Outdoors

A special dedication took place at Little Swan Lake north of Superior on Saturday, June 29. Leaders of the Ducks Unlimited and donors of the Living Lake Initiative, the Iowa DNR and Lake Restoration program met that afternoon to celebrate the infrastructure now in place to complete the planned renovation and transformation of Little Swan Lake...

In the summer months, fish are eating aggressively. But every now and then, something happens that makes them a little more selective about what they eat. When that happens, and it’s usually weather related, a plain jig tipped with a piece of plastic can put fish in the boat better than almost anything. Here are some ideas about how you can use jigworms to catch fish when others can’t...

One of the most recognized pollinators, monarchs travel more than 3,000 miles each year to come visit Iowa for the summer. With declining numbers over the last decade, here are some ways you can help these beautiful orange and black butterflies. Gardens help not only monarchs, but other butterflies and pollinators, like bees. Whether your garden will take up a few square feet or a few acres, monarchs benefit from any amount of help...

Gage O’Connor from the Ankeny Hawks Shooting Sports Team hit 200 straight clay targets at the State Trap Shoot the first week of June, besting all other shooters. But in the end his effort was not enough to hold off the varsity squad from North Scott who had the high squad score, hitting 985 out of 1,000 targets by their five person team...

We have had quite the up and down weather conditions since early spring. Now, here we are entering the month of July and we’re half way to October! No matter the weather, each day our spirits are lifted as we look out our south windows at our two bird feeding stations. From dawn to dusk, our feathered friends flit in and out. It is actually a bird menagerie. We have nine different feeders to attract a wide range of birds...

It’s been a cold, wet spring in many parts of North America, but summer is here, so we would guess that things are about to warm up. Something that has already heated up is the fishing: Fishing has been pretty darn good in many places. As the water warms up, our lure choices can speed up. As the water warms, crankbaits will become very productive. Let’s talk about crankbaits...

Iowa’s string of mild winters came to a screeching halt midway through 2019 when the calendar turned to February and the weather pattern went haywire. “We had such an unusual winter last year – started out mild and dry, and then we had a winter’s worth of snow — 23 inches — in February and several warm-cold snaps that brought freezing rain and ice. ...

Life jackets are a must for water safety, but finding the right fit can be tricky. Here’s some helpful tips in finding the right life jacket for you and your family. Under Iowa law, any child under the age of 13 must wear a life jacket at all times while on a vessel, including canoes, kayaks and paddleboards. ...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is closely monitoring Crystal Lake for zebra mussels after recent discoveries of juveniles in a water sample and two individuals on a sampling plate used to monitor for zebra mussels. No adult zebra mussels were found during a follow-up survey...

On Wednesday, June 26, Governor Kim Reynolds appointed Kayla Lyon as the first female director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Lyon will take over as the eighth director of the agency on July 8 and replace Bruce Trautman who has served as acting director since May 2018...

The month of June is always a magical month when it comes to fishing. That seems to be holding true this year. All you have to do is look at the pictures of our area guides with their clients and their catches or check out the bait shops and see their updates...

Most angling educators agree that the anglers who catch the most fish, and probably the biggest ones, are diverse anglers: They are adept at employing a variety of techniques to catch a variety of fish. This point was made very apparent to me on a recent fishing trip...

Editor’s note: David Thoreson is a nationally renowned professional photographer, explorer, environmentalist, educator and public speaker from Lake Okoboji. “Izhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit" In the Gwich’in language, that means “the sacred place where life begins.” The term refers to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) where some 200,000 caribou birth their young after making the longest land-based mammal migration on the planet...

Most anglers dream of the perfect catch, but simple mistakes can prevent you from reeling in the fish. Here are some pitfalls to avoid when fishing: Don’t cast out with an old hook. An old, dull hook can cause frustration when fish easily unhook and swim away. Also, choose a hook appropriate for the size of fish you’re trying to catch. If the fish has a small mouth, use a small hook. For panfish, use a size 6 or 8 hook...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking all boaters and anglers to check for unwanted hitchhikers on their boats and equipment this Fourth of July to help protect Iowa lakes and streams. Aquatic invasive species, everything from zebra mussels to Eurasian watermilfoil, move from one water body to another by hitchhiking on boats, in bait buckets and on other equipment used in the water. They can create serious problems for Iowa waters...

