good anchor may be needed but the fish should have the feed bags on for your fishing pleasure. The photo below shows some added bonus of trout fishing now. I let the trout go but I didn't let these go.
Fishing Report for last week of April
Well today I had the pleasure of fishing with Scott from Iowa City and Bill from the great state of Pennsylvania. It was a truly enjoyable day of trout fishing. We targeted streams I knew that would have smaller watersheds and be more fishable due to the high water. All the fish we caught were carry-over fish and they were all footballs today. Very healthy with great color. Some of the fish had color that you just don't see everyday. The photo below does not do justice to the beauty and thickness of this brown. Spinners were the primary tool of choice with gold blades being effective and my new favorite, Skunk Rooster tail being a close second. Hopefully the rain becomes more manageable and streams will offer great fishing over the next couple of weeks.
Fishing Report for April 21-26 2008
Muddy, high and tough fishing on many streams. I spent a lot of time chasing rain soaked, fog laden, uncooperative thunder chickens around this weekend. As soon as you think you own the woods mother nature will drop kick you right where the sun doesn't shine and remind you that she owns nature and you just get to play in her backyard. Hopefully fishing will pick up as the week progresses.
Fishing Report for first week of April 2008
When you think you have it all figured out it changes. Had a good time guiding Scott from Iowa City Saturday. We hit areas around Highlandville that I had caught and let go some really nice fish in the last two weeks. We caught fish all day but carry-over trout can be funky. Jigs (tube, hair, maribou, helgermites,etc) spinners (small, big, silver, gold, all the colors you can throw) comprised most of our lures. A cold high pressure morning led to a very windy day. A hatch took place around mid day and the trout were all over the hatch. When you could fool one it was like running into a cement wall. They are very strong fish. Trout stocking will start shortly and depending on the size of the rain event this week we will have great fishing conditions this next weekend. The UIR looks very good and is fishable now. Sunny days will provide some good bass fishing late in the day in the shallows that warm a little faster. Another warm spot to think about this time of year are the mouth of trout streams. That water is 50F compared to UIR which is probably in the upper 40's. Good luck and contact me if you want some specifics.
Fishing Report for Week of March 24, 2008
Should be a great week to fish in God's country. I fished twice over the holiday break and targeted carry-over trout. The fish responed with gusto. I caught and let go my first two 20+" browns of the year. Sorry for the lack of photo's but solo fishing has it's drawbacks at times. Skunk, Brown, Brown/Yellow were effective Rooster Tail colors with gold or silver blades. The most fun presentation was a 1/32oz black deer hair jig. Very tough to cast for much distance but ton's of fun in current and bank hide settings. It reminded me of jigging smallies on the Rainy River on a much smaller stage. Changing gears, the walleye bite seems to be hot and cold from day to day. Traditional sauger waters are yielding good catches. Keep the eaters and let the big ones go for another day. Good luck and have fun.
Fishing Report for Week of March 10, 2008
Everything I'm about to say could be junk within a couple of days if we get 50 degree weather and rain. All streams and inland rivers are in awesome condition. Trout fishing would be great at this time for those few who like the challenge of carry-over fish. It's more like hunting than fishing. Trout are spooky enough at this time of the year that precision is the name of the game. Good cast with limited movement to not spook the fish. Switching gears to ice fishing I'd have to say Orange is a good color, Rockers a good bait, and Hayshore is a good place to fish. I'd be real suprised if you could still walk to it by the upcoming weekend. Those die hards that bring a boat along could find themselves fishing that entire huge area in relative solidarity. This is a great time to ice fish but you need to pay attention to the ice quality and conditions getting on and off the ice. Safety is more important than fish. Good luck.
Fishing Report for Week of February 24, 2008
Things on the ice fishing front have slowed considerably this weekend. I have reports from 60 miles of the big river with spotty success. The real clue is taking a drive on a warm Sunday and finding very few fisherman. I would highly recommend fishing in a tent so you can get the interested but non-aggressive fish. Trout fishing is great. The Decorah Trout Hatchery that supplies most of N.E. Iowa streams did a great job last fall of placing lots of fish on good habitat. So get out of the house and go trout fishing.
