Indee Bass Club: May on the Wapsi River

EJ and Grady: Wapsi Champs

Wapsi River hosts first HOME event for Indee Bass Club

This past weekend the Indee Bass Club took to the Wapsi in Independence for their first home event of the year.  Twenty-four students from grades 7-12 joined in on the cool, windy day to try to catch some bass.  All anglers were taken out on the river by adult boat captains for 6 hours in search of the biggest bass they could find.  While the weather wasn’t very cooperative, anglers did catch largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye and northern pike.  Each boat, 2 student anglers, are allowed to bring in 5 bass to weigh in at the scales to determine the winner.  Only two teams were able to do that, but eight boats did manage to bring bass to the scales for the official weigh-in at Teachers Park.

Coming in with the biggest limit for the event were a couple of seniors who have fished the club for many years.  EJ Miller and Grady Cornwell found a nice limit of bass that weighed 9.03 pounds.  They caught most of their fish along rocky shorelines of the Wapsi using a paddle tail jig and a spinnerbait.  They also caught a keeper on a frog bait in a backwater area.  In second place, fresh off a win at the Okoboji Lakes were Jackson Beatty and Gable Eddy.  They had a limit of bass that weighed 8.63 pounds.  They caught all their bass using crankbaits and soft plastic craw baits.  Jackson also caught the big bass of the event, a beautiful 2.46 pounds largemouth bass.  In third place was Colton Cameron and Carter Eddy.  They found three keeper bass using a different bait for each!  They caught them on a “dirty craw” tube, spinnerbait and crankbait.  Coming in at fourth place was Cal Sweeney and Ranger Reed.  They had two nice largemouth bass that weighed 3.08 pounds, they caught them pitching tubes.  In fifth place was Memphis Peyton and Brayton Kuhse, they had one nice largemouth that weighed 2.31 pounds, just missing the big bass award.  In sixth place was Keegan King and Landen Putbrese, they had one smallmouth that weighed 1.67 pounds.  In seventh place was Preston Miller and Kaden Shannon with a keeper that weighed 1.01 pounds.  Finishing out the teams that brought in keeper bass were Tavien Jones and TeJay Ratchford.  They had one keeper that weighed 1.00 pounds.

Overall, 19 bass were weighed in on Saturday and all released alive back into the Wapsi River to be caught another day.  Students commented on catching walleye and northern pike throughout the day too, which keeps you on your toes as you look for the next bass strike.   After the weigh-in, anglers and captains were treated with a grill out, thanks to grill master Randy Toale.  A huge thank you to our twelve adult boat captains for getting 24 student anglers out on the water.  They included: Brian Miller, Jackson Toale, Travis Butters, Dan Sweeney, Todd Reed, Dave Wilson, Andrew Gissell, Jesse Roscovious, John Malek, Tony Delgado, Jason Hoyle, and Matt Osbourne.  Without these adults the students wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the time outdoors…THANK YOU.  Another big thank you goes out to the Indee Bass Club sponsors for the 2025 season.  We have many local sponsors as well as some national sponsors that allows the club to give away approximately $800 of fishing prizes and gear at this event.  They include Colony Plumbing Heating/AC, Smith D&L Insurance, RONA Memorial, BankIowa, Cy & Charley’s, Tim Reed State Farm Agency, Buchanan County Wildlife Association, Hilltop Motors, Klever Concrete, Shay Minn Kota, SCHEELS of Cedar Falls, The Rod Glove, X-Zone Lures, Strike King Lures, Lew’s Rod/Reels and Hot Rod Baits.

For more information about the Indee Bass Club, check out their website, Facebook or Instagram pages. 

