HROT Fishermen
- Thread starter McLovin32
- Start date
Yep. The local fishermen weren't going to be caught going down those stairs. I didn't care one way or the other.
Gay dudes don't bother me. Never have. I did catch a 5 lb smally! If I end up back in Minneapolis for another project, I'll go right back. I'm not scared.
We're definitely in the contest. Caught a few walleyes last night but they were fairly small. I did get a "Master Angler" 12 inch yellow bass. I was kinda happy about that.
Cool. Did the yellow come on Spirit or East? Buddy of mine caught a yellow Master Angler last year as well but I don't remember which lake we were on. We teased him about it being a White Bass with jaundice since we had never seen a Yellow so big. It was in the same size range.
How many Master Anglers do you have? On Spirit I have 2 (White Bass and Walleye).
I actually caught it on West Lake. And I've got a state qualifier crappie from Coralville, another yellow bass from East Lake, and a yellow perch from Big Spirit. Over the course of the last 4ish years.
Coralville has nice crappies. It would be an excellent fishing location if it weren't for the heavy boat traffic. As it is, I wait until the weather turns in the fall, to fish there.
Yeah they've got some slabs down there. My Master Angler one was 2lbs and 16 inches. Biggest one I've ever caught. I agree about the boat traffic though. I've never fished it in the fall, usually in the spring is when I go down there.
We hammer them along the rock walls in the fall. Biggest crappie I ever caught was 19" at McBride. I didn't weigh it. It was a hog. I thought it was a bass when I hooked it.
Got a fishing report from some buddies on Spirit this morning. Before dawn they got one just under the slot and lost a 15-16" that was up to the boat. They saw one out of slot (which they later learned was 23") go into another boat's box and that was it for walleye. After sun up they worked the weeds but no walleyes...just small northerns and smallies.
Interesting you got the big yellow bass on West. Someone had told me they tended to be in the shallower East and Spirit so I assumed but apparently not. Personally I haven't fished West for a few years so things may have changed what is located where.
Anyone ever fish Banner Lake (south east of DSM)? I've been going to Ahquabi a lot but looking to change it up.
I have but it was long enough ago IDK if I'd be much help. Caught some nice bluegill while we were unsuccessfully trying to catch trout.
Ahquabi is so close to DM it gets a lot of pressure.
The water is freakishly clear in West Lake right now. You can see the bottom in 20 feet of water. We didn't venture onto Spirit, but everyone we talked to on East and West were having trouble catching any Walleye. I'm assuming because there isn't a ton of cover yet, and the water is so clear. With that said, I heard a rumor that a little kid actually caught a tagged Walleye earlier today.
I still maintain that the demise of the minimum length and introduction of the protected slot have wrecked walleye fishing in the Iowa Great Lakes. I have told the DNR this and have also written the Iowa Great Lakes Chamber of Commerce that my dollar$ no longer come to walleye fish. I still will usually come after busy season most years at least once and fish for perch.
For decades I came up and rarely had any trouble catching limits of walleye. Neither did any other fisherman with even a moderate knowledge of walleye. This continued up through the year after the rules change. The year of the rule change the Iowa Great Lakes Chamber boosted about the record number of walleye caught that year. They marketed that point heavily. They were correct....there were record numbers of walleye harvested that year because it included the raping of all the 11"through 14" fish that previously had to be released.
Since then walleye fishing has been poor. Only 1 year would I describe it as mediocre (as compared to pre slot) but even that year we failed to fill our possession limit of 6. There is always an excuse (water clairity ect) but the fish aren't there. Heck, go google local articles concerning opener fishing conditions from just a couple days ago and they are talking up that conditions will be perfect and a great opener is expected.....right.
Hopefully the Iowa Great Lakes Chamber and DNR will get this worked out. Maybe they are making so much money off the pleasure boaters they don't care about any walleye fishermen they lost but I have a lot of fond memories catching eyes and now I don't want to ruin those fond memories with year after year of frustration.
