Coralville/MacBride

I have been reading the messages on this board for a few months now and it looks like a good group of people sharing fun/valuable information. Today, I decided to register and join the fun.

I live very close to Coralville and Lake MacBride. My favorite spot to fish in Iowa is Lake Rathbun. Have fished Rathbun since 1984 and know the lake fairly well. If anyone is ever coming this way to fish either Coralville or MacBride, drop me a line and I will try to help in any way that I can.

Heading down to Rathbun next week for the first time this year. My wife and I just had our first child (daughter - actually eight months ago) so this will be our first family vacation. I haved always had a great time down there and consider it to be my home away from home. Hope the weather cooperates. If anyone is heading down that way in the near future I may be able to help there, too.

Welcome aboard Waygate10, I was just down to Rathbun last Sat. and did quite well in Honey Creek on crappies and walleye in 10' and less water throwing twister tails (white and char).I don't know if you know about this other site Iowa outdoors it's a good one too.There's allot of folks on that site from around this area on there and a few here too.

Waygate 10....one day you'll have to tell us where that handle came from!
I live in Marion and I also feel that Iowa's Ocean is one of my favorite spots to fish for those mean ol' crappies. We were just there last weekend (May 20-22) and had some decent success.(check out the Master Crappie results on the web...can't remember where I found them, but do a google search and they will come up) There were 2 tournaments going on that weekend, Master Crappie on Saturday and Walleyes on Sunday. They can really fill up the parking lots on those deals!!! ....and cover a lot of the usual crappies spots with boats too. Water temps on the surface ran from low to mid 60's. Found the crappies at about 6-8' in cover with some going to 15' in the ditches... nothing but dinks on the banks. The weekend was windy and a little wet there which hampered our fishing success a little(wife doesn't go for the "all weather fishing" idea). I would recommend that you get out there early in the morning for the best chance of success.
How have you been doing at MacMurky (well, guess I will have to change my tune now that the lake is starting to clear up!) this spring? I haven't really fished it much this spring...too many other "better" places to go...though I have heard stories from friends who say that I am missing out on some pretty good crappie and walleye fishing....what do you say?
Coraville was pretty good for me early on when the water was low...the last time I was there was pretty dirty and much higher....not much success...windy that day too...guess it has just been a windy spring so far!!

Good luck at Rathbun and let me know how you do....I have another trip there planned for the following week, Thurs-Sunday...hope to find some easy pickin's for the wife....so she doesn't get bored this time!!!! You know.
Slab Happy[

Lebruce - Thanks for the welcome. I will check out the other website when I get a chance. In the past, I have done well in Honey Creek doing exactly what you mentioned on walleyes while throwing twisters in white and chartruese colors. I also found a touch of blue on the lure can make a difference on certain days, too. I really just lucked on to them while trying to find some active crappie years ago. The size gets better when I go out around Island View and South Fork though. Have you gotten any good ones in Honey Creek this year?

Slab Happy - Thanks for the info. Taking my wife and child down to Rathbun with me for the first time so not sure how much serious fishing I will be able to get done. I know what you mean about the parking lots being busy on tourny weekends. This was the first year I did not fish the Rathbun tourny since its started down there. Getting married and having a child has shifted my priorities a little bit. Also, a few negative experiences with other fisherman has turned me off to tournament fishing for awhile. It got a little too stressful for me but I love to compete so maybe a few years from now I will try to get back in them.

We are staying in Honey Creek at some new place called the Greygoose Inn. Have never stayed there before as I usually like to camp or just grab cheap motel in Centerville when I went down by myself. The wife would have none of that as camping means bugs, spiders, and other critters. Should be fun but the wallet is going to suffer a bit.

As for the fishing at Rathbun, I usually head for where the wind will let me fish without getting blown out of the boat. Either South Fork, Bridgeview, Honey Creek, or Buck Creek are some of the usual places which I can get out of the wind and catch a few. I love to fish the main lake brushpiles when the wind dies down, too. This time of the year, I usually do better just using the boat to get me from spot to spot. Then, jump out and fish from the bank seems to be more productive than from a boat. From what I have heard, the "good" crappie are just starting to hit the banks in certain spots but majority are still in a little deeper water.

MacBride has been hot and cold for me this year. Early on, when temps were in the low sixties I did real well over brushpiles in 16' to 24' of water. A week later, temps were back in the low fifties and had to go real small to even get a bite. Size was not great but good numbers which is pretty typical for MacBride. Last week, went out and fished from shore and just casted to brushpiles in shallow water. Caught about 30 crappie and 14 walleyes in a few hours from 6-8:30pm. Only seven of the crappie were over 10" and only two of the walleyes were over 13". It was still fun as I just love the jig bite. Since they put in the siltation damns on the north and south end, the water clarity has improved a lot in my opinion.

