Iowa Trout First of 2010

Here in Iowa we have had a lot of spring run off and high water in most of the major rivers in our state. But with spring fever getting the best of us, my girlfriend and I decided we were going to make a trip up north to the Guttenberg Iowa area. Saturday morning we left and there was three inches of snow on the ground from a front that had moved through on Friday. We got a call from our hosts for the night on the way and they told us the snow was all but gone up in Guttenberg. By the time we arrived the sun was out and temps were in the 40’s. The good ole Mississippi was up and running fast, quite a few boats out trying for that walleye bite. I passed…this time.. heheh..

We woke up Sunday morning to blue skies and warming temps. We made our way to our first stop, Buck Creek. As we were driving along the dirt road, I was really, and I mean really surprised at the water clarity and level. I expected to find high water and at best stained water. But this creek was running clear and normal. We found a place to stop and fish and found a couple nice runs to try. I normally will use my fly rod, but had decided not to take it along since I figured I’d be dealing with high dirty water. Well let me tell you folks, NEVER leave home without it..LOL.. There was some great looking water and places to throw a fly it made me sick. I had my light spinning gear with me along with small trout spinners, and started pitching in the deeper runs.

I made several casts with no luck so we made another move. Our second stop was Bloody Run. Again the water was clear and flowing at a normal rate. Once again kicking myself for not taking the fly rod with me.. the water and area was just great. The sun was out and we were the only ones on the stream that morning. What a great day to be out. We walked around and found some really nice runs that I felt sure would hold fish. Nice deep pools that just screamed “fish here”…hehehe.. unfortunately the fish were not as cooperative as what I had imagined.

Well, we made on last stop on the way back towards Des Moines at the Manchester Spring Branch Creek Fish Hatchery. It was really cool to see all those trout and especially the brood stock they have. Wow there are some awesome fish in there. Since were were there we just HAD to check out Spring Branch and make a few casts. The creek again was clear and normal. I had fished this area quite a bit and knew where there were some deep pools that normally held fish. I made my first cast upstream into this first pool with my Mepps size 0 red/white spinner and started the retreive, on my second cast I had a bruiser of a trout hit that lure.. wow was it big. But he decided not to play and jumped off pretty quickly. We spent another 30 min or so in the area and I managed two trout. Second one was a bit bigger than the first, but what a great day to be out. There was a bend in my rod, the sun was out and I spent the weekend with my girl. Life is good. Tight Lines All!!!