Upper Iowa River

[RowShow]

Has anyone had any experience fishing the Upper Iowa River for smallies? Or in general?

Me and a couple guys are heading to the Decorah area to trout fish next weekend, but thought we might try the river out some afternoon for a change of pace.

[delmuts]

i have never fished it( even though i don't live that far from it), but just a note that right now the rivers and streams are up and kind of dirty due to the rain.

[RowShow]

I was afraid of that...

Looks like more rain coming as well.

[delmuts]

as a fall back plan; if you do come up to that area. ther e is a small lake by calmar( i think ) or decorah called meyers( meiers) although i haven't fished it. the guys i talk to say there are plenty of crappies( you'd have to sort for size) gils and lgm bass. they say shore fishing is good.

[Ron Burgundy]

What's it like now? Ankle deep? How much is an out of state license down there?

[delmuts]

ron. i can't givce you any reports from there. with the heat the waters are truning green with algae. water levels should be ok, but low. for prices ; go to the iowa dnr web site . they have them posted there.

[delmuts]

i forgot to add; sunday(?) we got 3/4 in. of rain. as of this morning i would guess we got another 1/2 -3/4.

[picksbigwagon]

if the water comes down, you can try the lower dam area east of decorah. Another place to try is the Turkey River in Cresco by the golf course. you have about 3 miles of river to walk down that will hold walleyes, northerns and smallies.......if the water is down, you will love this walk in trip.....there is a bridge down from the main lake outlet at the golf course where you can walk up instead of down stream...ask at Ozzie's outdoors in decorah, (right by the airport), they'll steer you in the right direction.....

My out of state license and trout stamp was $53.50.....in minnesota, that would run me about 37....Hmmmmm, maybe we should start jacking our fee's up like every other state. Put in an in state walleye opener and then three weeks later put in a out of stater opener. See how those people from the Dakota's feel....anyway, try those streams and locations. As far as trout, if you hit French creek, it usually clears up pretty quickly, as does Waterloo.....those are my two favorite places to go......

Good Luck and post an update on how you did

[Ron Burgundy]

I'm canoing the Upper Iowa and camping in Bluffton. I was just going to cast a few times on that stretch. Just a family camping trip with a little fishing to pass the time in the canoe.