I’m going to try to get out a bit this weekend. I have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Will probably try floating leeches on the rocks near Cedar Rapids. Did pretty good on catfish last year trying that. Would like to find some other fish too.
Is anyone having any luck?
Quote:
Smallmouth, Rock Bass here…It’s really dirty. You’re plan should work good.
It’s a bit dirty here too. And the fact that we’re having the first rain since winter (seemingly) won’t help. I think Friday morning I’ll fish from shore below the C St dam. Might try an afternoon rock floating session with my wife then Saturday/Sunday I might venture out on my own casting the rocks with a crankbait.
Haven’t been able to get out. Good fishing.
The catfishing hasen’t been what it was like last year but ok. Thier there but a guy just has to fish diffrent spots and closer to the main channel. The river here has better conditions for smallies and walleyes, so do the smaller rivers.
I caught a few catfish (and missed a couple) floating a leech under a bobber in the rocks. Spent the first half of the trip throwing a lipless crankbait in the rocks with nothing.
Wish I knew where to find walleyes around here. 
I think my brother and I are going to attempt to take a day to float the Wapsi.
We were up driving along the Wapsi around Stone city and Waubeek a couple days ago and both have ramps, and the water looks good and theres alot of trees along the edges on both sides. For catfishing it looks really good around those snags. I talked to a guy when we were up there whos lived on the Wapsi for 30 years and he said the walleyes have been good. The nice thing about the Wapsi is its not a wide river and its easier to fish all the possibilties where they would be. I’d even throw lures around those trees along the edges, plus the holes and rocky shorelines. The water did look pretty nice and very fishable. Smallmouth should be iceing on the cake.
A good day is 2 too 5 fish that weigh up to around 6 pounds. The Cedars harder to fish walleyes then the Wapsi or Maquoketa.
Just got back from fishing catfish and its really slow right now. Its the lull after they have spawned I’m sure. In another week they should start biting again. I used livers and fished a sandbar with about 4′ of water on top of it and a hole below it and not a bite, fished it for about an hour then pulled anchor and loaded the boat. I don’t have any dittypoles out right now but they should get a few catfish but haven’t tried lately. Its not like it was a couple weeks ago, its slower now.
I’m going to float a leech tonight and see what happens. Not sure I’ll go through the hassle of putting the boat in, will probably just stick to the riverfront.
Thanks for the walleye info, Dan.
Your welcome JW, In this neck of the woods bigger isn’t always better comparing the Cedar to the Wapsi. I’m going to put my boat in on the wapsi this weekend eigther at Waubeek or Stone city and fish the fallen trees along shore. Its been a couple years since I’ve been up there and this last drive along the Wapsi a few days ago impressed me enough that I’m going to fish it. The average depth is 2′ too 4′ in both stretches. The water was up a little because I know the depth in one section because I fish walleyes at Anamosa below the dam and powerhouse and on the west side of the river, it just looks too good to pass up. Both the Wapsi and Maquoketa are perfect summer fishing rivers and don’t forget the crappies in the Wapsi. Just find a slow spot with a hole and drift a bobber and minnow through it, you’ll need a smaller motor for both rivers or tilt a 20 horse up. Both rivers in the summer are clear and nice smaller rivers. The Wapsi has springs that come into it occasionally because the river cuts through limestone bluffs and hills. The spring at Matsells bridge is running about 3 times what it does on a dry summer and ice cold. The area around Anamosa too Waubeek is Grant wood country and he painted alot of the scenery around there and it inspired him alot, thats why he lived there. Its pretty country with a nice smaller river going through it.
Pretty slow here last night also, only 1 smallish eye.
Dan that is what I was thinking for the cats also, couple spots were I should have been bite got nothing. Good to be out though.
I might try faster water tonight, last night it was slow and glass smooth. My old rule of thumb is if thier not hitting in slower water fish the faster water. Anything in there is more active and more then likely feeding, its been the rule of thumb in the past and has always worked.
Fished for about and hour just off 1st St in the rocks. Hooked two floating a leech. The hooked pulled out of the second one after fighting it for a while. It was a good fish and it wouldn’t come up off the bottom. Wish I would have seen it.
Those two where in about the first 10 minutes. After that it was very slow, no bites.
What surprised me is not even the small fiddelers were biteing, usually they are biting day and night. The boy and I are thinking about going to faster water tonight. It won’t be long and they’ll start biteing again.
Man I hate it when the get off before you get a look. Might have been a flat if wanted to stay on the bottom.
Dan did just that. When the slower water was a no go headed to some faster water and that is where the eye was caught but only had one cat nibbler there.
Atleast it was a nibbler, I didn’t even have that. Its been a strange year forsure. Last year we killed them, this year was ok but no flooded backwaters. The waters down at normal stage and not even a nibble by a small one, too me thats diffrent. Get this: where I catch bluegills for catfishing thier not even in the shallows spawning and haven’t been. Last year there were all kinds of beds with bluegills on them, not a one this year, now thats a rareity around here, especially where I go. I had to walk a couple hundred yards to catch just 4 warmouth bluegills and had to settle for them. They were about 4 inches long but this time last year the beds covered the bottom with small and large bluegills. I fish with the 1 1/2″ too 2″ bluegills and I couldn’t have bought one the other day. When we ran our dittypoles about a month ago they were easy to catch, now you couldn’t buy one. It makes me wonder whats going on, they weren’t even deep in 4′ of water, where’d they go? This is the first time I’ve ever seen this.
I understand what you’re saying. Just like the eyes up here this spring. I think that warm winter, hot march and then the colder April has messed things up.