Fishing Report for Week of February 18, 2008
Well I fished Trout River, Pattison Creek, Coon Creek and Trout Run. There are so many trout out their that I frankly was suprised. The great habitat that Bill Kalishek and the rest of the DNR people have put together is very impressive. Some helpful hints for you. One, the trout are very spooky so you must be stealthy in your pursuits. Willow bladed spinners were more effective than deeper blades that had a bigger pulse. Dark colors beat bright and slow retrieve speeds topped fast. Secondly, you almost have to be an assasin of fish and pick them off from the top of the hole to the bottom because when you hook one they fight very hard now and seem to spook other fish. Finally, when they hit your spinner it's like a truck hit your line. I had to adjust my hooksets to make sure that I had a good hook set or they would come off before I got them all the way in to the bank. Last thoughts, it is physical work to fish now due the deep snow pack. Have some water and a snack with you and when those hamstrings start hurting you because you have been on the couch since deer season drink some water so you don't cramp before you get back to your vehicle.
Chunky Squared!! Brown and Bow
Fishing Report for Week of February 11, 2008
Starting on the ice, you can still catch lots of fish at Shore Slough in Lansing Iowa. Easy to fish and not a guaranted meal but as close as you can come to it through the ice. Indian north of the New Albin landing is also been productive especially for crappies. We have great ice but all of this snow will slow down spots that don't have good green vegetation to keep producing oxygen. Switching to trout fishing. If you can handle walking in deep snow you will catch fish and some real dandies will be in the mix. I fished a dark Rooster Tail 1/8oz the last time out and it was very effective. I tried a #4 Panther Martin and a larger bladed Rooster Tail but the fish did not like the extra thump of the blade. I will say that if your not in shape this will be a taxing walk with all the snow. On a different note I did find two dead deer in the stream today. Not sure how they got there, neither shows signs of human damage (aka: bullet holes) but it would be interesting to know how many deer died this winter due to the conditions.
Fishing Report for Week of February 3, 2008
Everyone knows that Shore Slough has lots of fish. It's very apparent that the fish have some preferences to depth and location. When the pressure is on you can see fish come and go as you watch the hand signals up and down the river. Depth really mattered at times under the ice. Fish would be active on the bottom for 10 minutes then no fish could be caught low and they all were right under the ice. Fish today tended to be in 3-4 fow, shallower or deeper did not seem as effective. Colors and bait types didnt matter. Little Cecils, Moon Glows in white or purple, green and orange tear drops, pink and red rockers. It was more about presentation height than type of lure. I believe it would be very easy for a person to bring home a mess of fish to eat over a day of fishing. If your selective and have some patience you can take some nice fish home. I have heard sporatic good reports from Cordwood and Indian on the Iowa side and Desoto Bay on the Wisconsin side of the river. Remember your Minnesota License will expire at the end of the month for those who fish up and down the river. Good Luck
Fishing Report for Week of January 20, 2008
Mamma said there would be days like Sunday. Cold enough that normal people didn't venture out in the bitter cold. I hooked up with a resident expert and we found the fish to be aggressive enough to keep our hands wet and cold. Moon Glow jigs, small red/white rockers, purple Purist were all effective baits tipped with a small chunk of waxie. Little Cecils with no bait also seem to work fine for catching bluegills. If I told you the number of fish we probably caught you wouldn't believe me anyway so I will say that two quality groups of fish were kept that tasted great in the fry pan. Most of these fish were caught in 5 fow from 6" to 18" off the bottom. The jigging technique that worked best was a fairly constant wobble with slight pauses as you changed heights. I've heard reports of people catching fish all over on the river. Make sure you find spots that have green vegetation (oxygen) because the deep snow pack and 10-12" of ice are going to eliminate some normal fisheries. I also believe having high standards for the fish you keep is good for the fish and the fisherman. Take enough to eat and some to freeze but bluegills live to be old fish so they will get bigger and better if we let the 7" fish go to become 8" fish. Got to love catch and release so it can become catch and eat. Good Luck
Fishing Report for Week of January 13
All reports this week are from others who have gone. I helped manage the doe population of Winneshiek county vs. fishing. The fish are present at all the community ice fishing holes. It appears that they will slide to structure or out to the sides of the pressured areas to get away from the people. Good ice will make some of the more remote areas easier to get to as time goes on in January. Trout fishing is excellent and many streams are loaded with large number of carry over adult populations of trout. The expected cold snap for the end of the week will put some ice on the slower streams but most will be open.
