Iowa City/Cedar Rapids - Ice Report

[HawkEyeman]

I'll keep this thread alive for anyone interested in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. Post here with updated information if you have any.

We'll have good ice next weekend I hope. This morning (Sunday, 1/13/07):

-- Kent Park (Tiffin), no ice but starting to skim
-- Farm Ponds, similarly no ice
-- Coralville Res, skimming but not reliable ice (that I found)

[HawkEyeman]

Snow is coming down. About 1/2" already. I'm actually GLAD the ponds stayed open today to keep this stuff off the new ice.

Come on cold weather! Hang in there.

[phisherman]

Exactly my thoughts.  Starting to look south of C.R. at Macbride, Coralville, Kent Park, and Belva Deer.  Some of the smaller ponds near C.R. were froze over with about an inch of ice, the snow ruined any hopes of ice fishing those ponds this yr.  But the bigger lakes down south that stayed open should lock up this week and hopefully have at least 3-4" of ice by this weekend.  The snow should help water levels and oxygen levels in those lakes that stayed open, and it should help drop the surface temp of the water too.  Hopefully no more snow until we do get about 6" of ice, 10" would be great, then we'd have good ice til March.  I believe Pleasant Creek was wide open as well so we may have good ice there by next weekend as well.

[HawkEyeman]

Got off of work late tonight. Checked a nearby farm pond though. A good solid 4" here in Coralville.

I imagine McBride/Coralville Res (at least parts) are fishable finally!!


Anyone have any other news? Any updates are welcome.

[HawkEyeman]

I was out today.

McBride - 4" decent ice --> Slow morning bite
Coralville Res/Mehaffey Bridge - 2.5" to 3.5" --> Didn't fish it, just checked the ice (didn't have my tip ups along with me)
Farm ponds - 4.5" or more --> The pond I was had a great bluegill bite going on. 8"-9"ers all day. If I'd kept them I'd have kept every 4th or so fish.

[mattstark44]

I TRIED LAKE MCBRIDE LAST NIGHT - PRETTY SLOW.  A FEW SMALL BLUEGILL.  THE ICE WAS ABOUT 4-5" SOME SNOWMOBILE WERE ON IT.  I'M THINKING ABOUT HEADING OVER TO PALO THIS WEEKEND, HAS ANYONE TRIED IT THIS YEAR - ICE THICKNESS/GOOD BITE?

[phisherman]

I haven't personally been out on P.C. but I had a few friends try this past weekend, they said the bite was slow but there was 3 - 4" of ice, I'm sure a little more by now.  I also heard there was someone on Polk Township, the pond west of 380, near Brandon on Sunday, so I'm sure the ice is good on Koutny, the pond east of 380 in Brandon.  Also had reports of people fishing Don Murphy, the pond off of 13, near Indian Creek Nature center and Bertram.  Has anyone tried ice fishing that little backwater behind Hills Bank in I.C. off HWY 1?  People were also fishing Kent Park as of last week.

[HawkEyeman]

Has anyone tried ice fishing that little backwater behind Hills Bank in I.C. off HWY 1?

Are you talking about the quaries south of town on Gilbert St.? I wasn't aware you could fish those. Otherwise, all the ponds in/near Iowa City are safe to fish on if you keep an eye out for the springs that feed them. Had a GREAT bluegill bite on Saturday in town here near an apartment complex.

[phisherman]

Are you talking about the quaries south of town on Gilbert St.? I wasn't aware you could fish those. Otherwise, all the ponds in/near Iowa City are safe to fish on if you keep an eye out for the springs that feed them. Had a GREAT bluegill bite on Saturday in town here near an apartment complex.

the place i'm talking about is right off of HWY1, I think you can see it from the road, directly behind Hills Bank.  I caught a decent walleye out there back in the day when I was in college, the summer or '96.  Not sure if it's a quarry or if it's actually connected to the river but I've seen other people fishing from the banks before, never ice fished there before.

[HawkEyeman]

Ahhhh sure sure, the one with a gravel parking lot next to it. I caught a few bass in there a few summers ago. Most people fish the Iowa right next to it but occassionally I see a person or two fishing the pond for catfish (i think) when it's warmer. Never seen anyone fishing through the ice back there though (haven't paid much attention). I'll give it a shot this weekend and report back to you, you've got me curious now.

[dboenish]

I have fished the Cedar River backwater about 1 mile east of Palo.  I did well on numbers but not size.  Caught alot of small crappie and bluegill.  I tried it at night yesterday......0 fish.  They seem to be biting only during the  day.

[phisherman]

I have fished the Cedar River backwater about 1 mile east of Palo.  I did well on numbers but not size.  Caught alot of small crappie and bluegill.  I tried it at night yesterday......0 fish.  They seem to be biting only during the  day.

Are you talking about Mud Lake?  If you look on google maps, it's under the 1st bridge before the Cedar River Bridge, on the way to Palo on Blairs Ferry.  Or are you talking about that quarry / sand pit?  If it's Mud Lake what kind of depth is there?  I've seen people fishing there occasionally but always thought it was just a shallow marsh area.

[Crappiekila]

How much ice do you have there? I live just west of Palo and drive that to work everyday and see people wanted to check it out but have not got a chance yet. Is that whole thing safe, can I come in from either side? 

[HawkEyeman]

Caught gills and crappie consistently all day on Mcbride on Saturday. Everyone else seemed to be moving around ALOT but I set down on a hotspot straight away, i guess. The fish were on the verge of being nice sized....but all in all they were the Lake McBride standard potato chip panfish.

I checked on that pond behind Hills Bank. (It's actually west of the bank, between the bank and the river.) The ice looked TERRIBLE on Sunday. It looks as if the pond is riddled with springs and as a result the ice seems bad. I didn't even take the time to drill any holes because it looked that bad. ALSO I didn't seen any other auger holes through the nice, nor did I see footprints. Perhaps someone else could shed a little more insight as to what that pond is and if there are any real fish in there. Anyone know?

[wallyhunter]

My son and I spent the afternoon Sunday on McBride. He moved around with the flasher until he found fish and caught 6 crappie (small though) in the final hour on the ice. I stayed in the tent and worked on some equipment - caught nothing. Had a tip-up set just in case - nothing happening there. The bite seemed slow both Saturday and Sunday. I was convinced that they just were not hungry, until my boy changed my mind.

Felt darn good to be on the ice again - last year was very frustrating. I am keeping an eye on the boys up north of here and may go up and try for some perch and eyes. I was suprised to hear they were driving out - haven't done that since my younger years in Wisconsin.

Stay warm and keep your feet outa the holes!