The Fishing Report: Where in Iowa Are the Fish Biting?

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issues a weekly fishing report on Thursdays. The weekly fishing report is compiled from information gathered from local bait shops, angler creel surveys, and county and state parks staff.

Closest to home is Saylorville Reservoir, which according to this report is offering up some great catches this weekend for you catfish enthusiasts.

Here are some central Iowa locations:  

Clear Lake
Channel Catfish - Fair: Channel catfish are being caught with live bait fished over the rock reefs.  Crappie - Fair: Panfish are entering summer patterns.  Some crappies are being picked up on minnows.  Walleye - Fair: Walleye are being caught while drifting with live bait over rock reefs and in the west end of the main basin in 8 to 10 feet of water.  Yellow Bass - Fair: Anglers are picking up some yellow bass while drifting live bait and cut bait in 8 to 10 feet of water around rock reefs and in the west end of the main basin. Note: The boat ramps at McIntosh Woods State Park and Ventura Access (Lynn Lorenzen Park) on Clear Lake have reopened after workers installed concrete pad extensions to eliminate scour holes that developed at the end of the ramps.

Big Creek Lake
White Bass - Good: Anglers wanting to target white bass should fish the upper end and the beach area casting crankbaits or top water poppers.  Trolling small jigs has also been effective.  Work the windblown shoreline on breezy days.  Bluegill - Good: Decent bluegill fishing success is coming from fishing crawlers over the brush piles or drifting over the roadbeds.  Bluegill can also be caught fishing the edges of the deeper weed beds at many locations along the west shoreline as you work south of the west boat ramp.

Lake Ahquabi
Bluegill - Good: Good size bluegill can be caught drifting deeper water or fishing a small worm under a bobber near trees in deeper water.  Largemouth Bass - Fair: Throw spinner baits and crankbaits around the jetties or other rock shorelines.  Crappie - Good: There is a good population of nice sized crappie that can still be caught by drifting small jigs and minnows near deep water and over the deep brush piles.

Red Rock Reservoir
Channel Catfish - Good: Channel catfish can be caught right now near any rock structure using cut baits, stink baits, or crawlers.  White Bass - Good: White bass fishing has picked up with the heat.  Troll lipless or shallow diving crankbaits to find the schools.  Crappie - Fair: Some good size crappie are being caught casting or trolling small crankbaits near rocky points and wind sheltered coves.

Saylorville Reservoir
Channel Catfish - Excellent: Good sized channel cats are being caught drifting cut baits.  The old river channel north of the mile long bridge is a good starting point.  White Bass - Good: The white bass are active are can be caught around the Cherry Glen and Sandpiper areas using spoons, lipless and squarebill crankbaits.

Greenfield Lake
Bluegills and crappies can be caught drifting and around cedar tree piles.  Channel Catfish - Fair: Channel catfish are being caught around the jetties using shrimp. Bluegill - Fair: Drift open water with small jigs to catch 7 to 8-inch fish.  Largemouth Bass - Fair: Spinner baits and plastics are catching largemouth bass along the dam and jetties. Most fish are 12 to 15 inches. Crappie - Fair: Crappies are being picked up in the brush piles using minnows.

Lake Anita
Aquatic vegetation is abundant because of the good water clarity. Water temperature is 78 degrees.  Bluegill - Fair: Bluegill spawn is over. Anglers need to fish open water brush piles and drift for 8 to 9-inch bluegills.  Largemouth Bass - Good: Anglers are having success fishing shallow coves with spinner baits and a slow retrieve. Fish are between 14 and 19 inches.   Crappie - Fair: Crappies are being caught vertical jigging the brush piles using minnows.

Rathbun Reservoir
Channel catfish angling is good entering the spawning season.  Look for large numbers of channel cat along rocky habitat.  Sometimes bait suspended just over the rocks seems to provide the best success.  The Bridgeview area is one of the best producers from a boat.  Walleye fishing continues but is somewhat slow.  Live bait drifted over points and humps, especially in the island view and along the north shore seems to be paying off the most.