Fishing Report for the Weekend of 6/2/17

This weekend is going to be sunny and warm. Perfect for a couple of days out on the lake or dropping a line in from shore. We'll give you a leg up on the other fisher-people with the Iowa DNR's Fishing Report for the weekend of 6/2/17.

Cedar River (above Nashua)
Water clarity is improving with temperatures in the low 60's. Visit https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ia/nwis/rt for current water level information. Walleye - Slow: Try a jig tipped with a minnow or twister tail below dams in the pockets. With cooler temperatures, slow your retrieve. Channel Catfish - Fair: Use dead chubs or nightcrawler fished from shore under a bobber. Find fish in brush piles and backwater areas. Smallmouth Bass - Excellent: Smallmouth are hitting everything that hits the water. Fish around brush piles for a whopper. Black Crappie - Fair: Use a minnow under a bobber in eddies or off channel areas.

Decorah District Streams
Streams conditions are improving. Flows remain elevated. Use care when crossing. Call 563-927-5736 for catchable trout stocking locations. Use jigs tipped with twister tails, feathered spinnerbaits, or flashy spoons. Use a nightcrawler to catch a freshly stocked fish. Brook Trout - Good: Use mayfly or caddis fly imitations for the afternoon hatch. Brown Trout - Good: Off color water is a great time to fish for brown trout. Try caddis fly and mayfly imitations hatching off the water.Hatches are improving with warming temperatures. Use leach or streamer patterns for more aggressive fish. Rainbow Trout - Good: Fish rainbow trout in the head end of riffles. Slowly pull a black bead head fly with a light colored scud or midge dropper through the upper and lower ends of pools for trout in deeper water.

Lake Hendricks
Near shore fish activity will improve with warmer temperatures. Slow your retrieve giving fish time to strike. Boat anglers are finding fish in deeper water. Bluegill - Good: Catch gills moving into shallower water with a small jig. Let it sink and slowly reel it in. Channel Catfish - Slow: Use cut baits on windblown rocky shorelines. Black Crappie - Fair: Use a hook tipped with a minnow under a bobber. Largemouth Bass - Good: Use a jig tipped with a plastic twister for bass moving into shallower water.

Lake Meyer
Water clarity is improving. Water temperatures are in the low 60's. Find the latest hot spots on the Iowa DNR's fishing atlas. Set your GPS coordinates to WGS84 to key in to your structure preference. Bluegill - Good: Bluegill are building nests. Use a small jig in shallow water with a slow retrieve. Channel Catfish - Slow: Try a crawler fished on the bottom in a rocky shoreline. Dawn and dusk are best. Largemouth Bass - Good: Use a spinnerbait; a variety of colors are working. Bass are moving in as water warms. Black Crappie - Fair: Use a minnow or artificial scented baits fished under a bobber in the evening in shallow water along a rocky shoreline. Northern Pike - Fair: Try a spinnerbait for a pike hanging in shallow water.

Turkey River (above Clermont)
Water levels are slowly dropping with temperatures in the low 60's. Smallmouth Bass - Good: Try a jig tipped with a minnow or feathered spinnerbait around a current break. Walleye - Fair: Use a jig tipped with a soft plastic twister tail. Use a slow retrieve in cooler water. White Sucker - Good: Try a hook tipped with a nightcrawler fished off the bottom.

Upper Iowa River (above Decorah)
Water levels are falling with temperatures in the low 60's. Visibility is good. Visit https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ia/nwis/rt for current water level information. Walleye - Fair: Try a jig tipped with natural colored twister tails or small crankbait near coldwater tributaries. White Sucker - Good: Use a worm with enough weight for it to sit on the bottom. Watch your rod tip. When it bends, set the hook. Smallmouth Bass - Excellent: Catch smallies in the off channel areas. A variety of lures are working now.

Upper Iowa River (below Decorah)
Water levels are falling with temperatures in the low 60's. Visibility is improving. Bank anglers should toss a lure upstream and let it float through the current along a ledge or current seam.  Walleye - Slow: Use spinnerbaits and jig tipped with a minnow fished at the head and tail ends of deeper pools. White Sucker - Good: Try a hook with a worm and enough weight to get the worm to the bottom. Smallmouth Bass - Good: Use jigs tipped with nightcrawlers or ring worms. Try also bright colored twister tails. Northern Pike - Slow: A few anglers are picking up pike using spinnerbaits.

Volga Lake
Water temperatures are rising. Fish shallower water in the evening. Fish attractors were recently added in the lake. Find fish attracting structure locations on the Iowa DNR's fishing atlas. Bluegill - Slow: Use small jigs tipped with small piece of nightcrawler or red worm fished deep. Black Crappie - Fair: Find crappie along rocky shoreline especially near sunset. Try a hook tipped with a small minnow under a bobber. Channel Catfish - Fair: Use dead minnows or crawlers fished off the bottom to attract a cruising cat. Largemouth Bass - Fair: Fish bass moving into shallow water. Try a spinnerbait with a slow retrieve in cooler water.

Water clarity is much improved and water temperatures are slowly rising. Please thank landowners for allowing public fishing on private property. Help us keep our streams beautiful. For current fishing information, please call the Decorah Fish Hatchery at 563-382-8324.

Big Woods Lake
Black Crappie - Good: Try numerous depths floating a crappie minnow under a slip bobber as the crappie begin to stage for spawn. Bluegill - Good: Find bluegill spawning beds along the shorelines. Try a piece of worm or small jig under a slip bobber fished above the beds.

Brinker Lake
Black Crappie - Good: Try numerous depths floating a crappie minnow under a slip bobber as the crappie begin to stage for spawn. Bluegill - Good: Find bluegill spawning beds along the shorelines. Try a piece of worm or small jig under a slip bobber fished above the beds.

Cedar River (Nashua to La Porte City)
The Cedar River has risen with recent rainfall events, but is beginning to recede. There are no reports for this past week.

George Wyth Lake
Black Crappie - Good: Try numerous depths floating a crappie minnow under a slip bobber as the crappie begin to stage for spawn. Bluegill - Good: Find bluegill spawning beds along the shorelines. Try a piece of worm or small jig under a slip bobber fished above the beds.

Manchester District Streams
Trout streams are clear and in excellent condition. Rainbow Trout – Good.

Maquoketa River (above Monticello)
Angler reports have been really good for smallmouth bass on the Maquoketa River in Delaware County. Recent surveys have found good numbers of walleye also. Smallmouth Bass - Good: Use artificial baits. Channel Catfish - Good: Try fishing a nightcrawler or stink baits.

Martens Lake
Anglers are doing well on largemouth bass on Martens Lake. Largemouth Bass - Good: Use weedless spinnerbaits or plastic worms fished along shoreline or near lily pads.

Plainfield Lake
Anglers are starting to catch some bluegill on Plainfield Lake as the spawn approaches. Bluegill - Good: Find the spawning beds along the shorelines. Try a piece of worm or small jig under a slip bobber fished above the beds.

Shell Rock River (Greene to Shell Rock)
The river is falling nicely and should provide some good angling opportunities by this coming weekend.

Wapsipinicon River (Tripoli to Troy Mills)
The river is falling nicely and should provide some good angling opportunities by this coming weekend.

Interior river water levels are beginning to fall with the recent rainfall events. Lake fishing has picked up throughout the crappie and bluegill spawn. Trout fishing remains good. Contact the N.E. District Office at 563-927-3276 for more information.