Outdoors

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is working with state and local officials to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and has transitioned employees to work remotely. DNR offices are closed to the public during this time and only available by appointment...

DES MOINES — If you are a spring turkey hunter, the DNR encourages you to plan ahead and get your hunting license and turkey tag at least seven to 10 days in advance so tags have time to arrive in the mail before the season begins. The rapidly evolving situation with COVID-19 is causing many retailers to change hours or how they do business, including those that sell hunting and fishing licenses. ...

Many different crankbait styles and lures can work early in the season. Often, we find some of our most consistent crankbait patterns early in the season in less than 12 feet of water. Jerk baits or shallow running minnow profile lures often shine in clear water and cold water that is less than 55 degrees. ...

I took a drive the other day and happened to travel over the bridge that spanned one of my favorite spring walleye rivers. There were several anglers within eyeshot of the bridge. It’s a small river, very similar to many of the small rivers that are found across the Midwest. It’s maybe a quarter-mile wide at the widest, 10 feet deep in the deepest hole, and has a dam every 15 or 20 miles...

This is the time of year that northwest Iowans get excited for the annual spring gill netting by Department of Natural Resources personnel at the Spirit Lake Fish Hatchery. One of the most amazing things to me is how quickly the northern pike netting goes...

When the days get longer and the temperatures get a little warmer, it signals that spring is on its way. You’ll even start to hear winter bird residents begin to perk up, and you’ll start to see bird species that you haven’t seen for a while. Three of Iowa’s earliest spring avian arrivals are the killdeer, red-winged blackbird and eastern phoebe...

DES MOINES — Protecting yourself during the COVID-19 national pandemic starts with following the guidance from our state and national health experts — maintain at least 6 feet between each other, wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds, cover your cough, stay home if you feel sick and avoid groups of 10 or more people. These are unprecedented times and personal health and safety takes top priority...

Early season post spawn walleye tactics often incorporate live bait rigging and jigging. Particularly with states like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa that have a walleye opener, crankbaits often get overlooked on many fisheries and they shouldn’t. Many anglers associate presentations with water temperatures. ...

Spring 2020 officially arrived on March 19. In some areas anglers still see ice on their favorite lakes and ponds, but that ice will soon be disappearing. In other areas, anglers are already fishing in open water. Spring is a wonderful time to go fishing, and we can make it even more wonderful if we keep a few ideas in mind for spring fishing success. Following are some of those ideas...

The week of March 23 was Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa. It was kind of fitting that we had our first real “spring” thunderstorm Saturday afternoon. One crack of thunder seemed like it came from right on top of our house! Definitely made me jump a little bit in my chair! Shortly afterward, the downpour began and then later the thunderstorm turned to a thunder snow...

DES MOINES — 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. ...

KELLERTON — 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...

DES MOINES — 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...

A friend recently showed me a photo of a smallmouth bass that his son caught through the ice in mid-February. 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...

DES MOINES — Iowans interested in the results of a Department of Natural Resourses study to improve water quality in lake environments for bacteria can attend one of three meetings across the state March 18, March 24 and April 1. Citizens are encouraged to bring their questions and ideas to improve the lakes to the meeting for discussion...

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will hold the 2020 spring auction on March 21, in the Livestock Pavilion on the Iowa State Fairgrounds, in Des Moines. Doors will open at 7 a.m., and the auction will begin at 8:30 a.m. The public may view the items for sale and preregister for the auction from 4-6 p.m., on March 20...

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has scheduled public meetings in West Union and Decorah after hunter harvested deer in Decatur, Fayette and Winneshiek counties tested positive for chronic wasting disease. It is the first time deer have tested positive in these counties...

On some bigger bodies of water with classic spring walleye movements into tributaries or rivers, simply connect the dots between traditional winter locations and the incoming water. Could be a point or secondary point at the mouth of a traditional spawning bay on a reservoir. Could be a sand flat out in front of the anticipated spawning location. Fish often make massive moves on big water at late ice. Really the pattern can be simply running traffic...

As the 2020 open water fishing season gets closer, there are a few things that are good to consider. Two of those things is our perception on fish location and lure presentation. We all have ideas that are based on previous fishing trips, and also what we’ve learned from other anglers. History can be a good teacher, but we also need to keep an open mind to the current situation. Here’s what I mean...

