fishing reports Lake Macbride Fishing Reports

[Forecy]

We fished macbride 6:30 to 12:30 yesterday morning and didn't do very well. We caught a couple crappies, a small walleye and a wiper. Went to the res after lunch and caught quite a few crappies but most were smaller 

[Forecy]

Anyone know what the water temp is and clarity is like?

[JIvers]

Lake Macbride water temps were in the "low sixties" as of October 15, according to the DNR: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/FishingReports.aspx

I'm not sure how much more I'll make it out there this fall, myself.

 

 

[JIvers]

I went out to Macbride this afternoon to make my larger outboard was back in running shape. (It was.) There were very few boats out on the lake, which may or may not mean much of anything.

I was thinking of staying out there longer and doing some fishing, but the breezy day with clear skies made me think I was better off doing something else with that time. Plus, it looks like things are shaping up well to hit the lock and dam at Bellevue or Guttenberg next weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Forecy]

I went out Saturday morning. Water temp was 59 by the time I left. I caught a couple walleyes, couple wipers and some largemouth. Wasn't too many people out fishing 

[JIvers]

I made what will almost certainly be my last open water trip on Lake Macbride for 2015 this morning. It was a beautiful morning with almost no wind. I had a 10" walleye hit a shad-colored crankbait I was trolling shallow right after I got out at about sunrise...and that was it. Maybe I should have gotten out of bed sooner.

I trolled crankbaits and drifted with various tube jigs and minnows, but had no success. As was the case when I was out on Macbride earlier this fall, I did not see any shad being busted up on the surface by schools of white bass and wipers, which pretty much guarantees good fishing when it happens.

 

 

[JIvers]

I had some success fishing for walleye on Lake Macbride through the ice this past weekend: at least some of all those 10" walleye I caught last winter grew up in the past year. Here are a couple of the 14"-15" inch fish I took in a couple of my favorite spots.

The bite pattern was a little different than is typical in the winter on Macbride. The bluegill were hitting earlier in the afternoon (typical-sized "Macbride bluegill"), and the walleye hit best in the hour before sundown, rather than in the half hour after sunset like normal.

I also brought up a few decent crappie, suggesting that the crappie population is continuing on the upward part of the cycle I saw last winter.

The ice was in very good shape, probably close to ten inches thick by Sunday evening.

 

[JIvers]

I finally got my boat out for the year a couple days ago. My small outboard started on the second pull, which is always a good thing.

The surface temps at sunrise over deep water on Lake Macbride were at about forty-five degrees, which in my experience is right when things start picking up on there.

Late March fishing on Macbride is always hit or miss, and this week's trip was no exception.

The book says shallow water on the wind-blown side is the place to start fishing earlier in the spring, but under these conditions I usually do better on Macbride fishing the deep water over the edges of the creek channels, so that is where I started Tuesday morning.

The wipers were chasing shad in that deep water right after sunrise, and I caught a couple of them and missed a couple more strikes. Then things stopped there.

Since the book says to fish shallow in early spring, I anchored up off the south shoreline and put some minnows on bobbers in various places. That produced one small bass, either a largemouth or a spot. Nothing else was happening there, and I had other stuff to do with my morning off, so I called it quits there.

The Iowa River looks to stay high and dirty for a while, so it looks like I'll be fishing Macbride a fair bit this spring. A few days of warm weather after these fronts blow through over the weekend should get the crappie bite going. Not sure where the walleye spawn is right now, but the post-spawn males should start biting soon, if they aren't done spawning already.

[JIvers]

The weather of the last month has not been good to me in terms of fishing, so even though a nasty cold front blew through here on Friday night I decided to get out on Lake Macbride for a bit yesterday before sunset. Cold weather, clear skies, wind in early April: I was not expecting much,but I anchored up on the edge of the creek channel so my boat swung between 15' and 22' of water, dropped a couple of minnows on hooks and a chartreuse jig over the side, and hoped for the best.

The trip was not a waste of time; when I was in fifteen feet of water before the drop just beyond it, I sometimes marked fish tight to bottom. Typically this time of year on Macbride I find crappie and white bass/wiper suspended over the old creek channel in the deeper water, not hugging the bottom above the dropoff, so I fished higher up in the water column to start, and ignored those marks.

I should not have ignored what my flasher was telling me. When I dropped my jig to within a couple feet of the bottom I pulled up a few light-hitting crappie. They were around eight to nine inches, like the one below. Not a fast bite, with quite a few lookers, but it made for a decent outing when I was not expecting to catch much of anything.

