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Another weekend perfect for fishing. Here is your fishing report for the weekend  of 8/18/17. Thanks to the Iowa DNR, you can catch more fish.

Cedar River (above Nashua)
Fish are more active with stable water levels and cooler temperatures. Fish are taking a variety of lures and baits. Walleye - Good: Find walleye in brush piles or deeper holes. Try fishing along current breaks. Channel Catfish - Good: Use a hook with a dead chub or crawler for a 2 pound catfish. Try also chicken liver, stink bait and nightcrawlers. Black Crappie - Good: Use a hook tipped with a crawler in eddies below dams and backwaters. Smallmouth Bass - Slow: Use crawdad crankbaits along rocky shorelines and substrates.

Decorah District Streams
Trout streams are in good condition. Be respectful of private property; it’s a privilege to fish these areas. Call 563-927-5736 for current catchable trout stocking locations. Wild parsnip is done for the year, but beware of first year plants. Freshly stocked trout are hitting a variety of lures and baits. Brook Trout - Excellent: A variety of mayflies are hatching mid-afternoon. Use a dry fly for insects hatching off the water surface. Use a nymph or scud dropper for subsurface critters. Brown Trout - Brown trout are more active when water is off color. A hopper pattern with a scud dropper is a dangerous combination.  Rainbow Trout- Excellent: Flies imitating grasshoppers, crickets, and ants will turn a trout head this time of year. Use any number of black ant or leaf hopper patterns.

Lake Hendricks
The lake is looking good. Use a canoe to paddle out or troll for fish suspended around rock piles. Black Crappie - Good: Use a minnow or spinnerbait around the jetties. Largemouth Bass - Good: Try topwater lures on the edge of a vegetation for a hiding bass. Channel Catfish - Good: Use a hook tipped with a nightcrawler, chicken liver or stink bait. Bluegill - Good: Find bluegills near vegetation edges

Lake Meyer
Water clarity is improving as water begins to cool. Water temperatures are in the low 70's.  Bluegill - Good: Use a small hook tipped with a piece of worm under a bobber near jetties in the evening. Black Crappie - Fair: Find crappie suspended near submersed structure. Use a spinner or jig with bright colored twister tail. Largemouth Bass - Good: Early morning and evening bite is best. Use topwater lures fished along vegetation beds or spinners along rocky edges.  Northern Pike - Fair: Pike are biting off anglers’ lines. Use a steal leader with a spoon along vegetation edges near springs. Pike are great eating; take time to learn how to clean them.

Upper Iowa River (above Decorah)
The Upper Iowa is in excellent condition. Clarity and temperatures are improving fish activity. Northern Pike - Good: Use a steel leader tipped with 1/4 oz. jig tipped with natural colored plastic to a 3 inch jerk bait fished around tributaries or brush piles. Walleye- Good: Find a walleye drifting through a deeper hole or along a current break. Use a jig tipped with a twister tail or worm. Try also a small crankbait. Smallmouth Bass - Good: Try jigs tipped with any number of plastic tails.

Upper Iowa River (below Decorah)
Water temperatures are in the mid to low 70's with good clarity. Morning and midafternoon is best for bank anglers. Northern Pike - Good: Use a steel leader tipped with 1/4 oz. jig tipped with natural colored plastic to a 3 inch jerk bait fished around tributaries or brush piles. Smallmouth Bass - Fair: Find a smallie in the current breaks or near rock ledges. Use jigs tipped with any number of plastic tails. Walleye - Good: Drift a jig tipped with a twister tail or worm through a deeper hole or along a current break. Anglers are catching a good number of 10- to 12-inch fish with larger fish caught while trolling at night. Channel Catfish- Good Catch a catfish from shore using a hook tipped with a crawler. Evening is best.

Volga Lake
Morning and evening bite is best. Overcast days extend angling times. Black Crappie - Fair: Use a small hook tipped with a minnow under a bobber near submersed trees for suspended crappie. Largemouth Bass - Good: Bass are hitting crankbaits. Try a topwater lure in the evening as fish come in shallow to feed. Bluegill - Fair: Use a small hook tipped with a piece of worm under a bobber. Channel Catfish - Good: Use stink bait, worms, and cheese baits. Catfish are active in the evening.

Chances for rain in the weekend forecast with temperature highs in the low 80's and 60's for lows. Area streams and rivers are in good condition. For current fishing information, please call the Decorah Fish Hatchery at 563-382-8324.


Casey Lake (aka Hickory Hills Lake)
Bluegill - Fair. Largemouth Bass – Fair. Channel Catfish - Good: Use stink baits, frogs, and other prepared baits.

Cedar River (Nashua to La Porte City)
The Cedar River is near or slightly above median water flow for this time of year with a gage reading of 2040 CFS at Waterloo.  Walleye - Fair. Smallmouth Bass - Fair. Channel Catfish- Good.

George Wyth Lake
Bluegill - Fair: Fish are running small. Black Crappie - Fair: Fish are running small.

Manchester District Streams
Dry fly action has slowed, but fishing has been good using spinners, jigs, live bait or nymphs. Streams are well stocked this time of year with rainbow trout. Brown trout have been challenging during midday, but they have been biting near sundown or following rain showers. Rainbow Trout – Good. Brown Trout - Fair:

Maquoketa River (above Monticello)
The Maquoketa River is near or slightly above median water flow for this time of year with a gage reading of 164 CFS at Manchester. Fishing has been good on the Maquoketa River in Delaware and Jones County. Channel Catfish – Fair. Smallmouth Bass - Good: Use crankbaits or live bait. Walleye - Good: Try crankbaits or live bait.

Wapsipinicon River (Tripoli to Troy Mills)
Smallmouth Bass – Good. Walleye – Fair. Channel Catfish – Fair. Northern Pike – Fair.

Fishing is good on eastern Iowa rivers and streams. Rivers are near median water levels for this time of year and fish are in late summer feeding patterns. Expect catches of channel catfish, smallmouth bass and walleye in rivers. Lake fishing is slow, but should improve over the next few weeks as autumn approaches and water temperatures begin to drop. Trout streams are in good condition with most fishing action subsurface using jigs, spinners, live bait, or nymphs.

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