Outdoors

DES MOINES ― Enjoy the spectacular colors and cool weather this fall fishing in northeast Iowa’s hundreds of miles of trout streams. From easily accessible streams in state or county parks, to those found in Iowa’s most wild and remote natural spaces, there are plenty of places to catch rainbow, brown and brook trout...

In a recent conversation with some ice anglers, I learned that ice has arrived in the northern parts of the Ice-Belt. If these weather patterns continue, we’re going to be ice fishing earlier than usual. That’s great. It means that the time between the end of open water fishing and the start of ice fishing will be brief...

A perfect fall pheasant hunting morning greeted the 17 participants at the third annual Clay County Pheasants Forever Ladies Pheasant Hunt on Nov. 2. Chapter member Paul Daniels, who helped organize the hunt, reflected on the day. “It was a great day for the third annual Ladies Hunt, and it was our best turnout yet,” Daniels said. ...

Hunters donated more than 4,300 deer hides to Elks Lodges across Iowa last year, which was an increase of over 1,000 hides from 2017. The deer hides are used by the Veterans Leather Program to make professionally-crafted leather gloves for veterans in wheelchairs and also turned in to leather used for therapy programs for recovering veterans. ...

If you’ve ever spotted an abnormally white critter, or taken notice of its pink eyes, you may have seen an albino animal. From snails and fish to robins and deer, albinism has been observed in a wide range of Iowa animals. Missing melanin Albinism is the result of cells that can’t produce melanin, the pigment needed to color skin, scales, eyes and hair. ...

Enjoy Iowa’s natural landscapes fishing Iowa’s rivers and streams this fall. A unique angling challenge is hidden around every bend. “You are never far from one of Iowa’s many rivers,” said Greg Gelwicks, interior rivers research biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “Fall is a great time to give them a try.”...

I’m not sure, and I hope I’m wrong, but I think I’ve been on my last open water fishing trip for 2019. This is earlier than usual, but for a variety of reasons, I’m winding the open water season down. Like every open water season before this one, I’ve learned and relearned a good number of things about fishing. I’d like to share some of those things...

As we go through life, we often think how “things come full circle.” A late October fishing trip for bluegills on West Okoboji was the perfect example of this. My friend, Dick Lineweaver, still had his boat on the hoist, so with weather in the 40s and with very little wind, he asked if I wanted to join him one more time before he put the boat away for the season...

DES MOINES — Iowa furharvesters can help the Iowa Department of Natural Resources with furbearer management by participating in a furharvester survey. The Iowa DNR is sending this survey out to 5,000 licensed furharvesters prior to this year’s trapping season. ...

DES MOINES — Furharvesters take note: The outlook is pretty decent for most of the commonly targeted species ahead of Iowa’s furbearer hunting and trapping season, “Over the past five years, coyotes have become the new hot thing,” said Vince Evelsizer, furbearer wildlife research biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources...

If you want to catch a big walleye, fall is the time to do so. There are lots of bodies of water across walleye territory that are home to true trophies. If the walleye of a lifetime is your goal, center your efforts on the bodies of water that have a history of producing big walleyes...

The Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club will be hosting its annual Fall DNR Night on Thursday, Nov. 14. According to IGLFC President Terry Thomsen the event will be held at the Oak Hill Outdoor facility located at the corner of Highways 71 and 86 across from Perkins restaurant...

Shop with the Pros Day has become one of the most anticipated ice fishing kick off events in the Midwest. Thane and Tanya Johnson, owners of Kabele’s Trading Post in Spirit Lake, are preparing for their eighth annual Shop with the Pros Day on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m...

Fall leaves are beautiful – until they pile up in your yard. But don’t send those precious nutrients up in smoke. Instead, put them to good use. Your leaves, branches and other landscape materials can nourish your lawn, garden or community. It’s as easy as 1-2-3...

The fun is starting! The annual fall trout stocking is just beginning. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will release between 1,000 to 2,000 rainbow trout at 19 locations across Iowa as part of its cool weather trout program that brings trout to areas that cannot support them during the summer...

