Introductions

[Rick]

Hey all,
I thought it might be nice for all to introduce waht part of the state your from and/or what lakes you like to fish.

I live in Southern MN about 5 minutes north of Clear lake IA. I fish the Faribault/Waterville lakes area. Of course I also get around the state of MN as well.

Be sure to e-mail and invite your friends to join in using the UBB e-mail this page to a friend feature in the top-left of this topic.

[Guest]

The name's Jake. I'm a homebuilder from Ames. I've a had a shack on Hickory Grove for a few years, but the hard water fishings been tough. Love going up North to MN and WI to fish. Have plans on fishing Brushy Creek and Okoboji here in Iowa and going to try some farm ponds that hold good summertime crappies. But my big mission this winter is to fish Clear Lake. Haven't done it before and with the parents buying a house up there, its a perfect opportunity. I know Rick plans on fishing it, but if there are any others out there who have information or want to give it a shot let me know.

Seeya on the hardwater.

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Jake

[Guest]

Hey, Guys my name is Nathan. I live in Johnston and work downtown Des Moines. Jake it sounds like you and I have the same mission! Glad to see someone else that I know has gotten the ice bug. I also used to fish Hickory Grove a lot, but your right about the crappie fishing has gotten tough over the last couple years. If we could get some good ice for a change that would help. I would love to try Brushy Creek this winter as well as Clear Lake. I've tried Clear Lake in the past but haven't had a lot of success. Hopefully that will change this year. I've got a couple nice unknown spots plugged in on the GPS so I think were golden! It's going to be much easier to get to the spots now with the new 4-Wheeler, let's just hope the snow doesn't get too deep. Otherwise Jake we might need to use your snowmobile. Have you got that fired up yet? Jake let me know when your heading up there, I'm always ready for an Ice outing. I haven't forgotten about a couple trips to Okoboji this winter either. I hope to get up there as much as possible. It's a lot of fun to do the site fishing thing. Another lake I plan on hitting harder this winter is Big Creek. I know in years past Big Creek hasn't been the kindest to a lot of icefisherman, but I think that the lake is coming back around and is going to be really good this winter. With the shad, dead and gone it's given most species the opportunity to thrive. Most noticeably the walleye population as well as the crappies. I truly believe that Big Creek is going to be a fantastic walleye fishery over the next 2-5 years. So keep your eye on it. Another Lake I want to get up to a few times this winter is Mille Lacs in Minnesota. The walleye fishing this past summer was crazy. Lots of limits and some guys boating over 50+ walleyes a day. I believe this fantastic fishing will continue well into the ice season. If you get the chance to get up there I think it is well worth it. Well that's kind of my game plan for this winter. It's nice to see a section dedicated to Iowa.

Bring on the ICE!!!

Nathan

[Guest]

Nice to see your on this site TurkeyNate, I mean WalleyeNate. I wouldn't mind giving Big Creek a try at all. Listening to all these Minnesotans talk about ice, gets me too excited. It'll be another month or two months till we get ice. Might have to make an early december trip up north. I know a bunch of guys that go up to ottertail one of the first couple weekends in december and fish on Rush Lake. Look forward to fishing with you guys this winter.

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Jake

[Maryjl]

HI Everyone, I'm one of the moderaters in the Gals Luv 2 Fish forum. I'm from Iowa also, but in the last few years all my fishing has been done in Minnesota. In the summer we spend most of our free time in Waterville Mn. Spent a lot of time as a child in Clear Lake Ia and have fished there most of my life. Also have fished a lot in Crystal Lake Ia. It was nice to see a forum for Iowa on here.
<><Mary><>

[Guest]

Maryjl, I have grandparents that have a farm not too far from Crystal Lake. It's right by the town of Woden. I've tried Crystal Lake a couple times but haven't had too much sucess. Has it gotten better lately? What do you fish for in there? I've heard there are some nice northern's as well as panfish. Aren't they planning to do a dredging project on crystal Lake soon? I would love to hear more about your experience at Crystal Lake as well as Clear Lake. It sounds to me that you are the pro on these two lakes. Any tips on how to fish these lake would be much appreciated. Thanks Mary.

WalleyeNate

[Maryjl]

WalleyeNate, Like I said in my post I haven't fished much in Iowa for the last 2 years. The last time I fished in Crystal we caught some good size crappies right of the jetty. Have caught many good size Northren by trolling along the north shore. Yes they are planning on dredging the lake. Seems that I heard it got put on hold for some reason. Not sure though. I'll ask my son in laws parents about it the next time I see them. They live in Crystal Lake. I know some people that fish in the Walleye turnament in Clear Lake every spring and I know they had good luck last year. Wish I could tell you more. Do you ever get to Silver Lake?
<><Mary><>

[Rick]

Hey all....
let's keeep her rolling...

New mmbers please report in

[Guest]

Hello All

I'm from Cedar Rapids, Ia Might have to drive to get on the ice any time soon.

Stick

[Rick]

Hey stickboyracing,
Great to see you on board. Keep us posted on your area. You do any river fishing?

[Guest]

Welcome new members. Glad to have you.

Can we have our goal post back now?

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MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/
click here

[herb]

Hi D-Man, glad to see ya drop down into Iowa now and then. I heard we are gonna replace the goal post.

[Guest]

Sounds good Herb, not like we need it now anyways. Hows the Rooster population down there these days?

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MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/
click here

[DickUrban]

I live in Urbandale, a suburb of Des Moines. I've been looking in on fishing Minnesota almost since it started. Nice to see an Iowa thread. We make 3-4 trips to Big Winni every winter but have done very little ice fishing in Iowa. I'll watch for your reports. I may have to give it a try.

[Guest]

Hi all-

I'm from Cedar Falls. Boy do I really have the itch. Been out in my garage for the last few weeks setting up and taking down my portable, wishing that cement was ice. The girlfriend thinks that I have a problem, but she just doesn't understand! Have big plans for Three Mile this year, since last year was such a bust. Would like make some more trips to the Great Lakes Region this year too. Had great luck on Trumbull last year. Keep me posted with the first sign of good ice, I'm ready to travel.

[herb]

D-man, to be honest I have no clue as to the pheasant population this year. It's been over 10 years since hunting them and just haven't kept up with the reports. We lost some CRP ground a while back so prolly didn't help em.
Try as I might, I just can't hunt and fish at the same time.

[Guest]

Hello everyone. I'm in the Cedar Rapids area, and fish mostly Pleasant Creek and Hannon Lake. I'd like to get to know Lake MacBride better....only been there a couple of times. Crappie and Sunfish are my primary targets on hard water.....Won't be long now....we are making some pretty good ice right now.....Fish On!

[icedog]

Hey everybody! Nice that we have a site that addresses the Iowa ice fishing scene and also the fact that we could use some help from our good friends up North! How about this for an offer: We will return the goal post when you send us a measley 1000 of those 10,000 lakes! Hehehe
I live in Marion and fish MacBride,P-Creek,Rathbun,3Mile,12Mile,Hawthorne,Lake Iowa,....well, OK, just about any body of water that someone says has fish in it! "Have auger will travel!" There has been some ice on the ponds lately...busy getting batteries charged and the tent repaired to be ready for that first outing. Will be at the St Paul Ice Show on Friday 12/6...got the dang Ice Fever again!
doggieduty