fishing reports Iowa River Fishing Reports--Johnson County

[JIvers]

After taking a couple weeks off I fished the river in Johnson County again this morning. I got a few white bass as it got light out (and the skies to the west got darker). A loud clap of thunder was followed by rain, and that was the cue for the fish to start biting. I had to decide: take shelter, stay dry, and avoid the lightning, or fish?

I got a little wet, but it was worth it. For maybe ten minutes the white bass and walleye went on a binge--the best fish I caught was an 18" walleye--I will add a picture when I can.

The little binge lasted about ten minutes, and then it was done before that rain shower was. I didn't get another hit in the half hour I stayed beyond that.

[JIvers]

The hit-or miss fishing on the Iowa continues--I hit a spot in Johnson County three times in the last week: one day I caught nine or ten white bass and a couple crappie in the morning. The next morning, with the same water levels and weather, I got one small walleye. Yesterday, nada.

The river is supposed to stay low, and the weather is supposed to finally stay fall-like, so I think things will be more consistent soon enough. A little rain and a small boost in flow might help too.

[JIvers]

I finally heard some good reports from below the dams in Coralville and Iowa City--decent walleye and some white bass--so I found time to go out and check the river in town this morning.

With the river up about a foot over the last couple days, I fished downstream a bit from one of the dams in a slackwater spot. I went with crawlers on one line, and shiners on the other.

The crawlers worked better in the dirty water, and I ended up catching six or seven channel cat, ranging from "fiddler" through "pond-stocker" to a couple decent eaters. I also caught some runty bluegills, and my first sheepshead of the year. No walleye or white bass.

I talked to some guys who fished right up at the dam, and no one there was catching anything. I think the rapid change in water level was to blame for that, but the increased flow should lead to better fishing. The surface temps on a cloudy cool morning were 55-56 degrees, so the walleye spawn should be done, with the post-spawn bite ready to go.

[JIvers]

There is a good bite on the Iowa River...if you like numbers rather than size.

I fished an off-current area below the res. again tonight, and caught a lot of fish: channel cat, sheepshead, bluegill, white bass, crappie, and spotted bass. Live bait worked very well, with crawlers producing most of the fish.

I caught this little spotted bass in the exact same spot a few days ago. I recognized him because of the marks where something big tried to eat him:

This is one of the white bass I got. Most of them were small males or juvenile fish:

Lots of these small catfish:

They weren't all dinks: dropping a shiner around rocks and brush produced the spotted bass and crappie, including this nice 11" fish:

I got one little walleye, too. I heard the walleye bite below the dams around IC continues to be slow; I think enough rain to raise the water a foot or two would help a lot.

[JIvers]

It's mid-April, and I finally got my first decent Iowa River walleye of the spring this morning:

We've had cold temps and high air pressure over the last week, and while I didn't been bring my thermometer this morning I bet the water was five degrees or more colder than the mid-fifties it was at last week. Not surprisingly the bite was slower than when I was out last Friday. Besides the 15" walleye, I got a couple small channel cat, a few white bass, and some bluegills.

The forecast for the Coralville area calls for warmer temps and rain, which should help the fishing on the river. I'm also hoping that this year's morel season isn't pretty much over down here.

[JIvers]

The post-spawn walleye bite seems to be starting around Coralville--with the weather holding off I got out on the Iowa River again this morning, and caught some fish. This morning I brought home a 14" walleye, a nice eater channel cat, and a couple of white bass that swallowed the bait:

I threw back some more white bass, some bluegills, and a couple of small walleye. Along with the 15" walleye I got a couple days ago, these are male fish or juvenile females, who start hitting very soon after the spawn wraps up. The bigger adult females should join them shortly.

The surface temp this morning was 53.5 degrees, which is a little warmer than I expected. I almost didn't bring some fresh-caught wild shiners with me, but I'm glad I did: the walleye and channel cat hit on them, while the white bass and bluegill were caught on nightcrawlers. Up until today, nightcrawlers were working better for me.

[JIvers]

The white bass bite is on on the Iowa River.

With water levels dropping over the last few days and the Macbride crappie bite oddly slow, I went out on the river by Coralville at 5:45 this morning. When I left at 7:30 I'd caught probably twenty white bass, who are in full spawning mode.