The wiper and white bass tend to be more tolerant of nasty weather and cold fronts in the early spring on Macbride than do the crappie, but I did not catch any whites or hybrid bass yesterday, only crappies.

[JIvers]

The spring bite is cranking up on Lake Macbride.

I went out yesterday morning, and dropped a jig and minnow over the side of my boat to sit while I got everything else rigged up. A 12" walleye immediately hit it. That was the first open water walleye I've gotten on Macbride this year. Over the next hour, until the sun got over the trees, I caught a few more, all 10-12" fish, all on a jig and minnow fished on the bottom. Those were probably all males, which would mean the walleye spawn is done. The big females should start biting in a week or two.

The wiper were hitting well, too. The largest I got was the 16" pictured below. They were hitting minnows fished higher off the bottom.

And, I got several crappie, all about 10". They were females, and further evidence the crappie population on Macbride is on the upswing.

[JIvers]

I had no luck on the Iowa River this past weekend, so Sunday morning and today I got out on Lake Macbride for a bit. Things were slower than the nice bite I found earlier last week.

I caught a few crappie on minnows, a couple wiper and more of those cigar-sized walleye, but nothing special. I was still working the edge of deep water, as I don't think the crappie are quite ready to move shallow yet. Soon, but not yet.

[JIvers]

I had my best morning of fishing so far this spring on Lake Macbride this weekend.

I forgot to bring my thermometer, so I don't know what the water temps are now, but the walleye bite was hot this morning, and the crappie are now moving shallower. This was the first time this year I did any trolling with crankbaits, and it definitely paid off in both walleye and crappie. I kept three walleye between 13" and 14.5:" (I don't normally keep walleye under 14", but I've gotten a little tired of throwing back 13" male walleye in the last month ), and four crappie between 9" and 11". I threw back some smaller crappie, and a lot of those little walleye, along with a couple of spotted bass.

The crappie I caught were all black crappie, and those I cleaned had eggs in them. They were inside of the deep water now, but not on shallow wood, either. The spawn is close, but not here yet.

I expect to start getting some bigger walleye to go with the cigars very soon as the big post-spawn females should be starting to eat again.

[JIvers]

This is shaping up to be a Lake Macbride spring for me, as I have not had a good day on the Iowa River this year yet.

Before the weather front blew through, the bigger walleye had started to bite on Macbride. I did quite well this past Wednesday morning trolling crankbaits.

The crappie seemed to have gone shallow for spawning, but then the rain and cold weather arrived. I got out this morning, but the walleye I expected to find shallow were not there. All I saw of them were a couple cigars. On the plus side, the spotted bass were biting really well--I got plenty of them.

I picked up enough crappie today to make fish tacos tonight, which kind of made up for the AWOL walleye. The ones I kept, up to 11.5", had eggs in them and came out of relatively deeper water. Fishing shallow timber did not produce in the cold and wind this morning.

[JIvers]

There looks to be a good year-crop of black crappie that will be coming in to their own next year on Lake Macbride, judging by my trips out there the last two weekends. Lots of 7" fish right now.

The walleye were AWOL, and I have not found the usual good wiper and white bass fishing typical for this time of year out there.

I was still trolling crankbaits this morning, smaller and slower than I would have gone with a month ago, but jigs with plastic or minnows were what the fish wanted this morning, and that is what I will go with from now on out.

I figure I'll get out on Macbride two or three more times in the next month, and then put the boat away until spring. Here are a couple pictures of a decent channel cat and wiper I got out there earlier this year. Nothing I caught this morning was worth a picture. 

[Ranger2365]

I was out last weekend Saturday was good Sunday was bad.

Sat:  All were caught before 10 AM. Caught 4 eyes, 1 Wiper and 1 crappie.  Eyes came from trolling purple cranks (10-12 FOW) and pitching minnows at lake points.  Wiper was 8 lbs, right next to the causeway, and was immediately released after a picture.   Crappie came from 15 FOW under a slip bobber and minnow by the power lines.  

Sunday: Went out at 4PM till 7:30PM.  1 wiper trolling cranks right in front of the beach.  I tried everything and nothing was working.  Maybe it's just a morning bite?

 

[JIvers]

Thanks for the report, and welcome to the site!

I usually pick up some nice walleye in the fall on Macbride, along with a lot of wiper/white bass, but that has not happened for me this year so far.

 

[bforristall0713]

Anyone been doing any ice fishing on Macbride lately? Me and my dad are gonna head out there this weekend. Never fished Macbride before figured we'd give it a shot for some crappie and walleye. Any tips or tricks on catching fish would be greatly appreciated. Cant find very many new fishing reports or forums on this lake.