2025 Indee Bass Club SPONSORS

2025 Iowa High School Bass Team Challenge ~ OVER 100 kids fishing

 

Another year for this event has come and gone.  For the past seven years I have been able to give this opportunity to kids from all over the state.  It is an honor to work with my sponsors to bring this event to the youth of Iowa.  This OPEN bass tournament, not requiring and formal club or organization, is for all kids across the state.  There are a few bass clubs in the state but not as many as you would think.  This event allows anyone to grab a partner, an adult, a boat and come fishing for a part of $4,000 in fishing awards and gear.  This year the event took place on Lake MacBride near Solon, Iowa.  There were 57 boats, or 114 kids fishing on the day from 20 different schools.  They were; Benton Community, Cascade, Cedar Falls, Charles City, Waverly/ShellRock, CR Prairie, Anamosa, Des Moines Roosevelt, Gilbert, Independence, Johnston, Louisa Muscatine, Midland, Mt. Pleasant, North Linn, Prince of Peace, Solon, Tipton, West Delaware, and Wilton.  

The weather was beautiful on this day and the bass were biting.  This event is unique as there are a couple different competitions going on simultaneously.  First, like a typical bass tournament each boat weighs in their five biggest bass from the day.  The other part is the "TEAM" portion.  The two top boats from the same school are added together for the "team score".  It has been a fun twist to High School fishing, as the sport will grow fastest if we connect with schools.  In 2024 it was the Indee Bass Club from Independence taking home the Championship.  Let's take a look at how things panned out in 2025.  

2025 Team Champions: CR Prairie

Since the inception of this event in 2019, there has never been a repeat school champion.  That held true agin in 2025.  The Cedar Rapids Prairie School team took home the Championship this year.  Their combined weight of their top two boats was 23.08 pounds.  This was the schools first championship.  In second place was Johnston School.  They had a combined weight of 22.15 pounds.  This was the highest Johnston has ever finished.  In third place was last years returning champs, the Indee Bass Club.  They weighed in 15.99 pounds.  This was the 5th straight year the Indee Bass Club has finished in the top three!

Big Bass: Max with a 5.19#

Probably the biggest surprise at the scales on this day was the "Strike King Big Bass" that was brought in by Max of Des Moines Roosevelt.  The largemouth bass weighed 5.19 pounds, a HUGE bass for anywhere in the Midwest, a big congratulations to them for catching that monster during the event.

As for the individual boats it was a mix boat from Waverly/ShellRock and Charles City that claimed the trophy for 2025.  Clay and Will had five keeper bass that weighed 11.91#.  In second place was the team from CR Prairie, Nolan and Max weighing in 11.76 pounds.  In third place was Tyson and Kallen from Johnston with 11.63 pounds.  Coming in at forth place was Tucker and Micah from CR Prairie with 11.32 pounds.  Rounding out the top five was Marshall and Reese from Johnston with 10.52 pounds.  

Full STANDINGS HERE

Prizes were given out to the top three teams placing in the school portion of this event, as well as the top 15 individual boats.  Over $4,000 in awards and fishing gear was given away.  Rods, reels, tackle, life vests, fishing tools, trophies and the Championship Rings were all possible by our great sponsors.  A HUGE shoutout to the Cedar Falls SCHEELS store for their continued support of this event.  We are already planning and thinking about the 2026!!!  Strike King, Lew's Fishing and Hot Rod Baits were contributing sponsors as well.

Lastly, I could not do this alone... my friends Chad O'Brien, James Cook, Garry Anderson and Jeremia Matz from SCHEELS made this event go smoothly for everyone.  THANK YOU ALL!!!

Clay and Will with the biggest
limit on the day: 11.91#

The annual tournament has its own Facebook page that gives updates throughout the year, please follow for details on the 2026 event as well as all the tournament photos. Facebook LINK

Iowa Fishing Destinations

This article was first published in The Iowa Sportsman Magazine.  To view the monthly magazine CLICK HERE    

The month of May is right around the corner, anglers from all over the state have been getting out and enjoying the fishing Iowa has to offer.  May offers anglers a fantastic opportunity to catch any species they desire.  Now is the perfect time to plan that next fishing trip, no matter where you live in the state there are great fishing opportunities near you.  Here are four top bodies of water in each section of the state to check out this month.  Enjoy, as May can be the best month all year to get out and catch some fish.