Fishing Report for Week of January 6, 2008
Lets start with the trout. Wow factor in place big time right now. I fished a section of public ground and almost had my pole ripped out of my hand. I had visions of smallmouth bass for a brief moment. I let 10 fish go in 45 minutes of fishing with browns, brookies, and rainbows all making it to shore. Missed at least that many fish as well. Rooster tail spinners in dark colors and silver blades worked great. Small was out and big was in for spinner size with 1/8oz being my best producer. Hit the big streams with good carryover potential and you will find fish. Switching gears to ice time. Depends on the day and location. I've heard good reports from Cordwood, Beck, Lawrence, etc. I have also heard bad reports from all three. You will have to be mobile or patient. Fish are present but the dinner bell is not on every day or all day any day. Make sure you have safe ice with the rain this week and rising water.
Fishing Report for Week of January 1, 2008
Trout steams are in excellent condition and are receiving very little pressure. Snow shoes are a must for most sections. A pair of water proof boots and snow shoes make for a mobile fisherman. Ice fishing has been good for numbers but you have to work at it to catch quality fish. I would be more specific but have no solid, consistent reports of fishing success. The Upper Iowa River looks very tempting for a late season/early season walleye run. I will try to get some time and fish some winter holes and let you know how it goes. Until then clean up your gear, and get planning your next trip to Winneshiek County.
Fishing Report for Week of December 17th
Finally got out of the house and on the ice this aftenoon. Found myself heading to the far northeast corner of Iowa and catching some very nice crappies. Lots of bluegills to go around but no real big fish. Wide variety of bates caught fish. Little Purist, Rockers, Cecils, Rembrants, etc. Colors that were favoring the pink and red side of the spectrum seemed very effective. Half of a waxie was also needed today. People seemed to be very scattered today. Most famous line I heard today was, "You should have been here yesterday." Since we are now onto serious ice time I have provided a link to an interesting panfishing video from the IDA boys up north. Enjoy the Panfishing Video.
Fishing Report for week of October 15th
No changes from last week. UIR is out of control and trout fishing is excellent. Things can change quickly with the current weather so call ahead for information. Be aware that you may be sharing many of these streams with people who are hunting on public land. Plenty of room for all of us out their so we need to respect each others rights to enjoy the great outdoors.
Fishing Report for week of October 8th
UIR is still m.i.a. and will be for the rest of this week. I spent Saturday guiding on a long section of trout stream. Fishing was good with a fair number of brown trout, and brook trout. The brookies are preparing to spawn and some have spawned out at this time. A wide variety of spinners were used with darker colors in rooster tails and panther martins being most effective. As the weather cools off fishing will be improving on the UIR and trout streams will be good all fall. So my advice is give that buck a few more weeks before you put the effort forth and catch some fish. Pictures below show a nice brookie caught by Scott Temple and the eggs of a brook trout that she let go when I released her Saturday.
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Fishing Report for week of October 1st
Finally I had some time to get out and fish. Trying to pack as much in as I could for the two hours I had to fish I trout fished and bass fished. Trout fishing is excellent. I caught numerous brown and brook trout on a skunk colored Rooster Tail spinner. In the hour I fished I caught and released 5 fish, lost 2, and had 4 other fish swing and miss. Spawning Brook Trout are beautiful and are really a neat fish to have the opportunity to catch. After my trout escapade I hit the UIR for some bass fishing. The smallies were very supportive and hit the shad-raps I threw and the jigs I presented. So, to give you advice that is helpful. Bring equipment to catch both trout and bass. Use the resources that are available in the area while enjoying the best time of year to be outdoors.
Effective UIR Fall Baits
Fishing Report for week of September 9th
Trout fishing is excellent and stream conditions make for some easy walking after the flood. If you want a real treat and are in good shape take the walk into South Pine and fish the artificial only, catch and release section of the river. You won't believe the number of fish in that section of water. I have know credible reports on the UIR but my best judgement would say that Walleyes will be sitting on sand break lines or cut banks chasing shad. Smallies will be in tight to the banks doing the same thing. On the big river the fish are really smacking the crankbaits and the panfish are hungry. Look for old marble eyes in 4-7fow with good current. Shad colored cranks and bright colored lures all work well. If you have the time you should be fishing.
