Stories from Wednesday, March 18, 2020

In the last few centuries, a number of Iowa wildlife species have been extirpated from the state - but some have seen successful comebacks, too. One of those successes has been the trumpeter swan. Before European settlement of Iowa, trumpeter swans nested throughout the state. ...

Channel catfish move close to shore and are eager to bite in many lakes and the large reservoirs across Iowa just after the ice is gone. The bite starts sooner in the southern Iowa impoundment since they lose ice a week or two before northeast Iowa natural lakes...

The first rhythmic and haunting cooing can be heard as the night sky fades and sunrise begins. The short grass prairie booming grounds prepares for a display found nowhere else in Iowa. This is prairie chicken country and April 4 will mark the 17th Annual Prairie Chicken Day at the Kellerton Wildlife Management Area, in Ringgold County. Activities begin around 6 a.m., originating from the elevated viewing platform on 300th Avenue, southwest of Kellerton...

A friend recently showed me a photo of a smallmouth bass that his son caught through the ice in mid-February 2020. It went almost 22 inches on the measuring board, was shaped like an over-inflated football, and was well in excess of 6 pounds. A real beauty. And you know what? Fish like this, of many species, have become more and more abundant. There are several reasons why we’re hearing about and catching bigger fish. Following are some of those reasons...

March certainly is an unpredictable month. First, we open the month with temperatures in the 60s, the ice begins pulling away from shore, the Rotary car falls through on West Okoboji’s Smiths Bay, and we put the ice fishing gear away. At that time, people are betting on how quickly the ice will be going out, and they are talking about hitting open water by the middle of the month...

Following Sunday’s announcements from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, all spring activities of Iowa’s high school Unified Activities partners – the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, the Iowa High School Athletic Association, the Iowa High School Music Association, and the Iowa High School Speech Association – will be prohibited through the state’s K-12 school recommended closure of four weeks...

Dickinson County boys basketball teams combined to go 36-31 overall this past season. For their efforts, several athletes earned postseason recognition. Here is a look back at this past season in area boys hoops: The Okoboji boys basketball team finished a solid 2019-20 season with a run to the district championship. The Pioneers defeated Central Lyon before upsetting perennial power Western Christian in the semifinals, but fell to West Lyon in the championship...