I'd have stayed and caught more, but I was out of the preferred live bait. When you've seen one 14" or 15" white bass you've pretty much seen them all, but here are a couple pictures anyway:

The white bass preferred wild shiners, but I caught a few on crawlers. The sheepshead have started biting, too. I only got one small channel catfish, and no walleye. I didn't try any artificials, but I think I will bring some in-line spinners and swim baits with a light spinning rig next time.

[JIvers]

It was a good multi-species morning on the Iowa River today.

For future reference, the orange set of pliers that show up in a lot of my pictures in the Iowa River thread are just shy of 6" long when fully closed.

I have a tape measure in my shore-fishing pack, but it is small, and the numbers do not show up well in photos. So most of the time I just put the pliers in my shore-fishing photos.

Anyhow, here is a 14" walleye I got this morning on a wild shiner; the walleye fishing on the river around Coralville continues to be spotty for me:

I caught quite a few channel cat, although none were huge. Here is a 17" I kept for dinner; I released a couple others about this size, along with the smaller ones:

I caught an 11" crappie on one line, and no sooner reeled it in than I got another bite on my other rig, which turned out to be a 15" wiper:

Not five minutes before the wiper and crappie, I had a Northern of 25" or so hit my shiner. I got a good look at him, and even got a hand on him, but then he snipped my line and was gone. I get one or two Northern a year out of the river here, and this one that got away may have been my Iowa River pike for 2012.

Some sheepshead and bluegills rounded out the morning. I also had a mallard hen and her clutch cruise by me:

The hot white bass bite of a week or two ago has died down; the wiper was the only fish of that group I got today.

[JIvers]

I've been in a bit of a mid-June funk around Coralville--the channel cat and flathead are spawning, the white bass bite on the river has died down, and the crappie and walleye on Macbride have been few and far between the last couple times I was out there.

Things were a little better on the Iowa River this morning--no walleye, but the channel cat were biting a little better. I kept a 14", a 16", and a 17", shown below:

These fish, and the other channel cat I threw back, were caught on fresh, smashed wild shiners. Live shiners didn't get much attention, probably because the smell of smashed fish carried well in the muddy water. Crawlers got some bluegills and a small white bass.

The channel cat I got were in good shape, not skinny or beat up, were not caught right on rock, and did not have eggs or milt in them. The 17" was the largest, which makes me think they were spawned out females, or more likely juvenile fish that did not take part in the spawn.

The catfish spawn should be winding down soon, at which point I'll start catching large, skinny, big-headed "blue" male channel cat with a lot of battle scars. I'll also start getting large flathead.

As an aside, I drove past the Burlington Street Dam yesterday, and there were probably a dozen people fishing right below the dam on the west side. A couple weeks ago a local TV station did a feature on (pre-spawn) flathead fishing there, and I obviously wasn't the only person who saw it.

http://www.kcrg.com/sports/greatoutdoors/Flatheads-in-the-Urban-Outdoors-157368775.html

That is a good spot, but I haven't fished it in years because it's often crowded, and always snaggy. There are other less snaggy and less crowded spots in the area. Maybe I'll get the "eighty or ninety pound" fish that got away in the video at one of those places.

[JIvers]

I hit the Iowa River again a bit this morning in a spot where I had a Northern snip my line at shore a month or so ago. Well, I may have caught her this morning, although I think the one I lost was a little bigger than the 24" Northern I caught on a wild shiner this morning:

This pike still had eggs in her, but given that it is June and the water temps are probably in the mid-eighties I am sure they were just waiting to be re-absorbed. I probably won't catch another Northern in Johnson County until 2013.

Aside from the toothy I caught a few eater-sized channel cat and some bluegills. The catfish came on shiners or chubs, and the bluegills on crawlers.

The river, BTW, is as low as I have ever seen it in June. If it drops much more I will be able to access some areas that are normally only good in the fall and winter. That wouldn't be bad, but I would prefer to see some rain.

[JIvers]

I had a decent morning on the Iowa; the best fish I landed was this crappie. She still had eggs in her, which goes along with reports I've heard that many crappie around here may have skipped the spawn this year. If so, that may make for a couple lean years on Macbride...

There were plenty of these out this morning, so I was glad I brought lots of shiners:

I took home a 15" channel cat to go with the crappie, and threw back some bluegill and small channel cat along with the gar. I lost my best fish of the morning, a walleye of 18" or so, that threw the hook at water's edge. First walleye I've seen around here in a few weeks.

I didn't get any bigger channel cat or flathead, but I started fishing right before sunrise, which is just past their preferred time of day. I also wasn't using especially large baits.

