fishing reports Lake Macbride Fishing Reports

[kiowa]

Have fun checking all the info below and let's swap info. We'd hope to hear from you too.

 

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Anyone having any luck? I can attract fishing all night long but I can't get them to take the bait. I know a different lake from last year with the over flow from the Res and the water drop... but last winter if I saw them I would catch them.

[Lund1700Angler]

We are having the same problem as you, but moving around sometimes will produce fish. It is tough to move around on the lake with all the snow, especially when pulling a tent. The crappies that we are catching are quality 10-12" fish.

[kiowa]

Hey Lund, do have a aquaview? i've heard there are a lot carp in McBride because of the Res backflow, I was wondering if you have seen or heard the same thing

[Lund1700Angler]

Kiowa, No I don't have an aquaview and I haven't heard much about the carp, but I would assume that some probably came in with the res backflow.

[JIvers]

I have no doubt that the flooding last summer brought more carp (and shad) in to Macbride--but carp and shad were already there. Whether last summer's influx of carp will make a difference, i.e. cause problems, remains to be seen. The drawdown this winter may kill off most of the gizzard shad, who do cause problems in Macbride, but a few always survive and multiply rapidly.

On occasion people catch flathead catfish in Macbride--I got one myself a few years ago. I've been told that the flathead entered Macbride when the Iowa River backed up over the dam in 1993, though there may have been some in there before.

As far as fishing Macbride right now goes, I've not heard much of anything for a while. I've lived in IC for eight years, and my experience with Macbride is that the fishing goes in to a pretty good mid-winter slump, and we're probably well in to that slump now. A warm spell and/or a bit of rain to get the snow cover off the ice would help.

[Rick]

The lake is full and most docks are in at the boat ramps. The main lake water temperature is in middle 40s and the walleyes should be spawning very soon. However, no catches have been reported.

[st.crioxfishin]

Fishing is really picking up out there right now. The bass, panfish, and crappies are all shallow! I caught a good amount of bass out there this past friday mainly on swim jigs and weightless finesse worms. If your looking to get into some fish, give Macbride a try!

[JIvers]

I caught a lot of crappie (biggest 11.5") on Macbride last night, along with a couple walleye (one 14". one cigar) and a small wiper. These all came out of deeper water.

I forgot to grab my minnows when I went out the door, and by the time I realized it it would have taken too long to go back to town and get them. Luckily, the fish were hitting crankbaits.

[JIvers]

I was out on Macbride again this evening--the water temp climbed to sixty-five since Sunday. The crappie are definitely in spawning mode now, as most of what I caught came off shallow cover.

I kept seven crappie in the 8-10" range, along with a channel cat; the biggest crappie was a 12" I released. I tossed back quite a few crappie, another channel cat, and a spotted bass.

Once I'd had my fill of crappie I went back to looking for walleye. No success with them, but I caught a few more crappie in deeper water.

[Rick]

Lake Macbride

Water temperature is now in the upper 60s. Remember a 10 horsepower maximum is now in effect for Lake Macbride. Crappie - Good: The spawn is wrapping up. Some fish are still near the bank, while most fish have moved off to the flats or drop offs. Check around structure in these areas.

[Lund1700Angler]

I was wondering if anyone has any recent reports of the crappie bite on macbride. The bass are active in the shallows, picked up 12 working a wacky worm.

Thanks

[Rick]

Lake Macbride

Water temperature is now in the upper 60s. Remember a 10 hp maximum is now in effect for Lake Macbride.

Crappie - Fair: The spawn is over. Some fish are still near the bank, while most fish have moved off to the flats or drop-offs. Check around structure in these areas.

[JIvers]

I was out on Macbride last night--had not been there since the end of May. I caught a few crappies on minnows and crankbaits, but the bite was rather slow. There were many schools of small minnows (shad hatchlings?) swimming on the surface. Not surprisingly, what fish I caught came by fishing the edge of those schools, as larger fish were busting those schools up.

The water was clear, which in Macbride's case means no algae or pea soup.

[JIvers]

Went out on Macbride tonight for a few hours (targetting walleye and crappie), mostly because the bite on the Iowa River has been slow for me in the evenings these last couple weeks.

I was hoping things had picked up since my last time out on Macbride, but it was pretty slow. All I got tonight were a few small crappies.

There are still a LOT of minnows schooling on the surface and getting eaten by larger fish. I cannot get my boat quite close enough to the schools to say for absolute sure, but they look like shad. If there was a bumper shad hatch this summer, it does not bode well for fishing through this winter--too much bait in the water makes for tough fishing.

I am laying off Macbride until after Labor Day, when hopefully the baitfish have been thinned down a little.

[JIvers]

Took a drive out to Lake Macbride today to check ice conditions; here is what I found:

The lake iced over Wednesday night, so all the snow did not affect ice formation, except on some of the shorelines where it drifted, and made the ice right on shore mushy. There was about 2.5" of good clear ice at the main boat ramp just west of the swimming beach and boat rental place, once I got past the shoreline slush under the snow. That is not quite enough ice for me to go out far, but one brave soul headed out by himself without a spud bar on that 2.5" of ice.

There was also about 2.5" of clear ice south of the powerlines, and several guys fishing along the old roadbed. Again, I want another inch or so of good ice before I go far on that lake, which has some "booby traps", especially underneath the power lines.

I also saw one guy venturing out on the north arm, but I did not stop to check the ice there.

I am heading up to the Cities tonight for the Vikings game, and coming back Monday. Depending on the weather, I think I'll hit Macbride Tuesday or Wednesday, when there should be just a little more thickness than there is now.

[kiowa]

'eyehunter,

Thanks for the update, I live in Iowa City and its a 1/2 hour drive out there for me.

