Outdoors

The Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC) works hard to provide lots of opportunities for families when it comes to the outdoors and fishing. Events so far this year have included the Wild Game Feed to raise money for the Jim McDonnel scholarship for area high school/college students, adult and youngster hard water tournament, the ISU kid’s ice fishing clinic, spring seminar, ice fishing tournament/fundraiser at Camp Autumn, kids fishing clinic and roadside clean-u. ...

“When the red birds are whistling, the crappies will be biting.” Wally Marshall shared that piece of wisdom with me in a recent phone conversation. Wally is perhaps better known by his trademarked nickname Mr. Crappie. Mr. Crappie is probably the best known crappie angler in North America and maybe the world. ...

The nation’s largest recreational boating safety event of the year, National Safe Boating Week, is May 21–27, serves as a reminder to boaters to keep safety front and center all season long. The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water offers three tips for boaters to be safety heroes on the water:...

Iowa Department of Natural Resource (DNR) foresters are receiving reports of moderate to severe winter burn damage to arborvitae and white pine trees across Iowa. “The ground remained frozen for a long time at the start of this year and the ambient temperatures were above freezing,” explains Tivon Feeley, DNR forest health forester.  “The tree is forced to use their water reserves in the needles, but can’t absorb new water from the frozen soil. The lack of water causes the trees to dry out.”...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is offering a six-month workshop to teach skills needed to hunt, field dress and cook white-tailed deer to individuals who have little to no archery hunting experience. This workshop consists of archery practices in the summer, a fall workshop and hunting opportunities throughout Iowa’s archery season. All sessions are led by instructors that possess the experience to teach skills necessary to become efficient archers and bowhunters...

The 40th annual Iowa Great Lakes Walleye Weekend is in the books. Lots of people entered the tagged walleye contest, fished in the many divisions and celebrated the weekend at the awards luncheon held at the Dickinson County Expo Building on Sunday...

Fishing Rule No. 1 — If you want to make wonderful memories, take advantage of the fish that are most likely to get caught on the day that you’re fishing. Fishing Rule No. 2 — Remember Rule No. 1. As the weather slowly warms the water and the days get longer, more and more species of fish become more and more active. They are interested in spawning, and after they spawn, eating takes priority. When fish are willing or wanting to eat, they become easier to catch...

In Iowa, land in public ownership is very limited. Public areas can only serve as islands of wildlife habitat in a landscape dominated by row crops and urban sprawl. As a result, fulfilling the habitat needs of the state's diverse wildlife species requires natural resources and wildlife habitat be reestablished and/or protected on private lands...

It’s spring. That time of year when temperatures warm, mushrooms pop up and the outdoors beckons.  So run. Hike or bike. Hunt for mushrooms. Take photos. Visit our parks. And count on better air quality. Over the last 18 years, Iowa industries have significantly reduced six major air pollutants, along with total hazardous air pollutants, while growing our economy...

Well, Walleye Weekend, ready or not here we come! What else can we say, when we have been hammered by horrible winds for the past month. However, at midnight on Friday, the walleye opener officially kicks off. I do know this — anglers always seem to find a way to catch fish. ...

The days, too slowly, are getting warmer and longer. These warmer, longer days are getting more anglers in the mood to visit a lake, river, or pond to see if anyone in that lake, river, or pond wants to get caught. Fish are cold-blooded. Being cold-blooded, they respond to different stimulus in different ways...

It's as predictable as May flowers - from border to border, the Wildlife Baby Season has arrived in Iowa. From now until at least mid-June, DNR field offices across the state will be inundated with hundreds of phone calls and scores of deliveries regarding "orphaned wildlife."...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is offering a free kayak fishing basics webinar via Zoom from 6-7 p.m. Monday, May 16, for those who have little or no experience and want to learn more about how to get started. “Fishing from a kayak or canoe gets you where the fish are,” said Barb Gigar, Fish Iowa!coordinator with the Iowa DNR. “Especially later in the summer on smaller lakes where vegetation makes it harder to fish from shore, or on waters with limited shoreline access.”...

Iowa boat owners can help to protect the environment by following five simple tips all summer long. • Take time to prepare your boat’s shrink wrap for recycling by removing vents, strapping or zippers. Only the plastic film can be recycled. Many shrink wrap recycling programs today are offered at the local level, so if your marina does not recycle, ask your county government. Some boaters have found that by carefully removing the wrap it can be reused for a second season...

