Fishing

Des Moines River Kayaking

Des Moines River Kayaking  By Ricky Kinder The trip wasn’t off to a good start. At 6:30 p.m. on Friday May 10th my cousin Nick and I were standing in what used to be the parking lot for the Yellow Banks Park boat ramp, but was now consumed by the swollen Des Moines River. Three […]

Chasing Early Season Northern Pike

Chasing Early Season Northern Pike By Steve Weisman When the ice begins to leave our northern Iowa lakes, anglers head out looking for ice-out smallmouth bass, pre-spawn walleyes and panfish. However, there is one prolific game fish that is often overlooked: the northern pike. In many cases, they are totally ignored. As a result, a […]

Capturing Nature: Tips for making the most of your Outdoor Photos

Capturing Nature: Tips for making the most of your Outdoor Photos By Laura Woten Imagine the SCENE: trout fishing in the Driftless Region of Northeastern Iowa in the spring. The flowers are blooming, the trees are budding, and the water is flowing fast and clear. A mother doe and her new twin fawns wander up […]

Catfishing Always Presents Challenges: You can be Prepared

Catfishing Always Presents Challenges: You can be Prepared By Brad Durick It seems if you catfish it is inevitable that something will happen that can turn your day upside down. Most of this is out of your control. If you fish enough you know how this can go all too well. You know that little […]

Getting A New Boat Without Getting Hooked

Getting a new Boat without Getting Hooked For many of us, one of our prized possessions is our fishing boat. And you know what? It really doesn’t matter how old or how much we paid for it. The fishing rig we currently have is the one we have worked so hard to own. Just as […]

Avoid the Bust: Select the Right Outfitter

Avoid the Bust: Select the Right Outfitter By Ryan Eder Sometimes as a writer I struggle to find new topics to discuss in an article. This month, however, my inspiration came easily as I had arguably the worst waterfowl hunting experience with an outfitter this season. Selecting an outfitter can be difficult; there are several […]

Trolling Tactics for Walleyes

Trolling Tactics for Walleyes By Steve Weisman As a fishing guide on the Iowa Great Lakes, M. Doug Burns is often asked by anglers, “What should I do when I troll for walleyes?” Burns, who has been a professional guide since 1986, begins to answer this question by saying, “There is not one single answer […]

Spawning Bass in Iowa

Spawning Bass in Iowa By Todd Reed “I threw everything at them and nothing!”. “All I seemed to catch were small bass!”, “The bass would follow the bait all the way to the boat!”, “I kept missing bites!”. Do these sound like familiar phrases in May when trying to catch bass? I know I’ve said […]

Catfishing the Ice Out and Cold Water Period

Catfishing the Ice Out and Cold Water Period By Brad Durick Northern winters can get long especially for the catfish anglers of summer. These guys have been patiently waiting all winter for their beloved lakes and rivers to open up so they can get back at it. So after a long winter of laying around […]

Spring Catfish Strategy with Brad Durick – Podcast