Mississippi River Pools 9 to 15: Most backwaters on Pools 9 to 11 have 12 or more inches of ice. Anglers still need to be cautious-especially near the shoreline or in areas where current may exist. Melting snow in these areas can weaken the ice. Cold weather kept a lot of anglers off the ice this past week, but anglers did report better fishing in Minnesota Slough and Cordwood Lake (Pool 9) and good catches of bluegill and a few nice crappies in Norwegian and Methodist lakes (Pool 10). The afternoon bite seems to be faster. Bussey Lake (Pool 10) has been slow, but there were some better reports of bluegill fishing over the weekend. A few nice yellow perch are being caught in backwater areas on the Wisconsin side of the river above Prairie du Chien. Reports of tip-up fishing for northern pike have slowed over the past week. The boat ramp at the DNR's Guttenberg office (Lock and Dam 10) has been blocked with ice restricting access to tailwater fishing for walleye and sauger. Ice conditions in Pool 12 to 15 have improved with last week's cold temperatures and fishing success is also up. There were no current fishing reports available for Pool 12 (probably due to the cold temperatures and lack of anglers); however, Fish Trap, Tippy's Lake, Kehoe Lake, and No Name Lake are good places to try fishing. Brown's Lake (Pool 13) has been fair to good for bluegill and crappie. The Green Island bottoms (Pool 13) are good for bluegill and crappie, but you must have either an Iowa resident or non-resident fishing license to fish the Green Island complex. In Green Island, try fishing Sawmill and Fish lakes. Michelson Landing (Pool 13) has reported very good bluegill fishing, but many fish being caught are smaller in size. A few crappie and bluegill are being caught in Rock Creek (Pool 14)-again, the size of the fish is small.

Lake Hendricks (Howard): Bluegill fishing is excellent with fish in the 8 to 10-inch range. Fish during the morning hours near the point in 7 to 10 feet of water for best results. An occasional nice crappie is also being taken.

Lake Meyer (Winneshiek): Ice fishing has picked up with a good mix of bluegills and crappies being reported. The fish tend to be suspended in 8 to 12 feet of water.

Farm Ponds (Delaware): Bluegill fishing is good in area farm ponds.

Heritage Pond (Dubuque) and North Prairie Lake (Black Hawk): Rainbow trout will be stocked Saturday, Jan. 22, weather permitting. Anglers are reminded to purchase their 2005 trout fees. Many of the trout streams are open and fishable throughout the winter months.

For information on fishing in northeast Iowa, call the regional office in Manchester at 563-926-3276.

 

Northwest

Spirit Lake (Dickinson): Walleye fishing is fair early in the morning and late in the evening. Some nice fish are being caught off the north end, Buffalo Run and Big Stony Point using jigging raps and kastmasters tipped with minnows or minnow heads. Yellow perch fishing is slow, but there is some activity on the north end and Buffalo Run. A few crappies and bluegills are being caught at the North Grade using wax worms and teardrops.

West Lake Okoboji (Dickinson): Yellow perch are being caught in Emerson Bay and Miller's Bay. The walleye bite has been fair in Smith's Bay and Triboji late in the evening. A few bluegills are being caught in Emerson, Smith's and north end using wax worms and teardrops.

Silver Lake (Dickinson): Walleye fishing has been excellent around the south boat ramp late at night.

Center Lake (Dickinson): A few walleye are being caught around the north boat ramp.

Lake Pahoja (Lyon): Anglers are catching lots of small bluegill and crappie around the brush piles.

Black Hawk Lake (Sac): Yellow bass and crappie fishing is fair using live minnows and jigging spoons tipped with minnow heads.

Arrowhead Lake (Sac): Fishing is fair around structure for 7 to 8-inch bluegills.

Yellow Smoke (Crawford): Fishing is good for 8 to 9-inch bluegills on teardrops and wax worms. The lake is drawn down 8 feet.

Brushy Creek (Webster): A few walleyes have been hitting on minnows. A few bluegills have been caught on wax worms. The lake is completely covered by snow. The ice thickness on the main lake remains unsafe.

Clear Lake (Cerro Gordo): Ice thickness is 12 to 18 inches over most of the lake. Walleye fishing is good. Jigging spoons and minnows are both producing fish. Sunrise or sunset is the best times for success. Remember the 14-inch minimum length limit. Yellow bass are being caught northeast of the Island, Farmer's Beach and Billy's Reef. Small spoons and minnows are producing the best. White bass are being caught in the same areas as the yellow bass.

Indian Lake, Eldred Sherwood Park (Hancock): Bluegills are biting on small jigs tipped with wax worms.

Upper Pine Lake (Hardin): Bluegill fishing is good using wax worms and small jigs.

Smith Lake (Kossuth): Bluegills are hitting on small jigs and wax worms. Sorting is required, but fish in the 6 to 8-inch range are available.

Lake Catherine (Winnebago): Bluegills are being caught on small jigs and wax worms. Fish are running 6 to 8 inches. Late afternoon provides the best action.

Silver Lake (Worth): Yellow perch fishing is good around the jetty and the campground using minnows. Sorting is required, but 7 to 9-inch fish are available.

For more information on fishing in northwest Iowa, call the regional office in Spirit Lake at 712-336-1840.

 

Southwest

Don Williams (Boone): Bluegill and crappie fishing is fair to good around cedar trees south of the ramp in the main lake. Jigs and wax worms are being used for bluegill and jigs and minnows are preferred for crappie.

Big Creek (Polk): Bluegill fishing is fair during the day using tear-drops and wax worms in the Lost Lake area near the spillway. Crappie fishing has been good late in the day and at night using jigs and wax worms/minnows. Walleye fishing has picked up, primarily at night in 35 to 40 feet of water using minnows.