We were 3 weeks ahead of things this year with the way the weather was, then on top of that not alot of snow or rain in most places. I don’t know, duck and bow hunting were wierd last season also. Maybe we’re not holding our mouths right.
Going to see if I can’t hold my mouth right this weekend. 
I fished from a little bit after 6 AM until about 11 AM on Saturday. I caught two small SMB by about 6:30. After that it was over. The river is so “dirty”… we haven’t had any rain so I don’t think it’s run off. Is there some sort of algae bloom going on or something? Saturday mornining I couldn’t not believe the number of bugs on the river. Thankfully they weren’t biters! Finally they got thick enough running upriver that I slowed down with so many of them hitting my face.
Sunday morning went for a couple of hours up to Pleasant Creek with no luck. Found some spawning bluegills and caught a nice one of those. But that was it.
I fished below the C street dam night befor last and went down river to some logs laying in the water on the east side of the bank. I used chicken livers and got three panfriers. A couple hit lightly and didn’t get those and the three that I did get hit the liver and ran with it, I’m thinking they hooked themselves. I’m going to set my dittypoles down there some time this week with small bluegills and see how that goes. 4′ of water goes right to the bank and thats what the logs are laying in. The flatheads come right up into the bank right next to the logs and feed and they should be biting, the water looks good down there. Every 50 to 75 yards is big trees that are laying right along the bank.
Yes I believe there is a algae bloom going on plus some bug hatchings, late last week seen some mayflies.
Hey Dan have you tried Ellis this past week..wondering if the cats are biting. I ususally have some luck there.
There’s been some mayflies around, yes.
No Pal, I’ve been fishing below the roller dam on the south side. I set my dittypoles out late this afternoon and baited them. I used warmouth bluegills about 3″ to 4″ long and went home for about 2 hrs. I put my boat back in and went down river to where I set my poles.
I set my poles along logs that were laying by the bank and in the water. I set out 5 poles and the logs had about 3 too 4 feet of water around them. When I put my boat back in tonight I motored slowly by all 5 poles and I could see the bluegills swimming. I set the length of line that comes off the end of the willow pole so that the bluegills is under water 4″ at most. That way when the catfish hits it pulls down trying to eat the bluegill and the hook does its work then. I hook them through eigther the tail or through the eye sockets pulling the eyes back and then inserting the barb just behind the bone there. They stay alive along time hooking them there verses through the top by the dorsal fin, less bleeding.
Anyway I drifted by all 5 poles then turned up river and went by them again and one of the dittypoles had a nice fish on that I had just drifted by only a couple minutes earlier. It was freshly hooked and was flopping and jumping trying to throw the hook and was about 6 pounds, a nice one for eating, not too big and not too small. I motored over and I easily and gently held the line, giving the fish enough so he couldn’t work the hook free and slid the net under him. I then checked the other poles and nothing on them, but tonight they should do good I think, the water and conditions just looks right.
Theres always logs that produce better then others and this may be the best log as tomorrow morning and the next week will tell. I expect to get another 2 fish off of the 5 poles tomorrow morning, it just looks too good not to.
If anyone decides to go down stream be very aware of the rock and gravel bar that crosses the river about 2/3rds down the length of the island, its full of rocks. I pulled a guy back up river two nights ago and he had a 25 horse on and got out about 100′ from the ramp and sheared a pin on his prop. I got my boat in the water and went down and got him and pulled him back. He just bought the boat and forgot to put the drainplug in and by the time we got his boat back he had a foot of water on the floor and the bottom of the boat was laying on the gravel beside the concrete ramp. I think he was a new boater and still learning. I told him it would be a good idea to get a depth finder and a bilge pump just for this reason, especially with a 25 horse in the back, its shallow down there in alot of places and a good place to loose a lower unit or shear a pin. This stretch of the river has about 9′ too 12′ of water in the main channel and is about 3/4 miles long, thats enough water to hold alot of fish. I think this area of the river is going to produce real well, we’ll see in the next few days.
Talk about a bug hatch, theres trillions of bugs hatching right now. The water is covered with caseings and I can’t use my floodlight, you can barely see the bank through the cloud of bugs. Thats one of the reasons I came back in, thier every where right now, down your t-shirt, on the stomach, in your hair, even hitting the eyelids constantly, a major hatch right now. Later this afternoon and today not a bug to be seen…
Dan, do you ever run any trot lines on the Cedar?
I used too but haven’t in a few years. I think the fishing is better on the Iowa for running trotlines and getting bigger numbers of fsih but I’ve been thinking about running a couple here. The problem right now is bait and I like useing smaller bluegills and thier very hard to come by right now. Thier there but I just don’t know where they are, they have to be out in deeper water but that would make them vulnerable for bigger fish. I’m thinking about useing chubs but it takes awhile to get enough bait daily so thats a chore but can be done. Working and fishing doesn’t mix well at times. I’ve got all I can do to find smaller bluegills for my dittypoles right now.
I checked them this morning early and had a couple 2 pounders on, and on one dittypole the line was ripped off the end of it. It was a good set with a nice bluegill on it right by a stump and a small log and right next too deeper water. How ever big he was, he was a nice one. Time to put door springs on a few of them and I’m trying to figure out where the bigger ones like flatheads are laying. I’m fishing new water but know there is alot of big flatheads in this part of the river and it also looks good on the other side of the river too with alot of big trees laying on that side too. I’ll have this stretch of river thought out in a few weeks to narrow down where the bigger ones are at. I’m going to check them again here in a few minutes and will post the results later tonight, I’m putting in below the roller dam and have a brown S-10 truck with the boat trailer if anyone wants to come by and shoot the bull, I’ll be back up river about nine tonight, If my trucks there I’m still down river.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
