Friday afternoon was a beautiful day. Sun was shining and the temperature was in the low 70s. What else better is there to do on a day like this than enjoy some of the great outdoors?
I have been anticipating the walleye to swim upstream from the Cedar River to spawn below some of the small rapids on Indian Creek near the Indian Creek Nature Center. This was my third visit to this area already this spring hoping that my timing would be better this time, as my first two trips yielded no fish.
Ever since watching this video, I’ve been throwing the BFishN Tackle Moxi Minnows and Pulse-R Paddle Tails. In the spring when the water is cold and the fish are more lethargic still, a slow presentation will work better. When the fish are colder, they won’t exert as much energy to feed, so anglers must present the bait in a slower fashion. The Moxi Minnows and Pulse-R Paddle tails are made to be able to retrieve slowly and still produce a tantalizing tail action to entice the walleyes or any fish to bite.
I did not have a thermometer to gauge the water temperature, but I would bet it was in the low 50s. My fear is that the walleyes have already spawned, as I covered every stretch of Indian Creek from Otis Road bridge to the mouth of the creek where it dumps into the Cedar River, and no walleyes to be found.
However, all was not lost, as the smallmouth bass made the afternoon fishing a fun one. On my first cast underneath the Otis Road bridge, I hooked up on a 13 inch smallmouth. And then followed that up with two more in that same general area near the bridge. I was casting my Pulse-R right along the rocky creek bank where it drops off into deeper water. Fish like to hide in and around the rocky structure, especially smallmouth bass. Indian creek is not very deep in this area, maybe 4 to 5 feet at its deepest point here, but that’s plenty deep to hold fish.
A buddy that I was fishing with this afternoon pulled in three smallmouth bass of his own, along with an unidentified junk fish. As we both continued down stream to the mouth of Indian Creek, I managed one last fish, and it was a little northern pike. I don’t think it could’ve been more than 13 inches, which is tiny for northern pike. But it was a fish nonetheless, and it provided some good fishing fun on a beautiful Friday afternoon.
This was a great way to start the weekend. I’ll end up giving this spot another try in the next week to see if there are any walleyes around, but I may have missed the spawning window. Many fishermen flock to the area directly below the dams on river systems. This running water is a walleye magnet, and are primary spawning grounds for walleyes. Walleyes need moving water and rocks in order for their eggs to hatch with any success. Walleye need the moving water to oxygenate their eggs and also to keep the eggs clean of being silted over and buried before their able to hatch. Rocky structure provide pockets in which the eggs can fall and be protected from other predators, and the faster moving water keeps the eggs from being buried in silt. Areas that have both of these conditions will surely hold walleye come the spawn.
The major river dams produce this type of environment that are ideal for walleye to spawn. And this attracts anglers from all over. However, if you don’t want to fish elbow to elbow with other fishermen, other smaller tributaries that have a moving current with a rocky bottom provide the exact same conditions that walleye need to reproduce. Often times these secondary places go overlooked by anglers.
We all know the Mississippi River is a walleye angler’s paradise, especially here in the Midwest. But just as the Mississippi is the walleye mecca, the rivers that empty into the Mississippi River, like the Maquoketa, Wapsipinicon, Cedar and Iowa Rivers in eastern Iowa all have a nice population of walleyes. And just like these rivers feed the big Mississippi River, other smaller creeks feed these rivers in our area, and they too will hold walleye, especially during the spring-time spawn.
If you’re looking to get away from the crowds, look for the smaller tributaries that empty into the main river system. Walleye will most likely be there come spawning season. They may not be as plentiful, but they’ll be there for sure. You just have to time it right. So far, my timing hasn’t been right with work and family commitments.