First Iowa Flathead

[Damon]

Finally, got a chance to do a little fishing here. I have not done a lot of bank fishing except for Salmon/Steelhead. There is a river near by here that's got walleye, cats, and smallies. But man it is a different fishery for me. I could not figure out how to NOT loose tons of gear. Something kept stripping my combo of minnow/crawler. So I just found a calmer spot above a "wing dam" and started throwing without any weight. BAM! Finally hooked and landed a 5 pound flathead catfish. Of course it was minutes before dark and I didn't bring a lantern. But it was cool anyway. The wildlife here is amazing. Yesterday out the back window I counted 9 adult Turkeys, several babies, and a bunch of rabbit and deer. But it's hard to beat the natural beauty of Oregon! Sure miss that place and you ifishers! Take care,
Damon

[arkansasbasser]

You can probably use trot lines and yo yo's there to catch fish. Just ask anyone around there about yo yo's. If it's legal they will let you know.

[1bigfish]

Glad to see you are already out on the water.

[Hunt'nFish]

Cool! Man your already there AND FISHING?!?! :bowdown:
Pics Damon, pics!
What river are you on? Google coordinates please.:D
(It's a lot of fun to play w/ google and look at other places and image fishing there yourself.)
Looking forward to seeing & reading about your new adventures.

ooooooooo.......walleye....(in my best Homer Simpson impression).
Tight lines.
Hunt'nFish

[Damon]

Ya, I knew somebody would say something about pics. I have to get another camera soon. Tonight, I went to a local lake that the state fishing report said was "good" catfishing. I guess "good" can be a wide definition. I caught a bunch of baby cats. The mosquitos were practically bigger! I got the flathead yesterday right below the bridge that crosses the Cedar River (E. washburn rd) at Gilbertville, IA. Hope that helps with the google thing. I found it on google satellite but I'm not sure how to tell what the coordinates are. :D

[Flatfish]

Cedar river, as in North Central Iowa?

[Damon]

Yep that's the place. Thinking about trying it again this afternoon. It is certainly a new type of fishing for me. I REALLY want to tye into a walleye but I keep snagging (really rocky).

[Flatfish]

We have lots of family in Manly. Small world.

[Slacker]

I was born and raised in that area.

For big cats try right below the dam in dowtown Waverly, just north of you about 30 minutes.
In the spring right after ice out (usually early April) you can slay the Walleye at Clear Lake - also just a bit north of you. Smaller than Oregon, but you can catch them all day long.

[Damon]

It's irronic you brought those places up. I've been to Waverly once and fished above the dam. But I didn't start fishing 'till about noon and didn't do so well. Clear Lake is pretty close to where I want to live and I've heard alot about the walleye. I can't wait to try it! Thanks for the info. I'm learning more and more here. Yesterday, we went to a gravel pit south of Waterloo and slayed the crappie. Several 14 inchers. My cousin took photos so I'll post those next week when I get back from job/house hunting up north. Any more suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. :D

[Threemuch]

I went to school in Ames, and fished that area alot. There were walleye in Big Creek and Saylorville. I have also caught alot of them in the mighty Miss.

But if you really want walleye, go north for a weekend. Shangri-la is just 5 hours north of you!

Be prepared though, the fish are much smaller on average than on the columbia, but catching a half dozen in a day isn't usually all that hard. Techniques are what you read about, crawler harness, leeches and minnows off baitwalker rigs (that will help you out with snaggs greatly) or on jigs. Good luck.http://www.gapen.com/images/tackle/baitwalkersinker.gif

[RascallyRabbit]

I fished for Flatheads in Georgia on the Altamaha. During the late afternoon/early evening we would catch redear sunfish and toss them in the livewell. Then we'd anchor just above one of the larger holes on the flats, and cast out our bait (ala sunfish). When the sunfish would start getting aggitated is when we had a good idea that a flathead was in the area. Most that we caught were in the teens, occasionally we would land one that was between 20 and 30 lbs, largest was 37 lbs. If I remember correctly, all that ever worked was live bait.

Steve/RR