Fishing Report for week of August 26th
The UIR will be poor until the turbidity goes down. Same with big trout streams. The big river was stained but fishable on Sunday. Look for it to get muddier when it drops some more and pulls mud of the banks. Fishing today was great when you found the fish and slow everywhere in between. What that means is you have to be willing to move and adjust to the fish. Gamefish came on bright colored shad-raps in 5fow and panfish came on green and yellow tube jigs around logs in 8-10fow. I think fishing could be really spectacular Labor day weekend if the water level stabilizes on the big river. Best of luck to all.
Fishing Report for week of August 19th
Well I know fishing has been excellent but the weather has changed my opinion. Time to clean up some equipment and get it ready for fall fishing. Below is a really cool picture of Ants forming a clump in flood water to survive. Ants just kept coming to the spot and piling on. I think I want to be the last ant on the pile.
Fishing Report for week of August 5th
Panfishing on the big river is excellent. Gills are on the rocks via closing dams, wingdams or shorelines. If you have some wood near all the better. Crappies are in the trees in about 8-12fow. Most of the time we fished 4-5' deep and used simple techinques. Slipbobbers or tube jigs, as you can see from the picture below of our fishing aresenal it has a small dollar figure. Remember if you put in on the Wisconsin side of the river you need to have the fish on ice as no live fish can leave the landing to prevent the spread of a virus that kills fish but poses no threat to humans. The picture below shows the tackle we used to catch fish on the big river. On the UIR you can catch about any game fish now on a crankbait, especially shad raps. Make sure to practice catch and release on those smallies. Have fun.
Fishing Report for Last Week of July/First Week of August
It may be the dog days of summer but fishing for bass and panfish are very good on the big river. On the UIR if you want to specialize and catch trout look for any cold water entry point into the river. The easy ones to find are trout streams but the hidden gems are seeps and little springs that feed into deeper water or riffles with good shade and water depth. Crankbaits work very well, so do spinners for these trout. Be careful taking the trout off the hook as they are not usually cooperative and can bury a treble in your hand rather quickly. Another key statistic for you is water temperature. Smallmouth bass have a maximum sustained metabolism at a water temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit. In fisherman terms that means the feedbag is on and bass are active. Look for current breaks with rock or wood and you have two of the three components needed. The third is food, so if you don't see minnows or crawdads hanging out near shore you may not be in a good spot It will be about a week before I update this page as I'm going to collect data for the website and relax a little. Until then happy fishing.
Fishing Report for Week of July 15, 2007
I spent about 6 hours fishing stretches of the UIR over the past weekend. Lot's of species caught including Sauger, Walleye, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout and Smallies. Fishing was good for numbers, size was not incredible on any fish. Presentation varied from Shad Raps, Rebel Crawdad Lures to Ringworms, K-Grubs, Twister Tails. Let the fish tell you what they want and not vice versa. Vary your retrieve speed as lots of follows by smallies can be turned into a hooked fish with a pause and continued reeling. Smallies were holding right on shore with the Northerns being next to deeper holes and walleyes being in caught in 3-4 fow. Reports are very good from Bluffton to Highway 76 Bridge. The better the habitat the better your chances of larger numbers of good fish being caught. The big river has great fishing as well, panfishing has been excellent this past week.
Fishing Report for Week of July 8, 2007
Changing weather has made fish sluggish early in the week on the UIR. On Tuesday fishing was average from Hutchinsons to Decorah. Fish were present and worms to crankbaits were used to entice fish. I would guess that by the weekend or end of week we will catch a lot more fish with stable weather again. Big tip, warm water forces the trout in the UIR to move to springs or mouths of trout streams. I caught some nice, aggressive Rainbow Trout on Sunday night. You know you have a trout on a crankbait when it hits it like it want's to kill it and shakes like your playing tug of war with a large puppy. Be careful taking them off as I helped do surgery on a friends hand two weeks ago when a trout slid the hook into his hand. Good luck to all.
Fishing Report for Week of July 1, 2007
Fishing is awesome. That's all I really need to say. The UIR is in great shape, floated from Decorah to the second bridge out of Freeport on the River Road. Water temperature is in the low to mid 70's, great flow, and aggressive walleyes, and smallies. I did have to switch colors to find a productive one and you can see the picture of that beauty at the end of the report. Floated with kayaks, which makes for great mobility but you do need to be able to anchor to effectively catch fish. We fished and floated so no spots were hammered. The best stretch is behind the Oneota Golf and Country Club. Fish were in 3-4 F.O.W., near current and structure. I have not heard of a bad report for the last week on the UIR. The big river is awesome for bass and panfish at this time. Fished for Crappies and Bluegills on Sunday and the fish were aggressive. One keeper gill for every 20 caught but the Crappies were very nice size and fun to catch. Slip bobber, red hook and worm or waxie for the gills and a minnow colored tube jig with red flexs in the tube and no bait for the crappies. Have fun over the fourth and take a kid fishing.