If you haven't been keeping tabs on the weather here I would wait and go out until we have had a couple more cold days and nights strung together. The temperature DID NOT get below freezing either last night or the night before.

I have never been able to get a straight answer out of anyone around here, but it seems like you know. Where is the sunken road at out there? I've heard 3 or 4 different locations.

I plan on heading out this weekend for sure, seems like the weather is going to cooperate for the next couple of days.

Hope you had fun at the game, it was good to see that the Vikings get back on track.

[JIvers]

"If you haven't been keeping tabs on the weather here I would wait and go out until we have had a couple more cold days and nights strung together. The temperature DID NOT get below freezing either last night or the night before."

I saw what some ponds in Johnson County looked like when I got back today (black ice! )and checked the weather reports for the weekend. I'm not going out on any ponds until Wednesday or Thursday. I was glad to see there was no accumulated snow around here; that'll help freeze things up quick now that it is turning cold again.

"I have never been able to get a straight answer out of anyone around here, but it seems like you know. Where is the sunken road at out there? I've heard 3 or 4 different locations."

The sunken road I am talking about runs south of the powerlines, along the east shore; there may well be others in Macbride. Some people call the area directly west of the submerged bridge under the powerlines on the east side the sunken road as well, which I suppose it is. Again, I was a little nervous seeing people that close to the powerlines this Saturday, as the ice right above the sunken bridge always takes a while to be safe.

[kiowa]

It seems there is a lot more structure under those power lines than I thought. I had no idea there was a sunken bridge, I have always seen a lot of people over there though, and heard that it was a good place. How do you know about all of that stuff, it's not listed on the DNR or other references on MacBride.

Thanks for your post.

[Lund1700Angler]

Stopped by Macbride today to check it out. Walked out from the north ramp on the north arm and drilled a few holes. 4-5" of good hard clear ice with no snow on top. Saw about 4 tents on the north arm. Drove into the park and saw about 5 trucks at the double ramp lot, but didn't get out to check ice thickness. Then as driving out of park saw about 5 tents under the power lines. Ice looked a little scary there. Ice under lines seemed ok and that was where the tents were, but not far away on both sides, looked like some large sections of black ice. I think I will let a little more build up there before venturing out.

Lund1700angler

[JIvers]

I have not been out to Macbride since last Saturday--I've been busy, and doing well in my spare time on bluegills in small ponds nearer to me than Macbride.

I may head up to Macbride tomorrow, as I have to pick my outboard up in Cedar Rapids anyway. Bluegills are nice, but I am hoping for some crappie, wiper, and walleye through the ice as well...

[JIvers]

I finally made it out to Macbride this afternoon; the snowfall caused some mushy ice along the shoreline, but once I got past the slush where the snow had drifted I found about 6" of good ice on the north arm.

The fishing was very slow for me. The eight-foot drawdown again this winter means a lot of the cover I have GPS'd is too shallow to hold fish, so I worked some of the deeper "community" structure I try to avoid for crappie. No luck at all with that, as I didn't even mark any fish.

I moved to some of the steep dropoffs to look for walleye, wiper, and crappie. I was able to pull fish off the bottom, but couldn't hook anything. I was travelling light and didn't have my Marcum with me, so I don't know what kind of fish were moving on the bottom, but I would bet walleye. My experience from when I do have my Marcum camera with me is that the walleye on Macbride in the winter will happily come up to check a bait, but will not hit it most of the time. I had a waxie on a bare hook down near the bottom, too, and I never had any hits on that, so I don't think the fish I was marking were bluegill, or crappie. Shad don't generally hold close to the bottom, and do not react to artificial lures.

I went home empty-handed, but at least I got out before the rain/sleet/snow hits. I've done very good on ponds for bluegill so far this winter, so one bad day isn't a big deal.

[Rick]

The lake has been lowered approximately 8 feet for equipment access to shorelines and islands for another riprap project. However, after last weeks rain and melting, the lake has come up 2 to 3 feet. The edges can be in poor condition, so use caution when getting on and off the ice. Crappie - Good: It is hit or miss here. Some anglers are catching limits of 10 to 12 inches, while others are zeroing. Try around deeper brush or suspended over deep water. Wiper (Hybrid Striped Bass) - Slow: A few anglers have picked up a bonus wiper. Move around looking for schools of shad and then drop down a spoon into the school.

[st.crioxfishin]

There will be another riprap project on the lake this winter. The lake has been lowered approximately 8 feet for equipment access to shorelines and islands.

Good ice fishing for Bluegills. Ice Fishermen have been picking up bluegills on jigs and wax worms. Fish near the bottom around structure. Most fish are 5 to 7 inches.

Fair ice fishing for Crappies. Fish structure in the 10 to 15-foot range. A jig or small spoon tipped with a wax worm is best. The fish have been nice sized (many 10 to 12 inches).

Have fun.

[JIvers]

I haven't been out to Macbride in quite a while, but from what I hear people are still picking up a lot of white bass and some wiper near the deep drop-offs on the south arm. It's fun fishing, but usually crowded, and I don't like fishing in crowds if I can help it.

Sounds like the crappie fishing has been rather slow out on Macbride, too. Some people say they are still picking up walleye here and there. I might go out there this weekend and get away from the crowds to see how I do.

[Rick]

The early morning bite seems to be best. Bluegill ice fishing is good. Anglers have been picking up bluegills on jigs and wax worms. Fish near the bottom around structure. Most fish are 5 to 7 inches.

Crappie ice fishing is fair. Fish structure in the 10 to 15 foot range. A jig or small spoon tipped with a wax worm is best. The fish have been nice sized (many 10 to 12 inches).