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
Click Here To View This Issue Now!
Fishing for Muskie
Fishing for Muskie Mention the fall season and you’ll find anglers going after all kinds of fish: walleyes, largemouth and smallmouth bass, perch and other panfish. However, there is a group of anglers that go after the top of the food chain, the predator of predators…the muskellunge. For years, it has been called the “fish […]
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Tenkara: Japanese Fly Fishing
Tenkara: Japanese Fly Fishing If you follow fly fishing at all, you probably already have at least an idea what Tenkara is. If not, at the rate that Tenkara’s popularity is growing, you will soon. Tenkara is a method of fly fishing developed in Japan almost 200 years ago by commercial fisherman to catch trout […]
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What You Need To Know About Late Season Waterfowling
What you Need to Know about Late Season Waterfowling Arguably my favorite time of year for duck and goose hunting is late season. There’s just something about battling the elements, scraping ice off my beard and fooling weary birds that gets the adrenaline flowing. This is the time of year when a lot of scouting, […]
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Hunting Waterfowl Beyond Opener
Hunting Waterfowl Beyond Opener Take a distant glance at waterfowl hunting in Iowa throughout the season and you will see a predictable shift in hunting pressure that occurs after the first couple weeks of the season. A chunk of hunters that ventured out early have hung their waders up to focus on other game species […]
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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.
Created By Iowans, For Iowans
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.