The Prairie Lakes Chapter of Delta Waterfowl will hold a free "R3" (recruitment, retention, and reactivation) program on July 12 and 13. The objective of the event is to get more hunters into the fields and marshes. The Prairie Lakes chapter covers four counties: Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, and Palo Alto. The event will be held at the Palo Alto Sportsman Recreation Area two miles north of Cylinder...

When a person is preparing to go fishing, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that the fish might not be where we expect them to be. I forgot that fact recently, and it impacted my catching in a negative way. We caught lots of fish, but if I had been better prepared, we would have caught more. Here’s what happened...

A hard shell, long legs and a bad reputation. Know what I am talking about? It’s the wood tick (Dermacentor variabilis)! More than a dozen tick species can be found throughout Iowa, but the most common is the wood tick, otherwise known as the American dog tick. The wood tick is called a hard-tick, because it has a type of shell on its back to protect it. If you’ve ever tried to kill one, you know exactly what I mean...

Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries biologists are starting to receive phone calls about dead bluegill and crappies in lakes. “Several dozen dead panfish were reported at Lake Iowa Park in Iowa County early last week,” said Paul Sleeper, fisheries management biologist...

Preserve the memory of your kid or grandkid hooking their first fish this summer with a special certificate. Print the certificate yourself from an electronic file posted online or request a printed certificate. Apply for a first fish certificate online at www.iowadnr.gov/firstfish or complete the form in the Iowa Fishing Regulations and mail it in...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will host a public meeting at 6 p.m., June 25, at the Lacey Keosaqua State Park main lodge at the west entrance, to discuss the proposed removal of gizzard shad from Lake Sugema. Gizzard shad, an injurious species, were illegally introduced to Lake Sugema in 2015.  Growing gizzard shad populations have reduced game fish populations, decreased water quality and limited fishing activity...

State fish records are becoming a common occurrence around the Iowa Great Lakes. First, a state record perch from a local pond last winter, and now, local angler Justin Sturtz caught the new state record white bass at 3:30 a.m., Monday, June 3. Its verified weight was 5.11 pounds and 21.7 inches in length...

A very basic yet often overlooked principle of fishing is that you’ve got to put your bait near a fish if you want to catch a fish. So often we consider lure shape, color, size, or speed, when, in reality, those things don’t matter if the fish don’t see the lure. Once we’ve found the fish, those other things make a difference, but first we’ve gotta’ find them...

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a… Southern flying squirrel? Rarely spotted, these critters are Iowa’s smallest squirrels. Flying squirrels live statewide, but seeing them is a whole different story. These tiny squirrels are strictly nocturnal. When they sleep, they hide away in tree cavities, making it difficult to catch a glimpse of them...

Rigging has continued to evolve over the years and remains a deadly way for catching walleye throughout the season. Rigging can be a lot of different things depending on the angler and region. The classic live bait rig was a simple sliding walking or egg sinker above a small swivel that was attached to a three to seven-foot snell in which a size eight to four live bait octopus hook was used to present a crawler, leech or minnow...

Finally, we get a break from daily rains. It certainly is something for which our farmers have been longing. Plus, it gives a chance for the rivers to get back in their banks and for our lakes to catch up. At the Iowa Great Lakes, we have been hoping that the water levels would begin to recede, and as of Sunday, June 2, it began to happen. ...

Across the Midwest and almost all of North America, most fish in most places are done spawning. After a few days of rest, those fish will want to eat. If you can put a bait near a fish, it will probably eat it. Therefore, it’s good to show as many fish as possible your bait, and the best way to do that is by trolling. Trolling enables an angler to cover lots of water quickly and efficiently. Here's how you can troll to catch more fish now and for the next few months...

The calls have been coming in to field offices and conservation officers for the past few weeks and will only increase as the calendar flips to June - the peak fawning season is right around the corner. The calls have been coming in to field offices and conservation officers for the past few weeks and will only increase as the calendar flips to June - the peak fawning season is right around the corner...

2019 could easily be renamed the “year of student research” at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. Several exciting projects will be implemented over the summer and will provide valuable information for the Iowa Great Lakes Community. Stay tuned for results from these projects on the Lakeside Lab webpage and in future OPA newsletters...

Iowa is blessed with a variety of rivers, creeks, and lakes offering a number of different types of experiences for beginner to expert paddler. 18,000 miles of navigable streams await exploration by curious paddlers from across the state. The Iowa DNR wants you to enjoy, appreciate, and respect Iowa's rivers. We hope you find this site very useful...