Allamakee County: Mississippi River- Pool 9

The northeast part of the state is known for its small rivers and the big river, the Mississippi.  Lakes are present in this part of the state but are mostly smaller and can get overcrowded quickly.  Thousands of anglers across the Midwest come to Pool 9 of the Mississippi River each year to enjoy the vast waters and variety of species it offers.  It is definitely a destination that all Iowa anglers need to experience.  May is an excellent time to visit this part of the river for a couple of reasons.  First, typically the water level will be above normal pool level, meaning that the access to backwater sloughs and backwaters are easily accessible no matter the kind of boat you have.  This allows you to find different flows of current that fish are relating to.  This pool is known for its big crappies, bluegills and perch.  If you like panfish, you will find the bluegills and crappies in the prespawn feed this time of year.  Perch will be done spawning and can be found near early weed growth and mild current.  Largemouth and smallmouth bass will also be feeding up this time of year.  These species could be in every acre of this pool this time of year, so plan on spending a lot of time with search baits.  Once you find one, get ready…it might be the best day of bass fishing in your life!  Don’t be afraid of current, even though the majority of bass are in pre-spawn.  Mild current and pockets near heavy current will hold bass year-round.  My favorite search bait this time of year is a Strike King square bill crankbait or a swim jig, both species of bass love them.  If you like walleye, there may not be a better place in Iowa to catch them.  May will have the walleye completely done with the spawn and setting up in current to feed.  Crankbaits and vertical jigging seem to be the best tactics this time of year.  If bigger fish are on your brain right now, then find some spinnerbaits, braided line and a Medium/Heavy rod to catch some northern pike.  These fish are always hungry on the Mighty Mississippi River, especially in the spring and fall.  Cover a lot of water by making long casts to current breaks, creeks, and any submerged or emergent weed cover.  The Mississippi River is a great resource for all fish species, put it on your list of things to experience for 2025.

Keokuk County: Lake Belva Deer

The southeast section of Iowa is also known for its interior rivers and the Mississippi River, however, it also has many fantastic lakes managed by the Iowa DNR.  In 2000 the dam was created to fill the area we know as Lake Belva Deer.  It is a relatively new lake in Iowa and has become a popular area for anglers to fish year-round. The lake has great populations of catfish, bass, crappies and bluegills.  In the past 5 years the DNR has stocked over 1.5 million walleye fry into the lake as well.  This lake is full of standing trees, much like Brushy Creek, 3-Mile and 12-Mile Lakes.  The lake is composed of many deep channels and large flats.  These flats near the deep channels are bass magnets.  Again, shallow running crankbaits and swim jigs are my favorite way to cover a lot of water to find May bass.  After finding and catching a few using search baits, slow down to pick up even more bass this time of year.  As the weeks go on, topwater baits are great in these areas for bass too.  Expect to catch a lot of bass from 1-pound to 2-pounds, but there are some 4-pound giants in there too.  The bluegill and crappie population are both great as well.  Moving around the deeper trees and channels will help you find some of these great eating fish.  On sunny, warm days, these fish will move shallow during May.  Casting a small jig towards the wood can keep you busy all day long.  When fishing deeper for crappies I like to use a two-rod approach.  A slip bobber with minnows and a jig rod.  The bobber rig will help you focus on certain depths, while casting and retrieving the jig and plastic trailer.  Change colors with your plastics, as it can make a big difference from day to day.  If Bluegills are your main target, a drop-shot rig with a small worm is the best choice at this lake.  These rigs can be moved up and down the many trees in the lake to find hungry fish.  Tying off on a tree and vertically jigging a drop-shot rig is a sure-fire way to fresh bluegill meal.

