Wapsipinicon River

I used to fish the Wapsi quite frequently but has been a couple of years since I’ve been on her. Was wondering if the fishing has been good from Indepedence to Anamosa? Any tips on presentations or areas would be greatly appreciated!I’m planning a canoe trip with my son (7 yrs old) and it would be nice to get him hooked up with a smallie or walleye.

Catfishing has been good lately. I haven’t been out to look for pike or ‘eyes, and rarely find them when I do. I’ve had pretty decent luck for smallies around the dam at Quasky, and in the log jams farther south between Troy and Central City, but never as good as the Maquoketa anywhere south of Backbone.

Spyder, try the stretch of the Wapsi between Stone City and Anamosa. Kind of northeast of Cedar Rapids. Very pretty section of the river with lots of rock. There is a good put in at Stone City. Your youngster could probably pitch a Mepps spinner without getting into to much trouble or even drag a crawler along and latch on to something. Good luck!

Thanks for the info! Nice to here from someone close to home! What type of presentation do you like for the smallies?

Small crankbaits in craw or firetiger colors. A Wee R or Rebel type of crankbait or small plastics (jigs) that resemble a crawfish. One of my alltime best lures on that type of water is a 1/16 oz black jig of either plastic or hair. I doubt that your son would be able to fish the jigs or cranks because of his age but he could probably throw a spinner and have some fun. Best of luck to you!

Thanks Gianni and bigdog10 for the info! I am going to hit the water the 26th. Will let you know how we did! Looking forward to fishing the Wapsi – its been too long! Going to try the Quasky to Troy Mills section first because I know that stretch better than the others. Then plan on trying the Stone City area! The info is greatly appreciated! Take care and good luck on your next outing!

Best of luck! Quasky to Troy Mills should be great! Keep that little guy interested in fishing O.K.?

I’m looking for a place to head out this afternoon – maybe I’ll hit the Wapsi. I’m guessing that the 4 inches of rain over the last two days will probably cause me some heartburn, but it still beats working. Option 2 is Lake MacBride, but I’m fishing in the boat tomorrow and my charger just won’t cut the mustard if I spend the whole of today running the tm battery down.

If you’re fishing the stretch from Troy to Quasky, there are only a few places that I can think of that are both accessable and near deep water: The bends right at the east end of Troy Mills, below the Paris Bridge, and the bend that goes around the group camps at Pinnicon Ridge. There are others if you are canoeing, but even small boats can’t get up river from the park very far. I always and up bottoming out right around Wapsi-Y.

Good luck and let us know how you did!