Having lived in northwest Iowa since 1978, I’ve learned — like all of us who love the outdoors — to use the wind to your advantage. From golf to running to biking to walking to fishing to hunting — we know that the wind is a part of our northwest Iowa lives...

There are lots of different ways for an angler to present a bait to fish. Drifting can be effective if the wind is from the right direction, but trolling and casting are probably, in most places at most times, for freshwater fish, the most popular ways to try to put a bait in front of a fish. Trolling versus casting, here we go...

This is an exciting time of the year for boaters, anglers and recreational users. With the ice off the lake and nice weather hopefully in the near future, many people are getting out their boats, open water fishing equipment, kayaks, canoes and paddleboards to enjoy our lakes in Dickinson County. It is also a good idea to refresh over regulations and also do a safety inspection before hitting the water for the first time...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is partnering with MyCatch by Angler’s Atlas to conduct a statewide walleye fishing challenge starting May 1 through June 30. Anglers will have the chance to win weekly prizes while also contributing to fisheries research, helping improve walleye fishing in the state...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has relaxed the fishing regulations at West Swan Lake in Emmet County to allow anglers to more freely harvest fish before the lake is renovated to eliminate an overabundant population of bullhead and common carp, and restore water quality and habitat...

If I were to describe the DNR biologists and technicians at the Spirit Lake Hatchery as they went about their gill netting this past week, I would use two words: dedicated and resilient. Gill netting began on Monday night (April 11) and it was a great night with excellent weather...

Different anglers have different ideas of what fishing success is. To some, fishing success is catching a bunch of fish: Size doesn’t matter, they just want to catch something. To other anglers, fishing success means you caught a big one. Size is more important than numbers...

John Dirks, from Anamosa, caught a 43-pound smallmouth buffalo on December 1, 2021 in the lower Wapsipinicon River. Iowa Department of Natural Resources staff waited to certify Dirks’ catch as the new state record smallmouth buffalo until genetic tests were completed to confirm that the catch was a smallmouth buffalo. Smallmouth buffalo are thought to hybridize at times with the other two native buffalo species in Iowa, black buffalo and bigmouth buffalo...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and its federal partners are working together to monitor for the presence of avian influenza in Iowa’s wild birds. Avian influenza is a highly transmissible, naturally occurring disease often found in certain waterfowl and shorebirds. There are various strains of the disease ranging from strains causing no harm to domestic poultry to strains that are lethal...

With recent warmer temperatures, restless paddlers are ready to put canoes and kayaks in the water. Early spring paddling can provide solitude, exercise and an opportunity to see amazing wildlife, but extra precautions are needed to stay safe. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recommends that paddlers wait for warmer weather to allow the water temperatures to rise slowly. ...

Sometimes, it takes a picture to prove that a fishing story is true. Well, when my fishing buddy told me the following story, he knew it would probably require visual support. First, a little background. My fishing buddy’s name is Denny Harms, (Harmsy) and he and I used to teach and coach together back in the 1980s at Estherville Lincoln Central. We also spent our winter down time ice fishing...

The open water fishing season of 2022 has arrived. In some areas across the Midwest regulations limit us to the fish species that we can catch, but in other areas most species are fair game. In areas where seasons are open year ‘round, anglers are already out there chasing walleyes, northern pike, bass, and panfish...

Really, Mother Nature? Really? You help us get the ice off the lakes by late March, and now look at what you do — clouds, rain, snow, cold and wind, wind, wind! If the winds stay like this, gusting to 25 mph day after day, how will we be able to fish this summer? I pray that the weather becomes more consistent — in a hurry!...

Iowans will register more than 231,000 boats before April 30, when current boat registrations expire. Boat registrations are good for three years and registration fees go to support water trails, navigation enforcement, aquatic invasive species, and boater education and safety...

ch year, the Iowa Great Lakes Area kicks off walleye season with the Iowa Great Lakes Area Walleye Weekend tournament. Ten walleyes are tagged and released into the chain of lakes. The grand prize for catching one of these 10 tagged walleyes this year is $40,000. Cost to enter the contest is $30...