Dickinson: Okoboji Lakes

The Okoboji Lake area is a very unique system of water.  It includes six different lakes to choose from; Spirit Lake, East Okoboji, West Okoboji, Upper Gar, Lower Gar and Minnewashta Lake.  May is a great time to visit these lakes as the lakes will be much calmer then they will once Memorial Day hits.  This time of year, a few things stand out at these lakes as favorite targets of visiting anglers.  If you are after largemouth and smallmouth bass, West Okoboji is your place to fish.  These bass will have the spawn on their minds as the water warms each day.  They can be caught in 25 feet of water all the way up to 1 foot of water.  Cover a lot of ground to find where they are when you visit.  The largest bass in the state live in this lake!  East Okoboji is the panfish capital of this group of lakes.  Yellow Bass, bluegills, and crappies are all present in abundance on East O.  My favorite once again for bluegills and yellow bass is the drop-shot.  Setting up a drift or anchoring in one location with a small worm on a drop-shot will have everyone in your boat smiling.  Crappies can be caught around the deeper docks this time of year, throwing jigs or the minnow/slip bobber combination is hard to beat once you find a group of the crappies.  If perch and walleye are on your list of “dinner plans”, then a trip to Spirit Lake is in order.  This lake is full of both species, worms and live minnows and shiner seem to produce constantly.  Keep moving and don’t rule out shallow water with these species.  Many anglers fish deep when targeting perch and walleye, make sure you try shallow bays and flats too.  As you can see this area is a fisherman's dream when it comes to all species of game fish.  

Union County: 12-Mile Lake

When traveling to the southwest part of the state you will find many lakes to choose from.  As with many lakes in Iowa most of these were man made by the DNR.  Many lakes in this area are great, a few that come to mind are Big Creek Lake, 12-Mile Lake, Little River, Prairie Rose, and West Lake Osceola to name a few.  With so many to choose from I asked avid angler Jeremy King about the current “best lake” to fish right now in Southwest Iowa.  Jeremy said, “I would say the one spot to hit is 12-Mile Lake as of late. 

The bass population is fantastic right now.  There are many 14-18 inch bass eager to hit your favorite bait, as well as some trophy bass too. Bluegills are numerous and terrific size.  Anglers need to pay attention to the contours of this lake to find hungry bluegills.  Worms tend to be the best bait.  Crappies that are of the desired size are abundant, they can be caught in the usual ways.  Move about the lake to locate the small schools.  In addition to those game fish, the one species that is locally growing in attention is perch. The perch numbers are through the roof and with some 13 inch plus fish being caught.”  Sounds like a great place to put on the list of places to visit this month!

May is a great time to get out and enjoy some fishing.  This is a small list of the many good places we have to fish in the state of Iowa.  As with any fishing, the more time you put into the sport the more you will be able to get out of it.  This time of year, bass, crappies and bluegills will all be near the spawning process.  Please make wise choices when keeping fish, and release as many as you can to help our lakes and rivers continue to be a strong resource throughout the state.  

April Bass Fishing - Only 2 poles needed

When you can yank a 4# 
river bass out of a beaver hut,
you know you have the 
right Lew's Combo

April has once again been a mystery with the weather patterns.  2024 was much of the same, up and down temperatures, dry conditions and then a lot of rain.  It almost seems to be on repeat for 2025 as Iowa has gotten quite a bit of rain lately.  Many times I think anglers make it more difficult to catch bass this time of year than they need too.  Sure, there are a lot of great baits that can catch fish this time of year as we swing towards May, but if you want to keep things simple and go out and catch some bass, make sure and have these to combos ready to go.

1- Pitching Stick: this rod can be used to pitch jigs or a Texas-Rig plastic of your choice.  My favorite has become a Lew's Custom Pro 7ft 3in rod with the SuperDuty reel offering the flipping switch.  This Med/Hvy fast action rod can handle heavier jigs as well as 1/8oz Texas-Rigs.  

2- Bladed Jig/Spinnerbait rod: A rod that can handle these baits need to have a little backbone to it, but a lot of flex to get your bait where you want it.  The Custom Lite Rod in the 7ft 3in length offering medium/heavy power and moderate action is the one you want.  I pair this rod with the all new Custom Pro reel from Lew's.  This combo has served me very well around heavy cover and rocky shorelines.  The balance of this rod/reel combo allow my to throw it with ease and pick out small targets to hit during this cold water period. 

