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Mississippi River Sponsored by
Date 19-May-23
Water Condition
Water Temperature  


Conditions : Mississippi River: Pool 9 Water level is 12 feet at Lansing and is expected to drop to 11 feet over the next week. New Albin Army Road and Heytman's Landing are closed due to water over the road. Lansing Village Creek is inaccessible for larger boats under the railroad bridge. Some lower profile boats are able to clear the R.R. bridge. Fish are biting; look for areas away from the heavy current. Water temperature is near 63 degrees. Black Crappie - Fair: Use a light jig or a minnow rig fished along the flooded trees. Bluegill - Good: Try a garden worm under a bobber along shore with less current like marina areas or backwaters. A lot of sorting with nicer sizes being caught. Channel Catfish - Fair: Use a crawler or cut bait in the current seams as water temperature rises this week. Flathead Catfish - Fair: Some flatheads are being caught on live bluegill or shiners. Freshwater Drum - Good: Drum are actively feeding. Try a weighted crawler in moderate current from shore. Shorthead Redhorse - Good: Redhorse are running; they are fun to catch. Drop a weighted crawler into the current breaks. Walleye - Slow: Walleye slot length limits now apply on the entire Iowa border of the Mississippi River. All walleyes less than 15 inches long and between 20-27 inches must be immediately released. One walleye over 27 inches may be kept. Walleye/sauger combined daily limit 6/possession 12.

Pool 10 Water level is near 622.2 feet at Lynxville and is expected to fall below 621 feet this week. Ramps at Bussey Lake, Sny Magill and Noble's Island are under water and closed. The high water ramp at Harpers Ferry is accessible. The bite is picking up with warmer water temperatures. Water temperature is 65 degrees at the dam. Black Crappie - Fair: Use a light jig or a minnow rig fished along the flooded trees. Bluegill - Good: Try a garden worm under a bobber along shore with less current like marina areas or backwaters. A lot of sorting with some nicer sizes being caught. Channel Catfish - Fair: Try a crawler or cut bait in the current seams as water temperature rises this week. Flathead Catfish - Fair: Some flatheads are being caught on live bluegill or shiners. Freshwater Drum - Good: Drum are actively feeding. Use a weighted crawler in moderate current from shore. Shorthead Redhorse - Good: Redhorse are running; they are fun to catch from shore. Drop a weighted crawler into the current breaks. Walleye - Slow: Walleye slot length limits now apply on the entire Iowa border of the Mississippi River. All walleyes less than 15 inches long and between 20-27 inches must be immediately released. One walleye over 27 inches may be kept. Walleye/sauger combined daily limit 6/possession 12.

Pool 11 Water level is 13.5 feet at Guttenberg and is predicted to fall to 12 feet over the next week. Guttenberg city ramp, the DNR ramp, Turkey River, and Finleys are under water and closed. Gates are out of the water at the dam. The bite is picking up with the warmer water. Water temperature is in the mid-60s. Black Crappie - Fair: Use a light jig or a minnow rig fished along the flooded trees. Bluegill - Good: Try a garden worm under a bobber along shore with less current like marina areas or backwaters. A lot of sorting with some nicer sizes being caught. Channel Catfish - Fair: Try a crawler or cut bait in the current seams as water temperature rises this week. Flathead Catfish - Fair: Some flatheads are being caught on live bluegill or shiners. Freshwater Drum - Good: Drum are actively feeding. Try a weighted crawler from shore. Shorthead Redhorse - Fair: Redhorse are running; they are fun to catch from shore. Drop a weighted crawler into the current breaks. Walleye - Slow: Walleye slot length limits now apply on the entire Iowa border of the Mississippi River. All walleyes less than 15 inches long and between 20-27 inches must be immediately released. One walleye over 27 inches may be kept. Walleye/sauger combined daily limit 6/possession 12.

Pool 12 The water level is dropping to near 15 feet at Lock and Dam 11 and around 17 feet at the RR bridge. This is considered minor flood stage. Water temperature is around 57 degrees; the water is stained. It will take some time to clean up parks and ramps after the flood recedes. Bluegill - No Report: Bluegills will follow along the shorelines, even in flooded water. Channel Catfish - No Report: Expect the channel catfish bite to be good soon as they feed heavily in flooded waters. Freshwater Drum - Good: A simple egg sinker with a worm rig is the best way to catch abundant drum. Walleye - Good: Some nice catches of walleye have been recorded feeding on minnows near shore. White Bass - Good: You can still find fish in flooded conditions; most fish will be along the shorelines. Try minnows or small spinners to catch white bass feeding in these locations. Yellow Perch - No Report: Lots of smaller yellow perch are in the system; this is a good indicator for yellow perch fishing this upcoming year. It is still possible to catch yellow perch along hard shoreline banks, even during flooding conditions.