As for Coralville, I have not fished it all this year. Usually, I have been out there 10-15 times by now as I like to hit it before all the pleasure boaters get on the water. Some friends of mine tell me the bite is improving but have only gotten a few fish each time out so far.

BTW - the handle is just for a certain type of computer maker switched around and I added number to it.


Will let you know how I do at Rathbun next week and if I can get out to MacBride again before then, will post results.

Waygate10

Ohhhh OK....I get it...one of those PC names...took awhile, but I guessed it after your clue.

I would agree with you on the jig bite being my fav too....love to pitch small stuff at cover and/or use a 10' dabbling pole to dip around the stumps and brush. Last weekend I was having luck on dark colors on Friday-then the winds and rain hit. Started swicthing around and found that the old standard pink/white really worked better than my usual dark stuff...got to experiment.
I have been in the Grey Goose...a very nice place to stay and with electric hook ups for boats they are very sportsman friendly. We usually camp in Honey Creek ourselves. Enjoy that area a lot. Have you ever ice fished Rathbun? We try to get down there every winter there is safe ice.
Well, got to get back to work....

Hope you have a good trip with the family and let us know how you do.

SH

Good to hear about the 'Goose being good place to stay. They told me they had outdoor hookups as batteries need charged. I have a 10' dipping rod too and love ripping them out of the brush. I agree with you about changing colors when the bite "seems to stop". Also, adding some kind of scent seems to payoff, too.

I have ice fished Rathbun but not for a few years. Last time down had the heck scared out of me when I was fishing some brush on steep dropoff along side of a bay. I heard a screeching noise like I have never heard before which went on for about 30 seconds and then a massive area of ice broke loose in front of the bay and it drifted out to open water to the main lake. I found myself fishing about 50' from open water but still had a good 7" of ice where I was. It was pretty amazing but my heart was in my throat for a few minutes. I left shortly afterwards.


Waygate10

I fished McBride last Wednesday, off points near Solon end of lake,caught a half dozen 8-10 inch crappies. Was using slip bobber and minnows in 7' depth between points and island. Watched quite a few people casting jigs with no luck. From what I heard missed the spawn by a week again. Is that true?

Was out on MacBride this past Saturday. Water temp was 66. Fished from 10' - 18' and caught over 50 crappie(8-11") and three walleyes(13 - 16"). Best colors were blue and white with small red bead in front. Also, got a few on crayfish color. Used the smallest minnows in the bucket but had just as good luck tipping with crappie nibbles. I cleaned 12 of the crappie for a meal and all of them had eggs in them. Was fishing the north arm over brushpiles and working the rocky points. Tried casting some jigs in shallow water but only got a few small bass.

Heading down to Rathbun this Wednesday and can't wait to catch some nicer fish.

Rathbun was hot fishing last week. Fished in Honey Creek and South Fork. Caught fish from 1' to 10' on minnows and tubes/twisters. Also, fished brushpiles in deeper water from 15'-20'. A lot of fish with the biggest being 14". Had to cut trip short due to my wife hurting her rib trying to get back in the boat after swimming. She is fine now.

Came home and fished Coralville for two days. Found a lot of males on the banks and caught well over 100 fish on tubes and nibbles. All of the fish were 10" with six being around 12" and one just over 14" weighing pound and half. Tried to attach pic but came back with "image being too large." Tried to resize but after messing with it for over an hour I gave up. Can anyone tell me how to resize the pic to fit? It is saved with Kodac Easyshare.

Talked to one guy fishing with his son and he said I missed the best bite which occurred three weeks ago. He said most of the fish he caught were 12" and some in the 14" range.

Waygate10

Waygate10, Try to post the pic. on the brag board at the top of the page and then link it to a post.Or you can just e-mail it to me and I'll give it a try.My e-mail add is [email protected].

Lebruce - Thanks for the help. I finally was able to modify the pic down enough to get it to a managable size and post on brag board. Just had to cut out a lot of the background.

Thanks again,
Waygate10

Res' is heating up again and no "fleas" to contend with. Have been going out on Thursdays so the pressure has not been bad at all. Have found fish in the 8-14' depths with wood present. Last week was real good as we caught about 40 and seven were over 12". The rest between 8-11". Jigs or minnows, it did not matter.

I also have had great success at the res. Yesturday I got 18 with two at 14 inches. was only out for two hours.

Hit MacBride for the first time ice fishing yesterday from 4:00p.m to 9:00. Setup on a brushpile in about 18' of water. Bite was slow at first but picked up around 7:30p.m. In all, had about 30 bites and caught about 20. Most were in the 6-9" range but did manage one whitey right at 11" and one black just over 10". Kept 8 for a fresh meal. Most came on small minnows but the whitey bit on copper spoon with chartruese Gulp grub. Had 6-7" inches of ice where I was at but could tell there were some bad spots out there so be extremely careful if venturing out.