I would think the catfish spawn is mostly done around Coralville, so it may be time to get some big chubs and green sunfish and hit the river well before sunrise or after sundown.

[JIvers]

The night bite has been good on the river near Coralville. Lots of eating sized channel cat hitting fresh cut bait or crawlers, with occasional other fish mixed in. Last night, I got two of those elusive Iowa River walleye around midnight. One was 17", and the other was a very skinny 15". I also took home three channel cat, and threw back quite a few more:

Both walleye hit on small green sunfish, which I've found over the years to be a surprisingly good walleye bait in the summer on the river here. They catch more walleye than do long, soft-finned baits like shiners, suckers, or chubs. My theory is that a small sunfish struggling on a hook looks a lot like a small shad, which are the main forage fish in the Iowa River.

I'm getting my fish in an area that is normally good for flathead this time of year, but with the very low water levels I may need to look elsewhere for them. I've gotten a couple smaller flathead after dark, but not the bigger fish I am looking for.

[JIvers]

I've hit one of my favorite low-water fall-fishing spots on the Iowa River a couple times in the last week; so far, the autumn bite has not really developed.

I've caught a few white bass tossing crankbaits, but no walleye or wiper. No luck with plastics, but those are better later in the year when the water temp drops down in the fifties, and we are not there yet. I did pick up this 23" flathead a couple days ago when he smacked a blue/gray crankbait just before sunrise:

Most of the fish I caught came on the second line with live bait: that caught a mix of channel cat, sheepshead, redhorse, bluegills, spotted bass, and crappie, but there was not a single remarkable fish in the bunch.

Showing that we have a little time yet before the fall bite gets underway, crawlers out-produced shiners and chubs.

I'm hoping the very low water we've had all summer, and in to the fall, is not going to hurt the fall walleye and wiper bite by making it too difficult for good numbers of fish to migrate upstream.

[JIvers]

Another slow morning on the Iowa this week.

Still no walleye. Just a few white bass, sheepshead and crappie.

The weather has since turned cool, and I still hope that gets things going, but I am starting to think this will be a slow fall for fishing on the river, probably due to the low water of the last few months. It makes it harder for gamefish and baitfish (I haven't snagged a shad yet) alike to move upstream to their usual fall territory below the dams.

But who knows--I may go out next week and limit out on walleye on the river.

[JIvers]

I've been out on the Iowa River below the Coralville Tube twice in the last two weeks--the first was almost two weeks ago, when the water was still high, very cold, and very dirty. I didn't catch anything except a snagged carp that I didn't actually land, and under those conditions I wasn't expecting much anyhow.

Last weekend, with the water lower, more stable, and at least a little warmer (I forgot my thermometer), I was expecting to catch something, as the white bass should be showing up, but I only had one hit on a minnow, and missed the hookset. The walleye and white bass bite will pick up soon, though.

Since my last three outings down here since the ice went out--two on the Iowa River plus a trip to Macbride--produced zero fish, I decided that with tonight's great weather I was going to catch something. So I headed to a nearby pond with some leftover waxworms and caught some bluegills in the shallow water at the south end of the pond. Most were tiny, like the first picture, but I did catch a few 8" sunnies as well. All were thrown back--I was just happy to catch some fish on a nice afternoon.

[JIvers]

I hit some high water spots on the Iowa River early this morning, with no success. The surface temps there were just below fifty degrees, with very dirty water. The high water should get fish moving upstream, so I anticipate better fishing soon when the water warms up, but that did me no good today.

Needing to catch something, I went and hit a local pond for some bluegills. The fish there were no longer hugging the shallow wind-blown side, but still wanted the cold water bait of choice: waxworms. I kept enough bluegill for a meal, and tossed back a couple of small bass. This pond, which has a few green sunfish, also kicks out bluegill-green sunfish hybrids, although whether those are natural or stocked by the city I don't know. Here are a couple pictures of the hybrid: the first shows the hybrid markings, and the second the larger, more green sunfish-sized mouth.

[JIvers]

I finally had some success on the Iowa River this morning, now that the water levels have stabilized and the temps finally warming up.

It was not a great outing, but I caught quite a few bluegill and green sunfish, with a few white bass and crappie mixed in. Had I kept all the eaters, I would have had a meal. As it was I threw them all back. I am still looking for my first Iowa River walleye of the winter spring, but at least I kept busy catching fish.

