Mount Ayr District Fishing Newsletter

It has been another busy year at

the Mount Ayr Fisheries Station.

It seemed like spring was never

going to come as we tried to start

our Walleye egg collection and

we moved into summer when we

got back from collecting eggs.

The unseasonably warm tempera-

tures in late spring hurt our river-

strain Walleye fingerling produc-

tion. The warm weather limited

the natural food supply in our

hatchery pond and the fish didn’t

grow as big as desired. Despite

their size, we harvested 140,270

river-strain Walleye fingerlings

from the pond and stocked them

into areas of the Des Moines and

Raccoon rivers.

Our Hybrid Striped Bass produc-

tion was fantastic this year. We

harvested 519,323 fingerlings

from our hatchery ponds this sum-

mer and the fish were larger than

in past years. Some of the larger

reservoirs, like Saylorville, Coral-

ville and Rathbun, received extra

wipers this year.

We picked up more Blue Catfish

fingerlings from the East Texas

Fish Hatchery this summer. These

fish will be stocked into Three-

Mile Lake late this fall. This is the

third year of a five year study to

develop a Blue Catfish population

in Three-Mile Lake.

We completed many standard fish

population surveys this spring and

conducted additional sampling for

some of our special projects. We

saw some really nice fish this

spring including a 14-inch crappie

from Badger Creek Lake (pictured

at right below).

Don’t trade in your fishing rods

for your shotgun just yet — there

are good fall Walleye angling op-

portunities in our area. We also

have some project updates from a

couple of special projects in this

issue and an article on yet another

state record fish caught in the

Mount Ayr district.

Good luck and good fishing this

fall!

Biologist Notes

Special Points of Interest:

 Tips for fall Walleye fishing

 New additions to West Lake Osceola

 NEW State Record Warmouth

 First Blue Catfish sampled at Three-Mile Lake

Iowa DNR , An d y J a n sen, Fi she ri e s B i o l o g ist

2093 E L o ch A y r R d , Mount Ay r, I A 5 0 854 6 4 1 - 4 6 4-3108

Mount Ayr District Fishing

Newsletter

FALL 2018

VOLUME 4 ISSUE 2

The Mount Ayr Fisheries District is

based out of the Mount Ayr Fish

Hatchery and is managed by Andy

Jansen and Dray Walter.

Our seasonal, Jake, with a 14-inch

crappie from Badger Creek Lake.

Page 2

The best times to fish for Walleyes in

the fall can be in the evening and

even after dark. Walleyes have a spe-

cial adaptation in their eye that lets

them be effective at feeding at night.

Sometimes the longer you wait until

after dark, the better your fishing suc-

cess. Make sure you check the lake’s

rules about fishing after dark.

Where to go

Here’s our top picks for the best fall

Walleye fishing in our area:

1. Three-Mile Lake — renovated

in 2016, it was restocked immedi-

ately after the renovation. We are

seeing good numbers of 16-18

inch Walleyes being caught this

year.

2. Little River Watershed Lake —

has produced quality Walleye an-

gling for the past several years.

There are good numbers of 12-22

inch Walleyes.

Fall is a busy time for many Iowa

sportsmen and women. The temper-

ature is cooling down and the days

are getting shorter. Many of Iowa’s

hunting seasons start, pushing peo-

ple to gear up and plan their fall

outdoor adventures. I suggest

scheduling time for fall fishing this

year.

Here are some tips for fall Walleye

fishing in our area and some lakes

to try this fall:

What to use

Stay flexible and have multiple op-

tions available. One of the most

common tactics is to cast #5 or #7

crankbaits on fish mounds, rock

fields, or along the dam of the lake.

If casting isn’t producing fish, troll

crankbaits along main lake points,

the dam, or roadbeds.

There will be lots of small Bluegill

and Crappie this time of year, so

use a crankbait that imitates these

fish. Or use a jig tipped with a min-

now fished along these areas. Stay

flexible and adjust your tactics as

needed.

When to go

Water temperature plays an im-

portant role this time of year. Once

the water temperature drops below

50 degrees, Walleyes seek winter

habitats. Try to get out there before

the water temperature drops below

50 degrees. Optimal water tempera-

tures seem to be in the 55-65 degree

range.

3. Twelve-Mile Creek Lake —

quality Walleyes up to 30

inches. You may have to sort

through some 10-14 inch fish,

but larger ones are available.