Fishing Report for Week of June 23, 2007
Let's start with the UIR. Fishing has been improving drastically and I have good solid reports of trout, smallies, and walleyes being caught in the city limits of Decorah. Presentation focused on crankbaits, you can never go wrong with black and silver or brown and orange on the UIR. Trout streams are in mint condition at this time. Great flow for July, try dark colored spinners with gold blades if it's a sunny day. Finally the mighty Mississippi has begun the bass feeding frenzy. I had the pleasure of sharing the boat on Wednesday night with my 6 year old fishing partner. We caught some walleyes trolling Shad-raps and Frenzy shad but had a hard time concentrating on walleyes when the water kept erupting with bass on the shallow flats. A top water presentation worked fantastic. I even would throw a shad rap and let it sit, then give it a slight twitch after the ripple vanished. BOOM fish would hammer the bait. I would then hand the pole to my partner who start to reel the fish into the boat. When he was half-way home I would cast another pole, repeat the process, hook the fish and take the pole from him with the fish near the boat and hand him the pole with the new fish on and go again. We quit at dark because we were hungry for ice cream and chores at home had not been done. It was an awesome evening of fishing. All top water are effective. I used a Zara Spook Puppy, walking the dog so to speak.
Fishing Report for Week of June 17,2007
Some days you find out why they call it fishing and not catching. Fished between Kendallville and Bluffton today on a stretch with great habitat, great water color, great flow, more forage than you can imagine, super water temperatures and good weather. Orlan Love made the long trek up to Decorah and we gave it our best effort. If you can't tell already the fishing was very slow. We presented to those picky fish, all colors of #5 shad rap, Big O's, spinnerbaits, ringworms, crawdad lures, frenzy shad, etc. You get the idea, it just wasn't our day. I would fish any of that water again in a heart beat because it looked great. Not a bad stretch of water to be found. For reasons unkown to the two of us they would follow but not hit or not even follow. Live bait may have been the ticket today and should have been tried to rule out all possible variables. The feeding trigger will be pulled here soon so don't miss out on the opportunities.
Trout Streams look great and all have good populations of fish. The Big River has water temps in the high 70's and my contacts gave me a thumbs up on all species. Take a kid panfishing this week and hook them for a lifetime. Good luck to all.
Fishing Report for Week of June 10, 2007
I will start local. The UIR is going to be good by the end of the week but has been very dirty. That word stewardship keeps popping into my head. Trout streams are in good to excellent shape. A word of wisdom about trout streams. Heavy rains will eliminate Trout River and Trout Run for a couple of days. South Bear on the other hand takes a lot of rain and seldom changes color. Plan accordingly and good luck. The Big River was my destination twice this past week. The first trip found active walleyes but impossible conditions to run a crankbait in due to the grass and debris floating in the falling river. On Sunday night the river had less debris and fish were scattered but the size was good as you can see from the 22" in the picture below. Covered lots of running sloughs, cut banks, clear water lines, rock piles, sand flats, etc. No one spot was key. Lots of food and good water allow the fish to really be widely spread. By moving a lot we picked up some nice fish on a variety of crankbaits. Due to the stain on the water, a lure with good vibration was most successful. Jointed Shad Raps and Wally Divers were are best lures. Color didn't seem to matter.
Fishing Report for Week of June 3, 2007
Forget the Upper Iowa River for the first half of this week for sure. Very muddy, Trout streams range from stained to really muddy. As always those streams that have good stewardship in their watershed are fishable. Poor land management practices are very evident at this time of the year. On to good reports, the walleye bite is back in business on the mighty Mississippi. Talked with a couple of reputable walleye guys who are widely known to have good sticks. Wingdams and crankbaits were there pattern. I plan on getting down to the big river on Tuesday and will post a report after that trip. Good Luck to all.