These two rods have been used heavily the past 6 weeks on the water chasing largemouth and smallmouth bass.  It is critical any time of the year to properly match your baits with the correct rod.  Using the correct rod will help you make longer and more accurate casts with your baits.  Make sure and check your reel gear ratio as well.  This will control how much line you are bringing in with each turn of the handle.  Some baits you will want a slower retrieve, like a crankbait, while other techniques like a jig or Texas-rig will require a faster gear ratio.  

Take some time this month to align your combos to the baits you will use with them.  Memorize the actions and power of your poles so you can make quick decisions on the water to allow you more fishing...I mean "catching" time!

Spring...where are you?

 

Iowa is certainly a state with four seasons.  Unfortunately, we can experience all four seasons in the same week in March.  This no doubtably puts fish in negative moods at times, and at other times can really make them feed up.  One tip I can share about late March fishing is the amount of sunlight.  Sunny days are no doubt the best this time of year.  The extra warmth on the water gives the system an extra jolt of energy and livelihood.  Another advantage this time of year is a steady wind.  A steady wind from the same direction can help position predatory fish.  They will use windy shorelines to feed up as the wind stirs up bait and can position smaller foods in the food chain.  

You cannot count on much for the weather during the month of March in Iowa, but one thing is for sure.  If you don't like the weather, give it a couple of hours, it might be completely different.  

The End to the 2024-2025 Ice Season

 

What a season!  After last winter...if we can even call it a winter, I was so eager to get out on the ice this year.  The year started on December 6th at the Mississippi River and came to an end yesterday on West Lake Okoboji, March 9th.  Three months of ice fishing in the state Iowa has become more rare in the past few years so I am happy that we had a nice long winter this year.  My group was able to explore many lakes and river sections throughout the season, I was able to make it out 27 different times (including several short little trips).   The weather and ice conditions were great along the Highway 20 region and north, however the southern part of the state did not have very good ice most of the winter.  Unfortunately, I did not travel south of Hwy 20 very much at all with the unpredictable ice they had.  

Ice fishing is a great sport and I like how it can be done in large groups, not just one or two people in a boat.  It is a great social activity and my group had a lot of that this winter.  Catching fish in fantastic, however when you can do it with a bunch of friends or family, it just makes it that much more enjoyable.  Not only does ice fishing allow time to talk and be with friends it allows for some great food to be put in the freezer.  Several fish frys, fish tacos and fish cake meals have already happened in 2025 thanks to ice fishing, and several more to come as well.  

A huge thanks to a few of my sponsors for allowing me to use the best equipment on the ice.  This year was the debut year of the Vexilar FLX38.  This was really fun to use and fine tune to make catching easier.  This year I also used the Lew's SpeenSpin reel.  With 10 ball bearings packed into this size 10 reel and a drag system that let the big fish run, it was a delight to say the least. Last but certainly not lease is the Cedar Falls Scheels Store.  When it comes to fishing, if you need it, they have it.  Stop on in or order online for everything outdoors.

It is always a bit sad to put the gear away, but the anticipation of floating in the boat and swinging long bass rods makes it a little easier.  

Pool 7 Mississippi River PERCH

 

I finally did it...I went out on a fan boat for some perch fishing.  This is something that I have wanted to do for a few years now.  I have been able to catch some perch on Pools 8 and 9 of the Mississippi River and this trip took me a little further north to Pool 7.  The air boat experience is something else, literally there is nothing like traveling on a boat over ice, then open water, then back onto the ice to catch some fish.  It was a weird feeling, for sure.  The fishing on this particular day was good, we caught quite a few eater sized perch and couple real big perch around that thirteen inch mark.  

I utilized a 36in Jason Mitchell Dead Meat Stick the entire day with my Lew's Speed Spin reel.  A smooth drag is so important with these perch.  Another key piece of equipment was the Vexilar FLX38.  Most of the day we were in water less than five feet deep.  With the adjustable depth on this unit, I was able to use the whole screen and adjust it to as little as five feet.  This was key for early detection of these perch as they cruised around the large flat.  A variety of spoons worked, I really didn't see much difference from one color to another on this day.  When perch fishing, I always go with a spoon, bigger the better.  I have learned that these hungry river perch feed heavily on 1 year old bluegills, so a spoon is the perfect size to trick them. 