4. Lake Icaria — good numbers

of 10-15 inch Walleyes. Wall-

eye up to 30 inches are also

available.

Don’t miss this opportunity to put

some delicious Walleye fillets in

your freezer before the cold Iowa

winter settles in.

Tips for Fall Walleye Fishing in the Mount Ayr District

Three happy Walleye anglers after a day on Three-mile Lake. Photo by:

Joe Mayhew

We found Yellow Bass at Three-Mile Lake

during a fish survey in the fall of 2017. We

are still moving forward with the restoration

project, but need to make some adjustments

to address the yellow bass issue. We usually

stock yearling Muskies (6-12 inch fish)

since they survive better than fingerlings.

We had planned to stock yearling Muskies

at Three-Mile Lake this past spring, but

decided to hold off on that stocking and

move it to West Lake Osceola. West Lake

Osceola is a 320-acre lake just off I-35 in

Osceola. The lake’s flooded timber habitat,

especially around the shoreline and main

lake points, should make a good home for

Muskies. We stocked 320 Muskies this

spring, but it will take several years before

they reach trophy size.

In addition to stocking musky into West Lake Osceola, we also made some improvements to the boat ramp area

this summer. West Lake Osceola is the city of Osceola’s water supply. With drought conditions and water use,

the lake level has stayed 3-5 feet below

normal pool since the spring of 2017. We

received complaints from anglers launching

their boat from the west boat ramp lane,

especially when the lake level is low. It is a

steep ramp and sometimes boat trailers fall

off the end of the concrete ramp and

become stuck.

A contractor was hired to place sections of

ArmorFlex concrete pads at the end of the

current concrete ramp to extend it. This

project was funded through the DNR’s

Marine Fuel Tax fund. The City of Osceola

Parks and Recreation Department also

bought new docks this year, so this area

should be ready for boaters. While the

improvements to the boat ramp will help

make this area more accessible, boaters need to remember that using the boat ramps is at their own risk.

New additions to West Lake Osceola

Page 3

The west boat ramp lane at West Lake Osceola was extended this

summer through the addition of sections of ArmorFlex concrete

pads. Photo by: Jason Kruse (DNR Engineering)

320 yearling Muskellunge stocked at West Lake Osceola this spring.

Photo by: Wayne Hill (Afton Star Enterprise)

We shared with you a new state record Warmouth captured

by Jimmy Lawrence from Bedford City Reservoir in our

fall 2015 fishing newsletter. That record was broken

shortly after by another angler from the Bedford area. This

spring, Celsey Rynearson caught a 10.75 inch Warmouth

that weighed 1 lb, 1 ounce at a farm pond near Bedford on

May 12

. Congratulations Celsey!

A couple quick reminders if you think you have caught a

potential state record fish.

 Weigh your fish as soon as possible on a certified scale

legal for trade (found at grocery stores, meat lockers,

and some bait shops).

 Your fish must beat the current record by at least one

ounce.

 Contact your local conservation officer or DNR Fisher-

ies office. DNR Fisheries personnel must verify the species.

New State Record Warmouth...again!

NEW state record Warmouth caught in spring 2018.

Page 4

Elusive Blue Catfish at Three-Mile Lake Finally Captured

We stocked about 16,000 6-8 inch Blue Catfish

fingerlings in Three-Mile Lake after it was renovated in

October 2016 to create a unique fishery for anglers. We

followed up with an additional 30,000 Blue Catfish

fingerlings (about 3-inches long) in the summer of

2017. We have tried a variety of fish sampling

techniques to evaluate the development of the Blue Cat-

fish population. We were unsuccessful in our sampling

efforts until this summer — we finally captured a

healthy 21-inch Blue Catfish that tipped the scales at

4.28 lbs. This fish exceeded the average weight of a

Blue Catfish of its size in Missouri and was bigger than

most Channel Catfish of this size we observed at lakes

renovated in our area.

We will continue to try different fish sampling techniques

to evaluate the Blue Catfish population at Three-Mile Lake. We plan to stock an additional 6,000 Blue Catfish

fingerlings this fall that will hopefully be about 8-inches long. We also plan to stock a similar amount of Blue

Catfish fingerlings in 2019 and 2020.

For more information, please contact the Mount Ayr Fisheries office at 641-464-3108.

First Blue Catfish sampled at Three-Mile Lake since

stocking began in 2016. This fish was 21 inches long

and weighed 4.28 lbs. The fish is held by Joe May-

hew from Union County Conservation Board.