Outdoors

There are so many reasons to love the fall season — the changing colors, the mild days and cool nights, harvesting all the garden produce and the combines across Iowa collecting corn and soybeans from the fields. There’s just something magical about fall...

It feels like the autumn season has arrived. It’s been a warm, dry summer in many areas across the Midwest, and some people who predict weather are predicting a cold, snowy winter. I don’t know what the winter will bring, but I do know that past autumns have brought some outstanding fishing. Outstanding fishing: That’s what I’m looking forward to...

Awesome! That word best describes my feeling of elation at the recent news that the East Okoboji Shoreline Project has been achieved. The $8.2 million project to protect 2,020 feet of the last privately owned, undeveloped piece of shoreline on East Okoboji. The cool part is it happened before the Monday deadline...

Show off your outdoorsy side and support conservation with a natural resources license plate. Every penny of the $45 initial fee and $25 renewal feel (automatically included in your annual vehicle registration) goes toward trails, habitat, parks, wildlife and more...

Labor Day weekend already? Wow, did that sneak up on me! For me, Labor Day has always been a sign that our fall season of the year is commencing. As a teacher and coach for 33 years, it was the beginning of school and the fall high school sports season. It was always the time of great anticipation for what the season would bring. I hope that our teachers, coaches and students have a great year and that we all get out to enjoy or listen to the games/competitions in our various communities...

The leaves on the trees are changing colors and the kids are back in school. The first few flocks of early migrating ducks are starting to show up. The people who hunt ducks are practicing calling and are checking their ammunition supply. And the people who like to catch lots of fish and big fish are putting fresh line on their reels...

Results of Iowa’s 2021 pheasant population survey shows the impact that weather can have on the popular game birds. In the regions where less snow fell, the counts were better; where more snow and ice fell, the counts were worse. Overall, the annual August roadside survey found Iowa’s statewide pheasant population to be essentially unchanged from 2020 at 20 birds per 30-mile route. ...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is partnering with Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors to expand the Shooting Sports Outreach pilot program begun in 2020.  Last year, Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors, with support from the Iowa DNR, organized 17 hunts in Iowa, engaging 72 high school and college athletes participating in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), in spite of COVID and without having a coordinator on-the-ground. ...

One of the goals of the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC) is to recruit youth to the sport of fishing, encouraging connection to the outdoors and fishing as a lifelong passion. Recently, the IGLFC wrapped up a youth summer fish camp partnership with ISU Extension and the Iowa Lakeside Lab...

For many anglers, the Labor Day weekend marks the end of the fishing season. While there are still lots of outstanding fishing opportunities after Labor Day, many anglers have others interests and hang up the rods and reels. I’ve had conversations with a variety of anglers recently, and they’ve all had some very interesting observations on changes in fishing in recent years...

As Labor Day draws close, so does the deadline for the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) to exercise the option of purchasing 50 acres on the shore of East Okoboji just north of Elinor Bedell State Park. With 2,020 feet of shoreline, this site is the last privately owned, undeveloped piece of shoreline on the lake...

Iowa’s public water systems deliver ample clean water, according to the 2020 Annual Drinking water Compliance Report. Despite the challenges of COVID-19 last year, Iowa’s 1,848 public water systems produced safe drinking water for 98.9% of Iowans. In fact, the number of systems meeting all health-based standards was the highest in 25 years, since 1996. ...

Last week, we previewed the early teal season. Now this week, we’ll look at the other season that opens on Sept. 1 — dove season. We’ve now had a dove hunting season in Iowa for 10 years. In addition to the mourning dove, there is also the Eurasian collard-dove, which is similar in appearance but has a distinctive mark or “collar” on their neck, and are a little larger than the mourning dove. ...

The nights are getting cooler and the early migrating birds are starting to group up as they prepare for the journey to their wintering grounds. These are reminders to me that autumn is on the way, and that’s a reminder of a couple of late summer and fall fishing memories of mine. ...

At roughly 200 acres, Anderson Prairie State Preserve is one of the largest remnant prairies in Iowa and with more than 220 different plant species it is one of the most diverse places in the state. The state preserve is part of Anderson Prairie Wildlife Area, covering 900 acres of upland, timber, oak savanna, bottomland, remnant and restored prairie sitting in northwest Emmet County...

