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  1. #1
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    Looking for big bass

    I have fished a decent number of lakes in NE Iowa and a few in SE Iowa, but my fishing partner and I are looking to take a 1-day trip this upcoming weekend in pursuit of a big bass. What are the best lakes in Iowa if you are trophy hunting for largemouth?

  2. Member
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    #2
    What are you considering big? #5? #6? I’m guessing some lakes in southern Iowa or some farm ponds

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    #3
    I guess I should clarify. I consider a big Iowa bass to be 6 pounds or better. My PB in Iowa is 6.5 pounds. My friend and I usually hit Lake Wapello in southern Iowa each Spring since we know it holds some big fish. We've taken 2 trips there this spring and haven't even caught one over four pounds. We could head there again, but we'd like to try somewhere new. We certainly don't mind catching numbers, but we like to try and fish lakes where we know we at least have the chance to catch a fish 6 pounds or better. Farm ponds are out. We are thinking about Lake Anita, but would like to have a few more options to choose from if possible.

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    #4
    Hello guys I’ve been a long time long time reader of the forum and finally thought I should join. So I have bass fished a lot of the lake in sw Iowa. In my opinion Anita is a Great Lake early. The water has been really clear (making it hard for me I think)temp was 61/62ish. I have not had any luck finding the bigger female in about 3wk there. Seems they have disappeared for me. honestly I have had a hard time catching anything with size at any lake in the passed few weeks I think it is just the time of year. If I was you the lake’s I would try in sw Iowa would be... Anita, 12-mile, green valley, lake of 3 fires, greenfield city res new & old, if Viking was full it would be on the list to. Oh yeah two others I’ll give you a hint there by a race track. Lol

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    #5
    I know you said farm ponds are out but if we’re being realistic your best chance for a true trophy would come out of a southern Iowa farm pond.
    2007 Ranger188vs, Mercury optimax 150

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    #6
    I also heard 3-mile is fishing good, I have not been there this year yet nor have I caught any big bass there not saying there not there just my experience. Little river has good numbers this year too. I have not been there yet this year as well. So far I think the lakes have been getting a lot of pressure this virus has a lot of people fishing, great way to social distance I would be doing the same thing if my work shut down for a bit too.

  7. Member Bassman Ia.'s Avatar
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    #7
    Anita was 58° A week ago. Females were full of eggs, but were not on the beds yet. Water was gin clear.

  8. Member
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    #8
    I'm not too keen on posting my favorite trophy bass lake(s) on the internet. In the last couple years I have seen two of my favorite "sleeper" big fish lakes turn into circuses because of a couple internet posts. One of the nurses I work with told me "my husband went to lake _____ and brought home 50 lbs of bass to eat and the biggest was 9 lbs." In the last 3 years that lake has seen more boat traffic than in its entire life. Also, in that amount of time it has become extremely tough to fish.

    Here's the Iowa Master Angler Database - have a browse through that https://programs.iowadnr.gov/mastera...sortDDL=newest

  9. USAF Retired Astro-T's Avatar
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    #9
    I'm guessing I know which one you're talking about. Small out of the way lake... Used to be my goto. Used to be you were hard pressed to see 3 or 4 boats on a holiday weekend!

  10. Member
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    #10
    Yeah I understand not wanting to say the names of lakes. There is a YouTube bass fisherman that has had some fantastic days on that lake I’m guessing that’s the one you’re taking about. He can really catch fish I have enjoyed his video. I believe most people on the bass fishing forums are catch and release I know I am. Unfortunately it doesn’t take long for people to find out if there’s a lake that has big bass in it. There’s lots of trophy hunters that want to catch them get a picture then release. Usually we want to show those pictures to our friends that’s how it gets started. Lol there was this one small county lake that didn’t even have a boat ramp (Brian H) from the DNR put some really nice 4lb from 3-mile in it before they drained and killed it off. Well they lasted about 2yr before people had ate them all. I’m not mad at them they were over the minimum length and that’s there right if they have a license but it was hard to see it happen. No knock on those people but I don’t think they were as passionate about “bass”fishing and have the love for catching big bass like I do. I think they just like eating fish. Unless it’s a farm pond I don’t think there’s to many under the radar lake left in southwest Iowa at least that have a boat ramp.

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    #11
    Why not just go to Okoboji? There are lots of 5+lb fish in that lake to go with the numbers you'll catch as well.

  12. Member
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    #12
    Thanks for all the information and suggestions, I really do appreciate it. And I absolutely respect someone not wanting to give away information on a "secret" lake that holds a lot of giants. Even though it's perfectly legal, I really hate seeing big bass being taken from a lake to go on someone's dinner table. That's part of the reason I love Lake Wapello. It's a strictly catch-and-release lake for bass and the DNR (or whoever) does a great job of managing the lake. I agree that fishing a farm pond in southern Iowa is going to give me the best chance at catching a giant bass. Not sure why, but I kind of feel like that is cheating. You're fishing a body of water that only a select few can or probably do fish. It's kind of like going to a pay-to-fish lake in a sense. I'd rather catch a personal best on a body of water that is open to everyone and fished by at least a decent amount of people. Sort of adds a feeling of accomplishment to it. At least that's the way I feel. And we also would rather fish out of a boat than from shore. I appreciate the info on Anita. We probably won't be going there now if the water is super clear since we never seem to do well when a lake has really clear water. I have fished 3-Mile and 12-Mile before, although it was 4-6 years ago. We didn't do well on either lake but that could have been due to the weather and time of year we went to them (or it could be that we just aren't very good fishermen). I do remember thinking that 3-Mile had a lot of really good, "fishy" looking cover and structure on it and was surprised we didn't catch more and bigger fish the couple times we fished it. I'll have to look into a couple of the other lakes mentioned and maybe try one of them out. Otherwise I do know of a couple other lakes that might be worth a shot and are a little closer to home (Hawthorne and Belva Deer). I have fished both of them once before and I do believe both have some good fish in them. Again, thanks for all the help!