Fishing Report for Week of May 27, 2007
Floated the Upper Iowa from Lundy Bridge to the mouth of Canoe Creek. Water clarity was about 1' and fishing was directly proportional to clearity. Weather was great and the scenery was very pleasing. I suspect that if we can avoid heavy rain this next week the river should clear up and be very fishable. Canoe Creek was also stained but was fishable. Be careful on canoe trips. Flow rates are high and many people without good canoe skills may find themselves in some tricky positions. Good Luck to all.
Fishing Report for Week of May 20, 2007
I've been a little busy for fishing the past week but I did call the Highlandville Store and received a nice report from Gary. Early morning and evening fishing has been best with all the sun and heat we have had. The Bear's are loaded with fish and can provide great angling for those that are after trout. Stop by the store as they have a great selection of fishing equipment for your angling pleasure.
Fishing Report for Week of May 13, 2007
Headed to the mighty Mississippi River on Sunday afternoon and made the milk run. Put in at the New Albin Landing and proceeded North and East until I had reached the Genoa Power Plant and returned down the main channel back through the Ranger Cabin corner up Minnesota Slough. The movement of sand has been incredible in the upper reaches of the river. Many times I wormed my way through 1.5' of water with a Lund Angler and 50 horse Mercury. The effort was worth the risk. Fishing was great in the running sloughs. Since my co-pilot was a kindergarten fishaholic I stuck with trolling cranks and some casting. Water depth of 5'-9' in cuts held fish. We would troll and catch fish, drop anchor and cast the same troll spots. Catch more fish and then pull anchor and troll another 30 yds and repeat. Firetiger and Lemon Merunge Pie colors worked well in the #5 Shad Rap. In the picture below this nice 19" eye was caught off the casting phase not trolling in about 3' of water. Same was true for that huge smallie on the home page. I don't think there is a bad spot to fish in N.E. Iowa at this time.
Current DNR Northeast Iowa Fishing Report
Fishing Report for Week of May 6, 2007
Upper Iowa River is in great shape. I fished East of Decorah at the Lower Dam and the mouth of Canoe Creek Sunday morning. The smallies were not on the crankbait bite but they did really like the ringworm presentation. Dark colors were the ticket or dark bodies with bright tails. The biggest fish was a good impersonation of a football. I did catch this fish on a Firetiger Shad Rap (#5) but the rest of my fish were all on jigs (1/16oz). Shallow water with rock substrate also seemed to be key to success. Reports have been good from the big river and I have yet to hear of someone who had a bad day trout fishing. It would be a great time to have a week vacation. Good Luck to all.
Current DNR Fishing Report for first Week of May, 2007
Mississippi River Reports in the backwaters north of Lansing have been tremendous. Walleyes on crankbaits, it does not get much better than this type of bite. Hungry fish that smash cranks, wow, that's awesome fishing. Stripped Bass are also on the prowl. Have fun and fish hard.
Fishing Report for Week of April 29, 2007
My real job and family obligations didn't allow me to gather any first hand information to provide. I did get first smallie of the year reports on the Upper Iowa River and first mushrooms of the year. As soon as I get more information I will pass it on, until then good fishing.
Current DNR Fishing Report for Week of April 24, 2007
Fishing Report for Week of April 22, 2007
We will start with the Upper Iowa River. I checked out spots on or near the River Road Sunday afternoon. I used soft plastics like ringworms and Shad Rap crankbaits. Fishing was mighty slow but the day was very nice and made up for the lack of fish. The big river is in transition and we are about a week away from the running slough, walleyes on sand bite. That's a great 4-8 weeks when they slap on the feed bag and fit into about every possible niche that has flowing water. Trout fishing is excellent. I stopped in the Highlandville Store today and got real good reports on both North and South Bear. Both streams looked tremendous and with minimal vegitation growing on the stream bank it makes for fun angling. The hot bait is pictured below. I believe it's called a, "Skunk" Rooster Tail spinner. I bought the one pictured below at the store. They sell a lot of good fishing equipment and are very nice people to boot.
Current DNR Fishing Report for Northeast Iowa 4-17-07
Fishing Report for Week of April 15, 2007
The weather looks great for the next seven days. The trout streams are in perfect condition, the Upper Iowa is almost fishable and will be by the end of the week. The turkeys are gobbling like crazy and the days are just not long enough to do everything a person would like to get done. So instead of fishing this weekend I did some turkey hunting with the kids and burned prairies. All in all a good time was had by all, especially the young man pictured below.