Although all dove hunters are currently required to register with the Harvest Information Program (HIP), duck and goose hunters are not required to do this, but this will change beginning on Dec. 15, 2021, when 2022 hunting licenses go on sale. All hunters who pursue migratory game birds will be required to register for HIP either through the Go Outdoors Iowa app on their smartphone, through a link at www.iowadnr.gov/waterfowl or at www.gooutdoorsiowa.com. ...

Can you believe that our first hunting seasons are only two weeks away? As quickly as the summer has gone by, preparations for the early teal and dove seasons have almost slipped by me. Both open on Wednesday, Sept. 1, but there is still plenty of time to get ready for these seasons. ...

It’s been said so many times in the past relative to fishing: “In the summer, when you’re fishing and just want to get bit, the deep weedline is the place to be.” There’s a reason why that phrase has been said so many times in the past. The reason is, it’s true. The weedline is the place to find fishing action in most lakes across the Midwest at this time of year...

In late June, I shared a story about protecting a 2,020-foot tract of shoreline on the eastern shore of East Lake Okoboji directly north of Elinor Bedell State Park, which had come up for sale in the fall of 2020. At that time, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) purchased an option on the 50-acre site to come up with the $8,200,000 by Sept. 7, 2021...

When a brief storm rolled through around 3 a.m. last Saturday morning with wind, lightning, thunder and a little bit of rainfall, I worried about what the weather would be like for Saturday’s Okoboji Blue Water Festival. Then, at daybreak, I warily checked out what the weather channel was showing for the day. Chances of thunderstorms in the morning, again in the afternoon and later during the evening — oh boy!...

Different people go about their fishing in different ways. Some anglers, when they catch a fish, like to try to figure out why that fish was where it was and why it was willing to eat that particular bait. They put a considerable amount of thought into their fishing, and that’s good if that helps them enjoy their fishing experience more. Curious anglers often catch more fish, and they also often teach other people how to be more consistent fish-catchers...

Eric Hoien was recently recognized as the 2021 Ace Cory Conservation Award winner. Recognized at last Saturday’s the Okoboji Protective Association (OPA) annual meeting last Saturday by OPA member John Wills, Hoien was chosen as the 14th recipient of the Ace Cory Conservation Award...

The impact that a cold and snowy Iowa winter and driest spring since 1994 had on pheasant nesting success will likely be seen when the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conducts its annual roadside pheasant counts between Aug. 1-15. The statewide survey is conducted by Iowa DNR staff who drive 218, 30-mile routes on gravel roads at dawn on mornings with heavy dew. ...

Trolling can dominate many mid to late summer walleye fishing strategies and, obviously, trolling crankbaits enables anglers to cover water and fish fast. When fish are suspended, scattered across basins or flats or scattered along a deep contour, trolling enables anglers to fish through big locations to find fish. There is one particular pattern, however, that we are seeing emerge very prominently this summer and that is trolling cranks in what we call weed bowls...

From mid-summer until ice returns to the lake, pond or river, if you want to catch more fish, you need to be fishing where the predator’s food lives. The type of food varies from body of water to body of water, but the concept remains: If you want to catch gamefish, you’ve got to be fishing where their food is...

We are now in the month of August, and this is the month I begin looking toward September and October. Yes, there are lots of fishing opportunities between now and early fall, but I relish fall hunting. That’s probably what I like most about living in an area that offers four distinct seasons, and every year I get to look forward with anticipation and then participate in the actual seasonal activities...

This is one of those columns that is going to be a hodgepodge of thoughts. If I were to describe myself, I would call myself a lifelong educator. Even at the age of 73, I still follow education and greatly care about the future of our youth and support the truly great teachers that are in our midst...

Fish are cold-blooded creatures. Water temperatures have an effect on their way of doing things. When the water is cold, the fish prefer a slow moving bait. Their metabolism is slower in cold water, so they don’t move as fast. When water temperatures warm up to where they are now, fish are more willing to chase down a faster moving bait...

Fishing for catfish is a fun summer tradition for many Iowa families. You can always count on channel catfish when the bite slows down for other fish in the heat of Iowa summers. “Catfish will bite most of the time, no matter what the water temperature,” explains Daniel Vogeler, Iowa DNR fisheries technician. “They are biting in most lakes, ponds, rivers and streams across Iowa.”...

Carbon monoxide poisoning is not often thought of when on the water, but boaters need to be aware of the situations that can put them at risk of illness or even death. “Carbon monoxide is silent, odorless, and deadly,” said Susan Stocker, boating law administrator and education coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. ...