Lake Ahquabi (Warren): Bluegill and redear fishing has been fair to good using jigs or hooks with worms and wax worms.

Hooper Lake (Warren): Bluegill fishing has been fair using wax worms and jigs.

Banner Lake (Warren): Trout fishing has been fair, and the final stocking for this winter is Jan. 18. Anglers are reminded to purchase their 2005 fishing license and trout fees.

Hickory Grove (Story): Bluegill fishing is fair using small jigs/hooks and wax worms. The better fishing areas have been around structure, trees and/or pallets.

Easter Lake (Polk): Bluegill fishing has been good with jigs and wax worms, although there are a number of smaller fish being caught. Crappie fishing has been good with jigs and minnows. Best areas have off the face of the dam.

Rock Creek (Jasper): Bluegill fishing has been fair using jigs and wax worms. Crappie fishing has been fair to good using jigs and minnows. Anglers have been scattered across most of the lake.

Mormon Trail (Adair): Good for bluegills of all sizes. Crappies are fair tipping jigs with a minnow.

Littlefield (Audubon): Bluegill and crappie fishing is fair on wax worms.

Nodaway (Adair): Bluegills are slow, but are averaging 7 to 8 inches in length. Crappies are fair using minnows late in the afternoon.

Orient (Adair): Crappies are good jigging minnows in 8 to 10 feet of water.

DeSoto (Harrison): Crappie fishing is good using minnows around structure late in the afternoon. Bluegills are being caught but most are small.

Willow (Harrison): Bluegills in the 7 to 8-inch range are being caught using wax worms. Crappies are slow but some are being caught using minnows in the evening.

Viking (Montgomery): Bluegill fishing is good using teardrops and wax worms around structure. Crappies are fair using minnows in early morning and late afternoon. Anglers are catching 5 to 7-inch yellow bass on jigs tipped with minnows.

Manawa (Pottawattamie): Bluegills are being caught, but most are small. Catfishing is fair in afternoon using dead minnows. Ice conditions vary from 2 to 8 inches. Check the ice thickness often and remain cautious.

Prairie Rose (Shelby): Small bluegills are being caught with jigs and tear drops tipped with wax worms. Crappie fishing is excellent for 7-inch fish around structure in 8 to 10 feet of water.

Southwest Iowa Farm Ponds: Farm ponds have been producing very well with anglers catching bluegill, and in the larger ponds, crappie, using teardrops tipped with wax worms. Ponds that have produced large bluegill historically are producing large numbers of fish. Ice conditions are more suitable with most ponds having 6 to 12 inches of ice and several inches of snow.

Three Mile (Union): Ice is good in most places but thin spots do remain in some areas. Bluegill and crappie can be caught in lower areas of the lake over the road beds and creek channel.

Fogle Lake (Ringgold): Ice is 5 to 11 inches thick in most areas. Bluegill 7 to 8 inches long can be caught in the lower portion of the lake along the creek channel and some crappies are getting caught along with the bluegill.

Little River (Decatur): Some crappie and bluegill can be caught in the creek channel midway up the lake. Ice is 5 to 7 inches in most areas. Thinner spots do exist.

For more information on fishing in southwest Iowa, call the regional office in Lewis at 712-769-2587.

 

Southeast

Mississippi River Pools 16 - 19: Ice conditions are still variable and anglers should use caution. Bluegill and crappie are biting on teardrops with wax worms or minnows in Big Timber. You will need to sort for size of fish to keep. Bluegills in the Hidden Acres area are biting on teardrops.

Lake Odessa (Louisa): Crappies are biting on minnows along the trees in upper Sand Run and the stump fields in lower Sand Run. Anglers are also picking up a few bluegills on wax worms.

Lake Darling (Washington): Recent below zero weather finally increased ice thickness to useable levels, but it also kept away ice anglers.

Lake Geode (Henry): Ice conditions are variable. About 1,000 geese kept the area just north of the lower boat ramp was open water until late last week. Try around some of the deep brush piles and the creek channel as it passes the beach for some nice bluegills and crappies.

Lake Belva Deer (Keokuk): Anglers are catching some nice bluegills in the morning in the area around the campground boat ramp.

Lake Rathbun (Appanoose): Anglers are reporting 5 to 7 inches of ice in the coves. Crappies have been hitting on small jigs tipped with a wax worm and also on vertical jigged presentations.

Lake Miami (Monroe): Ice reported at 4 to 6 inches. Bluegills and crappies have started hitting on small jigs.

Lake Sugema (Van Buren): Ice is still extremely variable. Use caution if venturing out and test ice regularly.

Lake Wapello (Davis): Ice is reported at 5 to 6 inches. Very few anglers have been fishing due to the previous open water and unsafe ice. Use small jigs around cedar tree piles and around pallet structures.

Lake Macbride (Johnson): Anglers have reported slow fishing but some bluegills and a few crappies have been taken on small jigs tipped with wax worms. Deeper brush piles have been producing best.

Pleasant Creek (Linn): Some bluegills are being caught on small jigs tipped with wax worms. Best reports have been from deeper structure on the west side and off the dam.

Hannen Lake (Benton): Decent numbers of bluegills are being taken on jig/wax worm combos fishing out from the dam and out in front of the shop.

Kent Park (Johnson): Bluegill and crappie fishing has been moderate, with the occasional bass and catfish being caught as a bonus.

Diamond Lake (Poweshiek): Ice conditions have finally improved. Anglers are catching bluegills off the dam and crappies off the boat ramp.

Rodgers Lake (Benton): Bluegills are being caught on small jigs/wax worms. Hit the deeper brush piles for best results.

For more information on fishing in southeast Iowa, call the regional office in Brighton at 319-694-2430.