Check Out Our Current Issue!
In the April 2026 Issue of the Iowa Sportsman
- Best Places for Early Season Open Water
- Building a Foundation for the Field
- Range Safety Tips
- Building a Farm Pond to Hold More Wildlife
- Shed Antlers: Do they really tell us anything?
- What Makes a Great Food Plot
- Keeping Kids Engaged in Turkey Hunting
- Pre-Spawn Bass
- Springtime Panfish-Perch, Crappie, and Bluegill
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Ice Fishing Fundamentals
Ice Fishing Fundamentals Every year I give lots of ice fishing seminars over the course of the winter. LOTS of seminars. So many in fact, that I used to find myself wanting to up the ante with each seminar I presented, tackling increasingly more complex subject matter with each new presentation. A few years ago, […]
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Iowa’s Deer Forecast 2023-24
Iowa’s Deer Forecast 2023-24 As summer months have slowly moved on, we are staring at the opening day of the 2023/24 whitetail deer season. Iowa bowhunters have been out practicing and honing their archery skills, and as each passing month passes, the anticipation has finally come, October 1, time to hunt! In this edition of […]
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Useful Tactics For Walleyes In The Heat!
Useful Tactics For Walleyes In The Heat! The dog days of summer…historically, for lots of anglers these words mean the end of walleye fishing until the cool fall days begin. For fishing guide and tournament angler Kevan Paul, the dog days of summer can still be days of good walleye fishing. “I agree that some […]
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Yellow Bass Iowa’s Overlooked Panfish
Yellow Bass Iowa’s Overlooked Panfish Iowa has a love-hate relationship with the yellow bass. On one hand they’re plentiful, fun to catch and make delicious table fare. On the other hand, in many instances, they’re an invasive species and out-compete other panfish like crappies and bluegills…even largemouth bass. They are prolific breeders so they can […]
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Featured Story
Springtime Panfish-Perch, Crappie, and Bluegill
Spring is in full swing here in Iowa, and what can be more pleasant a reminder than the sound of birds, the sight of flowers blooming, and the feel of a warm afternoon? I can think of at least one more thing…Panfish!
I can remember it like yesterday, our family would all meet up at the lake house. There was work to do. The yard was to be picked up, the cabin cleaned, and the dock had to be put in. But then, after the work was finished, it was time for all of us cousins to fish! We would all go out to the garage to pick out a few old rods and tie on a hook and sinker as best we could.
The next order of business was to hunt for worms. Flipping anything that we could find stuck in the ground in hopes of just finding a few crawlers. Once the bait was secured, we were ready to fish. We would go out on the dock and cast, vertical jig, and even troll along the side of the dock. We usually did pretty well use those tactics, but my all-time favorite was walking along the rocks on shore and dropping the bait down every little crevice, not knowing what was going to come up next.
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The Iowa Sportsman website and magazine are Iowa’s only privately owned media sources catering to hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts here in Iowa. Simply put, we are unlike other Iowa outdoor media sources: All our staff is from Iowa, from our publisher to our writers. We actually follow through on what we advertise; we provide knowledgeable content from people who know the industry or sport discussed.