This was a trip to remember, hopefully this can become an annual thing to explore unchartered Mississippi River perch.

Go BIG or go FINESSE?

Ice fishing has always been about using the smallest of jigs, small worms and small plastics.  Sure, they work, and at times they are the only things that work.  However, on a recent trip to catch some crappies it was proven again that big baits can, and will catch more fish than smaller presentations.  I was using my favorite ice combo at the time for bigger baits.  I have the Jason Mitchell Black Meat Stick in the 36 inch version.  I have paired this up with a Lew's Speed Spin reel.  I like to use spoons or the new Tika Flash when hole hopping for deeper crappies.  I can fish this combination so quickly moving up the down the water column as well as from hole to hole finding the next group of hungry fish.  This day, like many this year, the bigger baits are what the crappies wanted on this day.  The catch rate was so much higher on the bigger baits compared to jigs.  There was one stretch of the morning that I did not even need to tip the baits with spikes...they were that attracted to the larger baits. Another thing that using larger baits does is to keep away the smaller fish.  Smaller crappies and bluegills didn't' mess with me for the most part, allowing me to focus on the bigger marks and catching fish that I wanted to catch.  On this day the crappies were holding about three feet off the bottom of the lake, utilizing my Vexilar FLX38 in the zoom mode made it so easy to pick off these crappies.  Medium power 1 with the 180 frequency was fantastic for seeing nearby crappies and getting my bait directly above them.  Give it a little shake and gentle ride up...the crappies couldn't resist. 

It was a fun day on the ice, my equipment made it so enjoyable to fish, almost too easy?  It was great and everyone in the group had a great time that day.  Don't forget to think BIG when ice fishing, it might just get you a few more bites, and bigger ones too.

Keep Looking for the KEY

 

Recently a friend and I visited a lake we had never been too.  We were in search of bluegills, as the lake had a good population of them.  The lake has numerous brushpiles, which are magnets for panfish in the winter.  We had a game plan to attack the lake on this morning which included looking at some main lake points, many brushpiles and a few "flats".  After a couple of hours our game plan was not producing very well, a few fish here, a few fish there...did I mention is was below zero???  We were getting frustrated with the lack of fish we were seeing with the Vexilars, as well as the negative mood of the fish, probably due to the massive cold front.  After covering our game plan...which was unimpressive at best, we decided to spread out and try a couple different areas before we headed home.  After checking the lake map again, I decided to go shallower than we had fished all morning, David went to try a deep drop-off.  After drilling several holes and checking with the Vexilar, I found some movement.  I settled into the shack, as I could barely feel my fingers at this point.  

I was using the new Vexilar FLX-38 on this day.  I had settled in about 12 feet of water.  Like always when fishing bluegills I had the zoom feature turned on to the bottom 6 feet of the water column.  I had noticed an irregularity in the bottom reading when looking at the zoom.  It was not solid, so I began to fine tune.  With a couple clicks I had figured out quickly why bluegills were swimming around a foot above the bottom.  I changed the power to the Medium1 setting (there are 3 settings for each; Low, Medium, High) and increased the frequency (or cone angle) to 190.  This allows you to see a wider picture of what is below you.  This allowed me to see the fish coming in and rise above the weeds to hit my jig.  A few different colored jigs worked, plastics worked well, as well as spikes.  I knew I had weeds below me by the reading on the Vexilar, however I really wanted to see what was down the hole that had so many bluegills swimming by.  I dropped a mini camera down and it was as I suspected.  Nice tall weeds covering this shallow flat.  This discovery of weeds with he Vexilar turned our day around, and placed a lake onto our regular schedule.  What was an "OK" day of fishing turned into a GREAT day of fishing.  The FLX-38 has been great this year, I really like the fine tuning an angler can do quickly to find structure as well as focus on the smaller details that fish pay attention to.

There is a lot more information on the Vexilar site about all the great options they have: www.vexilar.com .  You can purchase directly from them or take a look at the Cedar Falls SCHEELS store to get you on the ice quickly with all the gear you will ever need.