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    #13
    So how did things go for the guy that started this post? Did you ever have any luck finding some good bass?

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    #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Redog View Post
    So how did things go for the guy that started this post? Did you ever have any luck finding some good bass?
    Sorry to report that we didn't have any luck with getting a big one. We wound up trying Silver Lake in NE Iowa near the Minnesota Border. We had never fished there before. We had a fantastic day for numbers, probably catching at least 75 bass between my friend, his son, and me. That lake is absolutely full of 15-16 inch bass, but we never caught a single fish bigger than 18 inches. They were biting on all kinds of baits (various topwaters, swimbaits, senkos) and we had a blast. We're in the process of trying to find a lake to hit next Spring in the hopes of catching a giant or two. We thought we had found a lake in northern Missouri, but evidently it's a private lake and only open to property owners and guests of property owners. Unfortunately, we don't know anyone that lives on the lake, so I guess we'll just keep looking.

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    #15
    Quote Originally Posted by coreynov902 View Post
    Sorry to report that we didn't have any luck with getting a big one. We wound up trying Silver Lake in NE Iowa near the Minnesota Border. We had never fished there before. We had a fantastic day for numbers, probably catching at least 75 bass between my friend, his son, and me. That lake is absolutely full of 15-16 inch bass, but we never caught a single fish bigger than 18 inches. They were biting on all kinds of baits (various topwaters, swimbaits, senkos) and we had a blast. We're in the process of trying to find a lake to hit next Spring in the hopes of catching a giant or two. We thought we had found a lake in northern Missouri, but evidently it's a private lake and only open to property owners and guests of property owners. Unfortunately, we don't know anyone that lives on the lake, so I guess we'll just keep looking.
    Have you considered Mozingo in Missouri? I have only been there once and it was last August. I’ll admit that it was terrible then and had been a tough place the last few years but there are still a lot of big fish there and I can only imagine that they have to be much easier to catch in the spring.

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    #16
    Quote Originally Posted by STEVE81 View Post
    Have you considered Mozingo in Missouri? I have only been there once and it was last August. I’ll admit that it was terrible then and had been a tough place the last few years but there are still a lot of big fish there and I can only imagine that they have to be much easier to catch in the spring.
    I've heard of the lake, but never fished it. I'll certainly look at it. Thanks!

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    #17
    What about red rock or rathbun? Those big waters surely have a few big bass in them? I am assuming the summer months they’re pretty recreational oriented but early mornings or when the water temperature cools down/before warms up might make it easier??does anybody have a report or experience fishing those bodies of water?

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    #18
    I've only fished Red Rock and Rathbun one time each, so I'm obviously no expert. I do believe Rathbun has some big bass in it and the bass fishing can be good there. I have seen results from some tournaments where some really nice bags have been brought in. I have serious doubts about Red Rock though. The water levels fluctuate so much at Red Rock that it makes bass fishing very tough there. The one time I was there, the water was 35 feet above normal. Me and a friend spent an entire day fishing there and caught 1 dink bass and a couple small white bass. We were pre-fishing for a tournament the next day. Luckily we hadn't paid the entry fee yet so we decided not to even bother entering the tournament. We looked at the results of that tournament later on and the winning team brought 3 fish to the scales for around 7-8 pounds if I remember right. About 80-90% of the teams didn't even weigh a fish. Normally I'd chalk that up to the lake being high, but I have since heard and read other things about Red Rock that lead me to believe it just isn't a very good bass lake. Maybe it's gotten better in recent years though, as this was probably 8-10 years ago that I was there. Those that have fished it a lot more than me, please correct me if I am wrong about Red Rock.

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    #19
    That doesn’t sound very good about bass at red rock. That must have been major flooding to be that high!! I guess that’s what that lake was made for to hold the water and keep the river safer. I wonder how much power it generates? And when there running current if it pulls fish out the the points to feed??

    Does anybody have any tips about fishing rathbun in the fall for bass?

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    #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Redog View Post
    That doesn’t sound very good about bass at red rock. That must have been major flooding to be that high!! I guess that’s what that lake was made for to hold the water and keep the river safer. I wonder how much power it generates? And when there running current if it pulls fish out the the points to feed??

    Does anybody have any tips about fishing rathbun in the fall for bass?
    I wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about fishing the Des Moines River lakes. I've fished them all and while they hold fish, they certainly aren't destination spots. I will tell you I live just minutes from Saylorville and haven't been on it in years. Fishing is marginal and the traffic is insane. Not to mention it is silted so bad that anything north of the bridge is sketchy. That said, if you had a jet drive, you could get into some really good smallmouth between downtown Des Moines and the Saylorville spillway. I've fished it a few times in beater aluminum boats and did quite well. That stretch is pretty much un-fishable from a bass boat given it is narrow and sand bars abound. Also, minimal ramps with docking capabilities in the current.

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