Iowa Sportsman

Early Season Ice Tactics that will Fill your Bucket

Early Season Ice Tactics that will Fill your Bucket By Ben Leal Anglers throughout Iowa keep a keen eye on the calendar each year, especially those anglers affectionately known as “ice heads”. Iowa’s average temperatures begin to dip in October and continue the downward trend throughout the month. Halloween paves the way for November to […]

Finish Your Trapline Strong

Finish Your Trapline Strong By JD Rogge Trapping season in Iowa begins each year on the first Saturday of November at 8AM, and runs through until the last day of January. On opening day trappers take to the fields, creeks, and ditches in numbers, excitement is high, and trappers are working hard to fill their […]

Welcome to Late Season Turkey Hunting

Welcome to Late Season Turkey Hunting By Noel Gandy Looking back on the recent past it seemed like the winter of 2018/2019 would never end. Winter days were frigid and the snow never seemed to melt. But, alas, April came and it was time to honor one of the age old traditions of spring: turkey […]

Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Guide John Campbell Chosen to the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame

Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Guide John Campbell Chosen to the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame By Steve Weisman Among the list of inductees into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame is longtime fishing educator, tournament angler and local fishing guide John Campbell. Campbell says with a smile, “It’s exciting and a great honor. […]

Putting Slabs on the Ice

Putting Slabs on the Ice By Steve Weisman When ice fishing season rolls around, bluegills and crappies are two of the most sought after fish. Many anglers, myself including, find that if we target bluegills we will also run into crappies. So, on early ice we will start in the shallows, in bays where there […]

My First Experience with Taking a Kid Deer Hunting. Part 1

My First Experience with Taking a Kid Deer Hunting. Part 1 By Jason Smith I was 14 when I first went deer hunting with my Dad’s shotgun party. I thought I was pretty young to be deer hunting, even at 14, because I didn’t know my way around in the woods, wasn’t completely comfortable with […]

80 Years Collecting and Using Fishing Gear… Now What?

80 Years Collecting and Using Fishing Gear… Now What? By Tom A. Woodruff It all started in 1937 with a corn cob bobber used to fish off a sand bar in Long Crick in “Naturally” Louisa County, Iowa. Yes we always called a creek a crick there. Long crick and that darn corn cob bobber […]

Primetime for Panfish

Primetime for Panfish March is a wonderful time of the year that can bring warm weather and with it, thoughts of open water. This leads most anglers to begin preparing for open water leaving many opportunities to fish areas with limited pressure. Some of the biggest bluegills and crappies that swim in systems are caught […]

What is a Trophy Fish

Trophy Fish What Makes Em’ Grow As a lifelong angler I have had the thrill of catching some genuine trophy fish. As a boy, a trophy was anything bigger than the last fish I caught. And in one case it was one that never took the bait, but one I could clearly see as […]

Bass Fishing in Iowa

Spring Bass Fishing 101 Each March and early April around the state of Iowa people start to focus their thoughts on catching that first bass of the year. Spring is an excellent time of year to target bass around Iowa. More than likely, you will catch your biggest bass of the whole year in one […]

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