Fishing Report (1/12/12)
Cold temps may finally allow ice anglers to get their gear out this weekend. Most ponds and some lakes may have enough ice to allow ice fishing. Anglers are urged to be very cautious and check ice thickness frequently. Larger, deeper lakes may still have ice too thin. The winter trout stockings in Lake Petoka and Ada Hayden will occur unannounced prior to February 1. For more information on central Iowa lakes and rivers contact Ben Dodd or Andy Otting at 515-432-2823.
The winter trout stocking will occur unannounced prior to February 1. The stocking will be unannounced to avoid a large crowd gathered in a small area on unsafe ice.
Fishing Forecast (1/12/12)
2010 was the first year significant sampling was completed on Ada Hayden, followed by some species specific surveys in 2011. Bluegills are abundant, but their size is a little less than what is preferred by anglers. Bluegill size ranged from 3 to 7 inches with most being 4 to 6.5 inches. A quality black crappie fishery exists. Their numbers are fair and sizes range from 6 to 12 inches with most being 9 to 11 inches. Yellow perch are present in low numbers, but were found up to 12.5 inches. Most perch were 8 to 9 inches. Approximately 1,400 10 to 12 inch walleye left over from an Iowa State University project were stocked into Ada Hayden in April 2010. These walleye were sampled in 2011 and have reached sizes from 15 to just over 17 inches. Low numbers of larger walleye over 25 inches do exist from private stockings in the past. Hybrid white bass fry, often called wipers, were initially stocked in 2009 and again in 2011. Wipers were collected in 2010 sampling and showed excellent growth. They ranged in size from 11 to 15 inches. They were sampled again in 2011 and their growth slowed significantly with sizes between 13.5 to just over 15 inches. Wipers of this age should be nearing 18 inches. It is suspected little to no gizzard shad production in 2010 and 2011 is a probable cause for slowed growth. Even though slower growing, the wipers are still present in good numbers and provide some fun fishing. Channel catfish were sampled in fair numbers and ranged in size from 12 to 27 inches. (2011)
(I have added the AHHP Iowa DNR Fishing Report to the Links on the right.)
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