Since I must be a little bit of a masochist, I am going to try Macbride out in the morning if the wind dies down. The water has cleared there somewhat, and I am told what crappie are in there are ready to spawn. According to the Iowa DNR fishing report http://www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/FishingReports.aspx , the walleye bite is "slow", but with the water warming up in to the sixties the crankbait bite should be under way sooner or later. That's what I tell myself, anyway.

[JIvers]

The weather didn't cooperate, so I couldn't get back out on Macbride last weekend for more walleye. So I hit one on my high water spots on the Iowa River for an hour or so this morning.

The green sunfish seem to have taken over this spot, where I've hardly ever caught one before this spring. I did catch this nice-looking hybrid sunny along with them--I think the color turned out pretty well in this picture:

I also got a nice channel cat of 17" or so, which made for a good meal tonight. Still no walleye action on the Iowa this spring...

[JIvers]

Between moving and perpetual overtime at work I have not fished the Iowa River near as much as I would like: I have not made a single flathead fishing trip yet, and summer is nearly over.

I hope to get out a bit this week, and have a tank full of chubs and small bluegills for that purpose. In the meantime, here is an eater-sized channel cat from July I got on the Iowa:

[JIvers]

I hit the Iowa River around sundown and sat for a couple hours tonight. Low, hot water, and rather slow fishing for the most part.

This was my biggest flathead of the evening:

As I packed up to go, I reeled in my last line. It had a large chub on it. Instead of slack line, something was sitting on the other end. A few minutes later, this is what I brought to shore:

I've seen one muskie caught out of the Iowa below Coralville res., and heard of others, but this is the first muskie I've gotten in the river. It was about 32". I had to rush the picture and the release, as the water was as warm as bathwater, so the quality of the picture isn't the best.

[JIvers]

I took a break from catching crappie above the Coralville dam to see how things were going below the res. on the river in Iowa City this morning. I hit up one of my favorite spring and fall low water spots that I had not tried yet this year.

My first fish, as it was just getting light out, was a 16" walleye that smacked a shad-colored crankbait. A good start to the day.

That ended up being the only walleye I caught, but the white bass and wiper more than made up for it. I caught a few on various artificial baits, but the wild shiners and chubs I was using were the hot option. The size of the whites and wipers this morning was better than those I was getting on Coralville res. earlier in the week, with this 18" wiper the largest I got:

I probably caught and released fifty fish in two hours or so, including a couple of smallmouth bass, both under 12" in length. The bite died only when the sun finally came out from behind the clouds and hit the water.

[JIvers]

Last weekend's trip to the Iowa River below Burlington Street yielded nothing. That did not surprise me, as the water was still cold, and the flow very low for early spring.

This morning on the Iowa, the surface temperature was 55 degrees at sunrise, and I hoped the walleye and white bass would be more cooperative. They weren't. I saw one nice 17" walleye caught, but no others--the spawn may be under way, of course, but I think the low water levels have made it difficult for fish to migrate upstream to their usual spawning areas.

That goes for white bass, too. Usually by this time of year in Iowa City and Coralville the white bass are ridiculously easy to catch on the river, but I did not see one caught today, and there were a lot of people out. I hope the rain coming the next couple days will raise the water level on the Iowa River by a foot or two, and jeep it there for a little while.

On the plus side, I did catch a small crappie, a small largemouth, and small channel catfish, which made me the only person I saw who caught more than one fish.

[gloomiseye]

Sounds like conditions are very similar to what we have with the Des Moines right now.

[JIvers]

The increased flow this past week and warmer temps made for better fishing this morning--if you like sheepshead and small channel catfish. Plenty of them biting this morning on the Iowa River. I also caught a few crappies, but not enough to get excited about. No walleye or white bass/wiper.

If the rain stays away in the morning I am going to try a different spot, one that turns on a little later in the spring than the areas right below the dams. If the forecast is right I won't be doing much fishing this week even if I could find the time to do so.

[JIvers]

I forgot to grab my boots when I left this morning, and boots are a must where I planned to go-mud-so I went back where I went yesterday below the dam at Burlington Street in Iowa City.

This morning, I did get in to a few white bass, catching four or five. They all hit on crawlers, not shiners or artificials. I suspect the dirty water has something to do with that. Plenty of sheepshead and small channel cat as well, but still no walleye.

If the weather forecast is right for the next week I'll soon get all the flow I want and then some on the rivers. Higher water will open up some other spots that work well later in the spring, too.