Be in Decorah soon

[Aquaman01]

Hi. I'm Rob and I'm gonna be your new neighbor...in a couple of months or so. My wife is finishing her nursing degree at Luther and bringing me and the kids (7, 5, 1.5) with her.

I'm leaving behind the Upper Mississippi (upriver from the navigation channel) as my favorite place to fish. I never developed a big fondness for still water - I like current.

I'm looking for a Pool 9 guide, actually. My wife is giving me a guide trip for my 40th birthday and I figure that a day of know-how on Pool 9 would be beneficial.

Anybody ideas?

[picksbigwagon]

truthfully contact cabelas in Praire Du Chein, they will be able to help you.....Welcome to North East Iowa, I love that part of the midwest and you will too......Get a hold of my friend Kev, in Calmar, he posted on your other posting, he will fish you under the table, which is not hard for that little runt .......

Spring time is awesome on the ol' miss. good thing there won't be much run off this spring from snow melt. AND, Iowa doesn't have seasons, walleye's are open year round...

[Aquaman01]

Picks -

Thanks a lot! I never thought of checking with Cabelas. I'll surely do that. I'd love to fish with Kev, or any locals who are willing to spend some time with an outlander. My kids love the idea of a river flowing right through town and being able to fish it on a moment's notice.

Dad is really, really looking forward to the Iowa regs!! Two lines, sunnies for bait, transportable crawdads, no closed seasons on walters or pike, channel cats are a sportfish (not a borderline rough fish), two lines, cast nets & seines, two lines, etc....

Thanks!

[picksbigwagon]

I'll keep you in mind this summer if I get a day off from Daddy Day Care to go fishing with Kevin. He has some pretty great small mouth spots too......Mabe's Pizza is not the greatest pizza in the world, but everyone down there sure seems to think so.......

Tom Pickett

[Aquaman01]

Daddy Day Care sounds like a heck of a gig! I'll kinda be doing that - homeschooling the two oldest during the day, working at night.

Yer right...Mabe's pizza didn't knock me outta my seat, but Sabor Latino was GREAT! A Mexican lunch buffet!?! I was in heaven! The buffet at the Chinese place is pretty good, too.

[supserdave]

[Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting again]

Sorry no links.

I've heard good things about Hutch.

[picksbigwagon]

Not much of a gig, but my boys will be spending alot of time with me in the boat

[Darin Ingalls]

Well besides some great fishing on the Big River you will have some outstanding trout fishing all around you. I would check out North and South Bear Creeks as well as Waterloo that flows through Dorchester. Look for some of your deeper runs and pools to throw small inline spinnerbaits, raps, and plastics. Remember to cast upstream and bring the bait downstream or cross current. As the fish will be positioning themselves facing upstream. Also your more active fish will be at the head of a run or pool so try to fish that first. They also can spook very easily so use caution and approach quitely and slowly at a lower angle. And give the fly-rod a try, I found nymphs to be a a bigger fish approach.. Whats nice about much of this water is you can fish it from shore with only a few crossings in knee deep water. Trout fishing reminds me alot of working some of the shallow parts of the upper Miss near Big Lake for smallies. Enjoy!

[juggs]

I grew up in Decorah and cut my fishing teeth on pool 9, the Upper Iowa and the local trout streams. So depending on what you're looking for I can probably help a little. Mabe's was my first job. Spent some of my best years there.

[picksbigwagon]

Juggs, at least you got out. The guy who was making pizza's in the back when I was in High School is still back there making pizza's, that was almost 20 years ago.....

[juggs]

That's what we call a "lifer." I'm sure I know who he is. We put in a lot of hours together.

[picksbigwagon]

what year did you get out of Decorah High School? I graduated from Waukon in 1988........

[juggs]

Managed to graduate in 1980. So I got you by a few years.

[Aquaman01]

Well, I'm pretty much in Decorah, now. What to do tomorrow...let's see...look for work?, get my library card?, mow the lawn?, organize the shop? Oh..oh...wait!! I think I'll take my new fishing license to Upper Dam and see what happens! Yeah, THAT'S the ticket!

[picksbigwagon]

Actually, I am not sure what you will catch at the upper dam at this time of the year. It is river fishing so you could anything from a trout to a carp.....when you get some free time, head to the turkey river as it comes out from the impoundment (lake) by the Cresco country club. it is a down stream walk, but you won't be disappointed in the smallmouth and walleyes either

[Aquaman01]

Thanks! Upper Dam gave me nothing, but the kids liked catching creek chubs and suckers.

[WxGuy]

Aquaman,

Welcome to the Driftless Area!

There really is a bunch of stellar trout fishing around you, some put-and-take that'll make it easier on the kiddos, and some good wild trout water too. I know it's there, but I can't tell you from experience where to go as I tend not to wander across the border. Talk to some of the locals and check out information from the Iowa DNR, and you could probably find great trout fishing closer than the Ol' Miss.

Also, across the Mississippi into SW WI is great for trout, and a jaunt up into Houston County and the rest of SE Minnesota would be good for you too.

Good luck!

[delmuts]

don't over look meyers lake by calmar.( it has bass and panfish) you have a good numbers of small river areas that can be fished, and if you don't mind traveling a ways?( maybe 30 mi.?) we have volga lake.( south of westunion) they you hav bass, panfish.( gils,crappies, and perch) plus catfish.

[Aquaman01]

Thanks a lot, guys! I'm gonna try to make it over to Pick's spot this afternoon.

[Aquaman01]

Aaaahhhhh! Thank you! Pick's spot gave up some nice smallmouth action as well as suckers and creek chubs (which The Boy enjoys sight-fishing).

Next week when the wife & kids are on vacation with Gramma I'm thinking about Lower Dam and finding a trail to the southwest side of it.

Once the alumibeater is legal I'll try out those lakes as well as the Missy.

[picksbigwagon]

How far downstream did you walk? there are some big northerns in there as well....If you walk down a ways, like 15 minutes of walking or so, you will come to a bluff that runs for about 200 yards on one side of the river.....it is pretty deep there so you will need to use some lake techniques, but My buddy pulled 5 walleyes out of a tree snag/under cut bank no bigger than a kitchen table. The walleyes don't always stay deep, but find the deeper eddy's and washouts..... Check the laws but if your car still has MN plates, your boat should be good in IA as long as it was licensed this year, call the local DNR, they'll help you out