March trip to Iowa

[chubs]

Hi, I live in the Twin Cities and was wondering if anyone that lives near me or north of me would like to drive down for a fishing trip to Iowa in March. Maybe somebody would like to drive up and meet us in Iowa. It's a pot shot to see if we can hit a weekend in March but it would be fun to try. I have been flyfishing long enough to know humility is a good thing. So if your new to this or not let's get a trip going.

[Fred Sanford]

Hi Chub,

Can you tell us a bit about the fishing in Iowa? Small streams, spring creeks?

I went pheasant hunting in southeast Iowa several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the countryside and the people. I'd like to go back, except I no longer hunt.

Thanks,

Fred

[djo]

Hi Chub:

Glad you asked. Iowa has a very limited section of trout fishing in the very northeast corner. This is part of the Driftless area that included SE Minnesota and SW Wisconsin. When the last round of glaciers buffed the rest of the state 10,000 years ago, this area was missed. There are several small to tiny spring creeks in the area that provide water that will either allow trout to survive or in some cases reproduce. The streams tend to be extremely fertile and have the potential to support some very impressive trout populations, but hard catch and kill fishing pressures as well as intensive agriculture and questionable stream management objectives have limited their potential. None-the-less they do have two things going for them. They are close and they are open year round.
The Iowa DNR has a good website describing the streams [url=http://www.iowadnr.com/fish/fishing/trout/troutstr.html.:db5eb]http://www.iowadnr.com/fish/fishing/trout/troutstr.html.[/url:db5eb] Jene Hughes has published a nice book that is an excellent introduction to the region [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0963234447/qid=1136335120/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-2339247-5285750?n=507846&s=books&v=glance:db5eb]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0963234447/qid=1136335120/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-2339247-5285750?n=507846&s=books&v=glance[/url:db5eb]

Best of luck. The weather in March (and April, and May, and June) in Iowa is always interesting. Watch out for thunderstorms and tornados - they can muddy up the streams for a day or two and send you tent to Oz.

Any questions get back to me,

David

[chubs]

Thank you David, the only question I have is will you be meeting us there?

I guess at this point the plan is to drive down to IA on Saturday morn and fish till Sunday eve. I hope I can find someone to share the ride.

If you live north, east, west or south of NE IA let's see if we can put together a weekend to do some fishing. The season doesn't open in MN till mid april and 200 to 300 miles north is a lot colder.

[djo]

Chubs:

Once you set a date (and once it is close enough that I might know what my schedule is like) drop me an email and we will see if we can link up. My email is doliver at iastate.edu

David

Chubs, Just an FYI, but there is a winter C&R season in MN that opened Jan. 1st and runs until Mar. 31st, although it is limited to specific streams (see [url=http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/trout_streams/winter.html:6e378]http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/trout_streams/winter.html[/url:6e378] for more info). So technically you don't have to drive to Iowa to go trout fishing. That said, I hear its pretty decent. You can check the latest MN reports at [url=http://www.mntu.org:6e378]www.mntu.org[/url:6e378] .

[This message has been edited by FLiShack (edited 05 January 2006).]

[chubs]

FliShack, to tell you the truth I don't really care where we go. Would you be more interested if we went to SEMN? It's just very cold that time of year and it would be warmer if there are more people freezing there butts off. I don't think the price of a 1 or 2 day license in Iowa is that big of a deal but I just want to go fishing. I was thinking that if we went to Iowa we could lure people from IL as well as MN and WI. Give it some thought and let me know.

[This message has been edited by chubs (edited 06 January 2006).]

[chubs]

Hey all, I looked it up on the info that David provided and it's $16.00 for a 3 day nonresident license and $13.50 for a nonresident trout stamp. I guess that those are the hastles of the sport. Really looking forward to getting together with a crowd.

[chubs]

flydog, I didn't receive an email as far as I can tell. Would you resend it please? Thanks, I was thinking that down by Boone would probably be a good local. I'm looking at this as going down south where it's warmer too. Looking forward to seeing some of the streams down there. Send e's to crt2007@comcast.net

[chubs]

What does everyone think about getting together on March 25-26? Hopeing that flydog comes back for some advice on a town to meet in. If you have any idea's on that line post them and let talk.