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Hi- new fishing boat owner, really enjoy fishing for walleye and crappie on the Mighty Mississippi, but getting tossed around like a rag doll on the weekends by all the pleasure boaters. Any lakes near Dubuque that offer good Crappie Fishing? Sailor Jerry: you mentioned having great luck with walleye and crappie on a lake in Northern Iowa, would you mind sharing which one? Everyone on this site seems really great about sharing their love of fishing, thanks in advance for any tips or ideas.
Try Lake Delhi about 1/2 hour west of Dubuque. It's a damned up portion of the Maquoketa River. There is usually good fishing there for about everything, but like the Mississippi River you need to be off the water by 12:00 a.m. or the pleasure boaters run you over. I typically make sure I'm on the water by 7:00 a.m. to get a good 5 hours in.
Have you tried fishing the backwaters of the Mississippi on the Illinois side in Pool 12 across from Dubuque around Galena? You shouldn't have much trouble with pleasure boaters in the backwaters over there unless they want to loose their lower unit and wreck their boats.
Coralville Reservoir and Lake McBride around Solon have decent crappies. Pleasant Creek in Cedar Rapids isn't far away from you, but I've never been there.
If you have any friends that live or own land at the Galena Territory in Illinois that is a good place to fish as well and not far from Dubuque, but it's a private lake.
Thanks for the tips Slab Seeker. I'll try them all. BTW- I dropped in at Massey this morning and the guy at the bait store said everything was hitting on minnows. Didn't go far off the dock, and first cast my bobber goes under about three seconds after the minnow hit the water. Thought it was a crappie until my drag went crazy. Pulled a 16" catfish in the boat with the net (with my ultralight!). Second cast- had another cat that broke my four pound test before I could land it. Fun day- crappies were pretty slow though.
Hey DBQWalleye!
I was fishing a lake called Oak Lake. It's probably a good 4 hours away from you and it is completely private, unless of course, you have the "ok" to fish there, which I'm lucky enough to have, kind of. Thank goodness for the girlfriend who knows someone who lives on the lake!
Besides that, I haven't found anything for Crappie for the past month, not even with minnows. I think a boat is the key to the lakes near me, and unfortunately I don't have access to one :(