Do you love fruit? If you do, then you love the blue orchard mason bee. Blue orchard mason bees (Osmia lignaria) are part of a family of bees that are solitary — meaning they live and breed individually instead of socially in a hive, like honeybees — and use clay to make partitions to their nests and to seal the entrance. They got the orchard part of their name because they are extremely adept at pollinating fruit trees...

It’s the time of year when some anglers start thinking of ice fishing, and some of those anglers every now and then like to hire a guide to take them fishing. It’s also the time of year when other anglers start thinking about the next open-water fishing season, and some of those anglers like to hire a guide to take them fishing...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is offering “Learn to Hunt Opportunities and Mentored Hunts” around the state. Schedule is as follows: Oct. 23, 6-9 p.m. — Learn to Hunt: Hunting Pheasants with Dogs and Wingshooting — Butch Olofson Shooting Range, Polk City — https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/150617...

Remember the weather conditions of Saturday, Oct. 5? Heavy rains in the morning and strong winds in the afternoon. Not the perfect day to fish a musky tournament. Yet, that’s what the top teams on the Professional Musky Tournament Trail did, on the first day of the two-day Ranger Boats World Championship held on Oct. 5-6 on the Iowa Great Lakes...

A recent fishing trip and memories of other fall fishing experiences reminded me why, to many anglers, autumn is a special time for fishing. I’m also reminded of how active so many species of fish can be at this time of year. Right now and until ice-up, almost every predator fish that swims in fresh water is willing to eat, but there are things you should keep in mind if you want to catch them...

Yep, that was snow in the air late last week, and yes there was a blizzard in the Dakotas. Although we didn’t get anything measurable, it’s definitely a harbinger of what is to come! Even though we’re still in the fall open water fishing and all the hunting seasons, ice fishing is just around the corner with ice fishing probably a couple months away...

Iowa pheasant hunters harvested more than 1 million birds annually 33 times since 1962. Since 2000, that’s happened only twice. In the upcoming season, the projected harvest of 150,000 to 200,000 is expected to set another record low. With its title of Pheasant Capital of North America gone for more than a decade, Iowa seems destined to be an afterthought in pheasant hunting circles...

As September gives way to October, quite a few of Iowa’s anglers will start putting their boats up for winter. While there are still opportunities to get the boat out one more time, considering how you store your boat for the season should be well thought out...

Some friends invited me to join them for an afternoon of fishing recently. I quickly and gladly accepted their invitation. We wanted to enjoy each other’s company and the nice fall weather, but we also wanted to catch some fish. Several in our group wanted to take a few fish home. The walleye bite had been tough and we didn’t want to catch and keep bass...

The 2019 upland data for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ August roadside count has been collected and analyzed. After the snowy winter, late winter ice and rain followed by a wet and cold spring, there was fear that the pheasant and quail numbers would be down. ...

Autumn is a wonderful time to go fishing for a good number of reasons. There is less fishing pressure in most places, the scenery and wildlife watching can be outstanding, the weather is generally very pleasant, and the catching can be fantastic. Most species of fish go on the bite in the fall and they can be taken by a number of techniques. But if you want to get bit, following are three techniques that are tops for walleyes, largemouth and smallmouth bass...

DES MOINES — Attention turkey hunters — the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is looking for a few good turkey legs. Well, actually, any wild, lower turkey leg will do. The Iowa DNR, in partnership with Iowa State University, is continuing a study looking for the presence of lymphoproliferative disease virus in wild turkeys. ...

This past weekend my wife and I traveled to her hometown of Redfield, South Dakota, for her 50th class reunion. The kids of 1969 were now in their late 60s, and as a friend of mine and I watched the Redfield homecoming parade, we cheered as the Class of 1969 passed by on their flatbed. ...

One of the most enjoyable parts of hunting pheasants is hunting with a good hunting dog. Without one, it’s like trying to find the proverbial “needle in a haystack,” especially when hunting some of the massive public hunting areas around here. Filled with lots of good habitat, I’ve often wondered, “Why would a pheasant ever fly with only a two-footed human being who, compared to a good hunting dog, has poor eyesight, hearing and sense of smell. ...