Iowa River Smallmouth and Northern

[JIvers]

Went out fishing on the Iowa River in Johnson County again this AM--caught some channel cat and small walleye. I also caught and released several nice smallmouth, and a hammer handle Northern.

This spring and summer, I have been catching more smallies and Northern around Iowa City than in the past--it is probably due to last summer's floods bringing them down from northern Iowa. In the past, I would get maybe a dozen smallies per year around Johnson County, and a Northern every other year or so. On one outing this May, I released over a dozen smallies in a couple hours.

The Northern are presumably all stocked fish, so I think they will be a short-term thing. I know the IDNR does not stock smallmouth in rivers, so I am hoping our SE Iowa smallies will establish a better population around here, if the water conditions and angling pressure permit. (People found the spot where I caught a dozen smallie in one trip, and HAMMERED those fish.)