Fishing Report for Week of April 8, 2007
Trout fishing is excellent. Stocking began on the public sections of streams. I've heard positive reports from North Bear and other streams in the northern part of the county. Lots of insect activity on the streams despite the cool weather conditions. I decided to try and fish some non-stocked waters on Easter afternoon after a family get together. Fish were aggressive and gave me an opportunity to try some different presentations. I caught all three trout species. The biggest being a 16" brown that is pictured on the home page. Water is clear but the flow is incredible. The fish have lots of spots to hide but the surface was turbulent and they could not see you very well. I fished spinners on the first pass and came back with a new bait. The SSR-5 Purpledescent Shad Rap was a real hit. The box says it will dive 3-6' but I have found that it will only dive 2-3' in current. I did lose a rainbow in the 20" range because of operator error on the retrieve but overall it was a great bait for the conditions. All fish were released so they could make the move from, "Nice Fish" to "Holy Cow thats a big fish!!"
Fishing Report for Week of April 1, 2007
Conditions are awesome and fishing is tremendous. (April Fools) Streams were really starting to look good towards the end of last week and expectations of excellent fishing were abounding. Mother Nature silenced that with a lot of rain north and west of Decorah. Hopefully we will have a quiet week of weather after Monday's anticipated storms. If we do have quiet weather, all trout streams should be in good condition for the Easter weekend. I've attached a link for the float at the Genoa Dam. Their most recent report had slow fishing. They do have a great picture of a 12lb hawg walleye that was released. Mississippi River reports finally turned positive on Friday from Red Wing, MN. Improving water clearity helped the bite at Red Wing and hopefully will improve the bite in our neck of the woods.
DNR Begins Walleye Netting for Interior Rivers
The hours are long, the work is hard and the weather is often lousy. But the effort by Iowa DNR fisheries crews who started collecting adult walleye last weekend is appreciated by anglers across the state. Anglers know that chances are, any walleye caught from a lake or river that is not the
fish-collecting efficiency,” she said. Muhm uses a combination of water temperature and length of daylight to select dates for the collection. As the dates get closer, she collects a sample of walleyes to determine when it would be most productive for the crews to start netting. The crews will start netting
pulled. Muhm will also collect muskies and northern pike for the same purpose, but only a few muskies are required to meet
which they came. The eggs are fertilized, then sent added to the incubators at
For more information, contact Muhm at 712-336-1840, Clouse at
641-647-2406, Wahl at 641-357-3517 or Miller at 712-657-2639.
Fishing Report for Week of March 25, 2007
I will start with Trout fishing reports. The quality of land management practices in a stream's watershed will have a drastic impact on water conditions. Trout river and Canoe Creek for example are both stained to dirty with a large volume and large flow rate. Check out the National Weather Service link for rainfall updates and future rain events this week.
I did get the boat out and down to the big river on March 24, 2007. I had received reports from a local expert who had fished everything from the Genoa dam to Black Hawk Park on Friday and found the fishing to be slow. Water temperatures on Saturday afternoon were 44 degrees Fahrenheit in the channel and warmer in backwater areas. We did boat a few keepers on current breaks but found the fishing to be slow. (Picture above of 19" Male Walleye, 12' of water, west side, powerlines, Genoa) Jig and minnow, bucktails, sassy shad bodies, (Including goofy hooking them like they describe in the magazine IN-FISHERMAN ) ringworms, twister-tails, etc. All of these were used in order to solicit a bite. An observation I made on Saturday at Genoa was that the shore fisherman were catching more fish in 2-3' of water than we were in 10-12' of water. It's just real hard to pitch a ringworm to shore when the 50 people on shore are all firing lead back at you. Makes for some tense moments. With a warm forecast for most of the week it may be a great time to catch a few big walleyes. Please practice catch and release with the big females.
Fishing Report for Week of March 18, 2007
The Upper Iowa River is unfishable, trout streams are close to being fishable but will need the melt to slow down and limited rainfall to become fishable. The Mississippi River walleye report is short and sweet. Saturday was a great day to put the boat in the water but fishing success was limited. Guys I talked with fished Lynxville, Lansing, and Desoto with a couple of roughfish to show for all their time. All of us know that things are going to get better as water temperatures rise. Surface temperatures were 34F on Saturday. Good luck to those who get out fishing this week.