Pool 13 The water level at Lock and Dam 12 at Bellevue is dropping to near 15 feet. Water clarity is stained. Water temperature is around 57 degrees. Most boat ramps are flooded out. Water levels have dropped out of all flood stages, but remain very high. It will take some time to clean up boat ramps and parks after the flood. Bluegill - No Report: Bluegills will follow along the shorelines, even in flooded water. Channel Catfish - Good: Try to catch channel catfish in places like Middle Sabula Lake, which should not be affected by flood conditions. Fishing in flood waters should yield abundant channel cats. Freshwater Drum - Good: A simple egg sinker with a worm rig is the best way to catch abundant drum. Paddlefish - No Report: Paddlefish season is closed. Flooding conditions are optimal for successful paddlefish spawns; hopefully this flood will create another strong year class. Rainbow Trout - No Report: Water has receded off the kids fishing pond; most trout probably left the pond during the flood. The area around the pond is very muddy with lots of trash floated in; the pond can still be fished, especially on the west side. It's a mystery on what fish are in the flood after the flood. Shorthead Redhorse - Excellent: Redhorse are running up the tributary rivers like the Maquoketa; they will make some fun action on an egg sinker worm rig. Yellow Perch - No Report: Smaller yellow perch are in the system; this is a good indicator for yellow perch fishing this upcoming year.

Pool 14 The water level at Fulton is receding to near 15 feet, 17 feet at Camanche, and near 10 feet at LeClaire. Water temperature is 58 degrees. Water levels are still in minor flood stage, but may fall out of that stage by next week. It will take some time to clean up parks and ramps after floods recede. Bluegill - No Report: Many good reports on all panfish species in Pool 14 over the winter season. Hope this translates into a good open water season. Channel Catfish - No Report: Expect channel catfish fishing to be good over the next few weeks. Freshwater Drum - Good: A simple egg sinker with a worm rig is the best way to catch abundant drum. Paddlefish - No Report: Paddlefish season is closed. Flooding conditions are optimal for successful paddlefish spawns; hopefully this flood will create another strong year class. Shorthead Redhorse - Good: Redhorse will soon start to bite and will run up rivers like the Wapsipinicon. They can provide good early season fishing action.

Pool 15 The water level at Rock Island is dropping to near 16 feet. Water clarity is stained. Water temperature is 57 degrees. Water level is still in minor flood stage, but should fall out of that stage by next week.

Pool 16 Tailwater stage is 15.30 feet at Lock and Dam 15 in the Quad Cities and is falling. River stage is 15.58 feet at Fairport; flood stage is 14 feet. Most boat ramps are still closed due to the high water conditions. Fishing has been slow.

Pool 17 Tailwater stage is 14.71 feet at Lock and Dam 16 in Muscatine and is falling. Flood stage is 15 feet. River stage is 16.69 feet at Muscatine; flood stage is 16 feet. Most boat ramps are still closed due to high water.

Pool 18 Tailwater stage is 15.58 feet at Lock and Dam 17 at New Boston and is falling. Flood stage is 15 feet. Most boat ramps are still closed due to high water. Fishing has been slow due to the high water conditions.

Pool 19 Tailwater stage is 11.66 feet at Lock and Dam 18 and is falling. Flood stage is 10 feet. River stage is 16.43 feet at Burlington; flood stage is 15 feet. River stage is 528.62 feet at Fort Madison; flood stage is 528.0 feet. Some boat ramps are still closed due to high water conditions. Fishing has been slow due to the high water conditions.

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About: - The upper section of the Maquoketa River can provide Iowa trout anglers with a special fishing experience. This stream's large size and length seperate it from most trout waters within the state. The Maquoketa River's trout water begins at Joy Springs Park and ends where the Maquoketa River becomes impounded by the Backbone Lake dam. This area receives unannounced bi-weekly stockings of brown, rainbow, and brook trout from April through October, as well as annual stocking of fingerling brown and rainbow trout.
  • Rainbow Trout
  • Brown Trout
  • Brook Trout
  • Walleye
  • Smallmouth Bass

Misc Info: - Anglers should note that all of the streambank in this area is under private ownership, with the exception of Joy Springs Park and Backbone Park. The landowners on this section of stream have been kind enough to allow public fishing access, so respect their property by crossing fences at the stiles provided and asking questions when in doubt.


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