As we move into mid-to-late March, the ice fishing season is just about over. The trouble is, unless you want to head to Chamberlain for some good walleye fishing, we’re kind of in that in between time. So, what do you do? Some people head to late winter sport/outdoor shows, but that means traveling quite a distance...

The Iowa DNR has tabulated all of the hunting and fishing license sales. Listed below is what Iowa residents purchased: — 195,509 annual licenses. — 7,106 lifetime fishing licenses. — 11,227 three-year licenses. — 1,097 seven-day licenses. — 2,699 one-day licenses...

Some specific states and provinces have open walleye seasons during the late ice period. These fisheries offer tremendously fun ice fishing opportunities. I love catching walleye any day of the year but what I love about late ice walleyes is the level of aggressiveness. Patterns and locations can vary among fisheries but there are also some almost universal themes or tendencies that seem to pop up wherever walleye swim...

Although I have intentions to go ice fishing a few more times this year, I’ve started my planning for the open water season also. Every new year brings new things to add or consider adding to my fishing. In the open water fishing season of 2020, I’ve got some new things that I will be trying, and there are also a good number of things from the past couple of years that I want to do more experimenting with and on. Following are some of those things...

When I moved to northwest Iowa in 1978, I was amazed at the incredible fishing history surrounding the Iowa Great Lakes and the many fishing legends that had made the Lakes one of the go-to places in the entire Midwest. My son, Curt, was only 2 years old at the time of our move, but he already had a passion for anything having to do with the outdoors and loved to tag along. Although I grew up fishing in South Dakota, these lakes were an entirely different deal...

Iowa is home to nine different owl species. You might not have seen all of them before, however, as two are state endangered — the short-eared owl and the barn owl — and one is state threatened — the long-eared owl. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts of each species...

Not long ago, I shared with you that my wife and I were spending two weeks on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. What a wonderful vacation, and except for one mostly rainy day, the rest of our trip was 80-degree days with plenty of sun! That made the sunrise views from our ocean view condo at Pono Kai Resort perfect...

Although there’s still a lot of ice fishing to do in the next several weeks, and some of the best ice fishing action of the year will occur during those several weeks, March is when many of us start thinking about open water fishing. There are several reasons why that is...

You know that spring is coming, when sunset is after 6 p.m., and it’s getting later by a minute each day! We’re also heading into the month of March, and it’s time for some excellent late season ice fishing. Right now, the accesses are holding up, and anglers are still driving their vehicles out on the ice. ...

All week I worried about what the weather would be like for the fishing outing/tournament at Camp Autumn on Saturday, Feb. 15. Even through Friday night, wind chills were double digits below zero and there was a ground blizzard as the strong south winds whipped up the loose snow. I wondered just how many would brave those type of conditions. How would the portable ice shelters even stay in one spot...

It’s that time of year when ice fishing is still good, and some outstanding fishing at the end of the ice season is still going to happen. But it’s also the time of year when boat shows and sport shows start popping up, and that gets anglers excited about the open water season. Following are some ideas for getting more bites when open water returns...

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is accepting comments on several proposed changes to the Iowa Administrative Code Chapters 44, 54, 81 and 113, through March 5. Proposed changes include using the newly updated American Fisheries Society publication guidelines for fish kill investigations (ARC 4921C), adding “virtual fishing tournaments” to the definition of a “fishing tournament,” (ARC 4924C) and allowing cities and counties issued a DNR permit to apply chemicals to public waters to remove aquatic plants for navigational and recreational purposes (ARC 4920C).. ...

Hunters reported harvesting nearly 95,000 deer during Iowa’s 2019-20 hunting seasons, which is a decline from 2018-19, when hunters reported nearly 108,000 deer. Wildlife experts say while there are a number of factors that likely contributed to the decline, the most prominent is the outbreak of hemorrhagic disease that killed thousands of deer across the state. ...

DES MOINES — Chronic wasting disease has been confirmed in wild deer from Woodbury, Winneshiek, Fayette and Decatur counties this year, bringing the total number of counties in Iowa where wild deer have tested positive to eight. “We will schedule meetings in these areas in the next few months to discuss chronic wasting disease, our response and the role hunters play in helping us to manage for this disease,” said Tyler Harms, wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR...