10/21/21: Area Happenings & Events

NWI fishing report

Offshore fishing for bass has been very good lately. The panfish/perch bite has been excellent. Most boat ramp docks are still in. Area lake levels are low, making launching and loading boats more difficult.

East Okoboji Lake: The water temperature was 60 degrees last Thursday. Many anglers have had success with slip bobbers/spoons and vertical jigging and drop shot fishing. Many anglers have observed high catch rates with sorting needed to limit out on various fish. Black crappie, good. Catch is picking up; crappie are moving in shallower and hanging out around pockets of vegetation. Bluegill, good. Bluegill are biting like crazy. Leeches or worms and a simple bobber setup work well. Pumpkinseed, good. Fun and easier to catch from most docks. Use a small hook, bobber and piece of worm.

Lost Island Lake: Bite has started to pick up with many anglers fishing off the southern stony point and eastern shore. Black crappie, fair. Bluegill, fair. Walleye, fair. Yellow bass, fair. Yellow perch, good. Good catch rate with some sorting needed.

Minnewashta Lake: Panfishing has been good for anglers trolling weed lines. Vertical jigging is improving. Black crappie, fair. A nice crappie bite can be found with a little movement around the lake. Bluegill, fair. Pumpkinseed, good.

Silver Lake (Dickinson): Walleye, fair. Try using slip bobbers and finding weed lines.

Spirit Lake: The water temperature was 60 degrees last Thursday. Fish are moving in shallower. Use lead core and tadpole baits. The perch bite continues to slowly pick up as water temperatures fall. Black crappie, fair. Mostly being caught along with perch; use tube jigs with wigglers or pilkies. Bluegill, fair. Mostly being caught along with perch; use tube jigs with wigglers or pilkies. Walleye, good. Bite is hit-or-miss at dusk, but the day bite is improving. Many anglers have started to fish in shallower water with slip bobbers along weed edges. Yellow perch, good. Perch are moving to shallower water, allowing for great catch with some sorting. Try mini jigs and minnows; bring plenty of minnows as smaller fish will strip you of your bait.

West Okoboji Lake: The water temperature was 60 degrees last Thursday. Many anglers have been most successful with trolling, but jigging and casting has also been very good. Use lead core and tadpole baits. Offshore fishing for bass has been great.

Black crappie, good. Crappie have been very picky lately, but can be easily caught if you aren't afraid to switch things up. Can also be caught frequently while picking through other panfish or have been found around weed edges. Bluegill, good. Bluegill are biting like crazy with fish up to 10-inches seen. Try a shucks jigger and bobber fished in 10-15 feet of water. Jigging, casting, and slip bobbers work well. Try trolling with twister tails and ripple shads or shucks jiggers with a bobber. Walleye, fair. Walleye have been hard to target, but many anglers have been catching them while fishing for other species.

Drivers stay alert for deer movement

Drivers are advised to stay alert as they travel Iowa's roadsides over the coming weeks. Autumn deer behavior, crop harvest and peak travel times for motorists combine to hike the risk of vehicle-deer collisions in Iowa.

From the middle of October until the third week of November, Iowa bucks become more active in the pursuit of does during the breeding season. Motorists may be distracted by the first deer that crosses, not seeing the pursuing buck. This adds to multiple scenarios of fast moving, unpredictable deer crossing highways.

The crop harvest is also in full swing, concentrating deer into remaining cover that is often brushy creeks, trees or fence lines, which often intersect with roads. A third factor will be the change away from daylight savings time on Nov. 7, placing more Iowans behind the wheel during the deer-heavy dawn and dusk periods.

A few ways to give drivers an edge during this period are to reduce speed, increase following distance from other cars, and to sweep eye movements from ditch to ditch, especially during those low light periods and when approaching those brushy or tree lined 'funnels' near roads. Drivers are also encouraged not to "veer for deer;" leaving the lane of traffic could cause a collision with another vehicle or a roadside obstacle, such as a utility pole or culvert.

Iowa's deer herd is managed to provide a harvest of between 100,000 and 120,000 annually, that is achieved by providing additional opportunities for hunters to harvest does. Last year, Iowa hunters reported harvesting nearly 110,000 deer.

Iowa's wild rabbit populations remain free of deadly virus

State wildlife experts are on the lookout for a new virus impacting native rabbit and hare populations. Following an initial outbreak in New Mexico in March 2020, the virus causing rabbit hemorrhagic disease is considered stable-endemic in Arizona, Colorado, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus serotypes 2 (RHDV2) can persist in the environment and can be spread from rabbit to rabbit, by predators, insects and even by vehicle traffic, impacting populations in new areas. While the virus is not currently in Iowa, it has been confirmed in domestic rabbits in Minnesota and South Dakota, and in the wild rabbit population in eastern Colorado and northern Texas.

The disease has had a significant impact on native populations, as well as feral and domestic rabbits, which are also susceptible. Iowa State Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Rachel Ruden said keeping this virus on Iowans' radar is key to minimizing its impact should it show up here.

Infected animals die quickly, sometimes with blood or red-tinged foam visible around the nose, but often with no signs of illness. If you find a dead rabbit, and especially a cluster of dead rabbits, contact the Iowa DNR as early detection is key to stemming a larger outbreak.

While Iowa's eastern cottontail population is expected to survive a disease incursion, there is some concern regarding Iowa's declining jackrabbit population, which is concentrated in certain parts of the state and so might have difficulty rebounding.

The recently emerged strain, RHDV2, was first detected in Europe in 2010. It is not related to epizootic hemorrhagic disease that can cause mortality in deer or COVID-19, the current cause of the human pandemic. It does not pose a risk to people and is not known to affect other animals.

Iowa's hunters prepping for another good pheasant season

With the annual fall crop harvest running ahead of schedule, Iowa's 2021 pheasant season is expected to be another good one when 55,000 plus blaze orange-clad hunters take to the fields on Oct. 30.

Based on the results of the August pheasant survey, hunters can afford to be optimistic.

The annual August roadside survey found Iowa's statewide pheasant population to be essentially unchanged from 2020 at 20 birds per 30-mile route. Within the survey, three of the nine regions – northwest, north-central, west central – averaged 30 birds or more per route, which is the first time that has occurred since 2007, and the central region saw a 25 percent increase. The northeast and east central regions were about at their 10-year survey averages.

"Our pheasant population is about the same as last year, which was another good year - we've had four or five good years in a row now – and based on our bird counts I expect our pheasant harvest to be around 300,000, but our population would easily support a harvest of half a million," said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR, in a news release. "Our final harvest will hinge upon hunter turnout."

The advanced crop harvest and continued good news on the bird numbers has the attention from pheasant hunters beyond the state's border. Bogenschutz and other Iowa DNR wildlife staff have been getting calls from nonresident hunters interested in hunting Iowa.

One piece of advice, he said, is that hunters in western and northern Iowa impacted by the drought should pre-scout the CRP fields they plan to hunt because the habitat could be gone. An emergency declaration from the U.S. Department of Agriculture opened CRP fields in the drought-stricken area to haying up to 100 percent of the fields.