Update for week of March 11, 2007
Things went to south in a hurry. To big a melt too fast. The Upper Iowa River is not fishable. Trout River and Trout Run are very high and muddy. I have two large springs on my property that just went into hyper-drive late Tuesday and Wednesday. The level is triple what it was last week, while the flow could easily be 5-10 times greater. I'm hoping by Sunday things will have calmed a little. Good Ice conditions will be hard to find. Green Lake at Black Hawk State Park north of Desoto, Wisconsin has had good reports and will probably still have good ice on Sunday. If I find out more you will be the first to know.
Transition time is upon us in N.E. Iowa. You can still ice fish, trout fish, walleye fish on any river at this time. Enough of what you already know. Ice fishing is good for numbers but size seems to be a problem. I fished Lawrence Lake in Brownsville, Minnesota on Saturday and my partner and I caught 100 plus fish in four hours, but only kept four. Orange is a good color on that backwater of the Mississippi so we fished Purist, Rat Finkie's and other similar baits for bluegills and perch. We fished Little Cecils for crappies. Best bite for quality fish was/has been early and late. Ice is still 12" thick with some slush on top. Please be safe on the ice and check it daily. Once the tributary feeder streams start to have higher flows the big river ice conditions will degregrade quickly with rising water. This is a great time to catch big walleyes on the Mississippi. If and that is a big IF, the water stays steady or slowly rises and the main channel opens up fishing could be spectacular over the next week or two. The Upper Iowa river offers the same opportunities but a person can easily overfish and area if the fish are aggressive. Practicing catch and release on the big fish is a must. Jig and a minnow or jig and plastic or bucktails are all effective presentations. Good Luck.
Fishing Report for week of March 4, 2007
Let's begin with ice fishing. Reports from the big river suggest that the fish have not adjusted to changing conditions. I would expect that stable weather this week plus moderating pressure systems should allow the bite to improve. When we know more you will know more. I decided to give Trout fishing a try today (Sunday March 4) on Trout River (check out Trout fishing page if you don't know the location) and had some success. Before I get to the details on fishing, I must talk about equipment. The most important thing you can have with you is a pair of snowshoes. Oh my, the snow pack is knee high to hip high at most locations on my 5'11" frame. Hunting fish like I like to do is a very mobile outing. Today mobility was wishful thinking. My wife had snowshoes on and I did not so you know who could move and who was struggling. On to the fishing report. I used a Panther Martin (regular) with a gold blade and red spots to catch the fish pictured below. I only fished a couple of holes because fatigue was a factor in getting as far as I did. The fish were aggressive. The brown was released to get bigger and the rainbow is in the freezer awaiting a future meal.
Brown Trout on Panther Martin Spinner from Trout River.
Rainbow Trout on Panther Martin spinner from Trout River.
Fishing Report for week of Feb 25, 2007
This weeks fishing report may be lacking due to mother natures major butt kicking that we are enduring at this time. Time will tell if I can put a solid report together. If you're bored like me check out these sites for some cool fishing videos. In-Depth Angling put an ice fishing video together. If you have never seen the action under the ice when fish are tentative it's a great learning tool. Another site that has some cool fishing videos is RiverAngling.com. I did make down to the big river on Monday afternoon (2-26-07) to find the fishing to be very poor. The Lansing/New Albin area bite was very slow to non-existent. The amazing thing today was the amount of pressure the 20" of snow was placing on the ice. You would drill a hole and water would gush up out of the hole and flood the area you were planning on fishing. Really kind of cool to see in person. Pictures did not do justice to the event.
Fishing Report for week of Feb 19, 2007
Spent a little more time on the ice over the weekend and had some success. Great numbers of bluegills at times with sorting the name of the game to find keepers. Lots of fun had by kids an adults. With temperatures expected to rise this week fishing could get really good before this upcoming storm throws the bite off. The picture below is at Corwood located near New Albin, Iowa. Fishing reports up and down the river were fairly consistent. If you could see them you could catch them.
The two picture above tell the stories of the weekend. You can see from the baits pictured that a myriad of colors were effective as well as styles. All jigs pictured caught fish. The tent in the picture also proved to be a necessary tool for success. The fish would come up and nose the bait. If you could see them your success rate greatly improved. The reason for needing the tent was also to stay warm. If you look close you can see the guy on the left with the classic fish catching sign. Hand raised high with a fish coming out of the hole. Until next week, good fishing.