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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 18, 2018
Fall is a great time to catch fish
with family and friends. The air is cool, the views are picturesque, lakes are
less crowded and the fish are easy to catch.
“Fantastic fishing opportunities await
both new and expert anglers, said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa Department
of Natural Resources Fisheries Bureau. “Get out and enjoy them.”
Cooler
temperatures and shorter daylight times trigger fish to actively search for
food
to build energy reserves to survive the long winter. These predictable
movements make them easier to find.
“Yellow perch, muskies, crappies,
walleyes, largemouth and smallmouth bass are more active in the fall,”
explained Larscheid. “They eat more and more often to get ready for winter.”
The fall bite in lakes and ponds shifts
to the main part of the day. Fish are more active during the day and will be
close to shore. Target areas of a lake where the water is warmer, mostly in shallow
water bays along the north shore.
“Use live bait, particularly minnows,
small tackle and fish slowly when fishing in cooler water,” Larscheid said.
Look for panfish schools in open water
near structure like a brush pile, underwater hump, drop-offs and rock reefs.
Largemouth bass will be close to some type of structure during the fall like
underwater brush piles, old road beds, rock reeks or weed lines.
Quickly find fish structure locations
with the online fishing atlas or download structure location maps from the DNR’s Where to Fish website.
Fish in streams start to move to their
wintering areas in October. Stream flow is often lower in the fall; allowing
better angler access. Channel catfish will move downstream from smaller streams
to the deepest holes they can find in larger streams. Walleyes will move to the
next deepest holes and pike to the next deepest.
Find
tips for catching yellow perch, crappie, walleye, bass and catfish on the DNR
website at www.iowadnr.gov/fishing.
Check the weekly
fishing report to find out what is biting where.
Media Contact:
Joe Larscheid, Chief of Fisheries, Iowa Department
of Natural Resources, 515-201-3376.
 Water levels are managed at Sweet Marsh to produce seeds for duck food and tall vegetation where duck hunters can hide. All of the water that flows through five main segments at Sweet Marsh empties to the Wapsipinicon River. Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.
Tripoli, Iowa - Wildlife biologist
Jason Auel received a rather unusual complaint from a resident near the Sweet
Marsh Wildlife Area in northeast Bremer County.
The caller said a sandhill crane was
attacking its reflection in their window, pecking the glass and window sills
and they wanted some help. It wasn’t the first complaint he received about
sandhill cranes – one earlier reported cranes eating a dozen acres of their corn.
“It had to be the first depredation
call for damage caused by sandhill cranes,” Auel said.
Sandhill cranes have used Sweet Marsh
as a stopping point during their annual migrations, some staying behind to
become residents. This year, at least eight young were successfully hatched.
The scratchy call can be heard from the south end of the marsh. In the spring,
their numbers can reach 100 or more.
The spring migration is huge at Sweet
Marsh with bird species numbering in the hundreds and bird watchers in the
thousands. It was included as part of the Wapsi River Bird Conservation Area
that was formally dedicated in 2007.
“It’s part of the Wapsipinicon River
corridor which is an important migration highway. It’s common to get dozens of
warblers, neotropical species, shorebirds and thousands of ducks and geese,” he
said.
The spring migration is when Darrin
Siefken begins his weekly visit to the marsh.
Siefken, of Tripoli, owns CrawDaddy
Outdoors in Waverly that caters to people who enjoy the outdoors, which makes
sense given his background as a Bremer County naturalist for 11 years. Siefken offers guided floats at Sweet Marsh
Tuesday evenings from mid-March to mid-May.
During the two hour marsh tour, he
points out different bird species, shows paddlers how the marsh is managed,
and, with the help fellow Tripolian, Kip Ladage, offers photography tips.
“It’s an amazing area,” Siefken said.
For those not wanting to leave terra
firma, there is a viewing area with a spotting scope overlooking the refuge on
the southwest part of the marsh.
The Refuge
A roughly 200-acre waterfowl refuge in
the southwest part of Sweet Marsh is closed to all access from Sept. 1 through
the end of the duck season to allow waterfowl a place to rest and refuel on
their journey south. It also provides shelter from bad weather and predators.
This area is managed to provide millet, corn, occasionally soybeans or left
idle to come up with annual weeds as food source to keep ducks around longer.
Duck hunting
Sweet Marsh Wildlife Area was
developed in the 1950s as a stopover for ducks and has been popular with duck
hunters ever since. Most of the hunters come from Bremer County and nearby
Waterloo and Cedar Falls.
It covers more than 3,100 acres, with
eight miles of dikes, six parking lots and three boat ramps. It has five pools
connected through a series of canals totaling about 800 acres of water that
includes Martens Lake, the second largest impoundment in northeast Iowa. The
largest boat ramp is on Martens Lake and it will fill with boat trailers on
opening morning of duck season.
Water levels are manipulated during
the year to provide seed producing annual vegetation ducks can use for food and
to create tall vegetation where boat hunters can hide.
One reason Sweet Marsh is so popular
is that its habitat diversity can support walk in hunters, kayakers and large
boat hunters. For less competition, Auel suggests hunters consider going out
during the week, rather than on the weekend.
Massasauga
About 16 years ago, a neighbor reported
finding a massasauga rattlesnake in his garden. The snake was caught, outfitted
with a telemetry device and released in the marsh to track its movements. What
they learned was it overwintered in crayfish burrows. The snake disappeared.
The last encounter of a massasauga at
Sweet Marsh was a dead one on the road by the Martens Lake parking lot in 2011.
It hasn’t been seen here since.
Because of the potential for having a
resident population of massasauga, Auel is required to follow federal
guidelines to manage for this threatened species, like not mowing the dikes
less than eight inches.
The massasauga is often mistaken for
northern water snake that is also at Sweet Marsh. How to tell the difference
- Northern water snakes are found
mainly in and around water
- Massasaugas tend stick to the
prairie until hibernation
- Northern water snakes are
aggressive
- Massasaugas are not aggressive
- Northern water snakes feed on
fish and frogs
- Massasaugas feed on rodents,
small mammals and frogs
Wild marsh
life
Sweet Marsh is home to more than birds
and fowl.
A black bear stayed here a few years
ago and was seen swimming in Martens Lake. A moose and wolf have also wandered
through.
The marsh is home to Blanding’s
turtles - with confirmed reproduction - and central newts. Red squirrels are here
too and they are protected. Its home to red shouldered hawks and has at least
five bald eagle nests. Ospreys stop by for a fish meal on the way south for the
winter. Sweet Marsh was one of the first locations where otters were reintroduced
in Iowa.
Pale green orchid is found here – it’s
not a showy flower, but it is rare.
“It’s unique in size and habitat
diversity that benefits from its location along the Wapsipinicon River
corridor,” Auel said.
Other
visitors
Students from Wartburg College, Upper
Iowa University and Hawkeye Community College visit Sweet Marsh for class. A
boy scout built and installed an osprey nesting platform for his Eagle Scout
project.
Mowed dikes are used for their easy
access by kayakers, hikers, deer hunters and duck hunters with their bags of
decoys.
Wild edibles
Sweet Marsh is a hotspot for wild
asparagus, strawberries and mushrooms. Mushroom hunters stop at different times
of year to search for morels, oysters, puffballs and chicken of the woods. Puffballs here have been the size of a volleyball.
Media
Contact: Jason Auel, Wildlife Biologist, Iowa
Department of Natural Resources, 319-882-4252.
 Faith Bruck, right, with Logan-Magnolia High School, received the 2018 Brass Bluegill award on Sept. 13 from Barb Gigar, left, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fish Iowa! program. The Brass Bluegill award has been presented annually since 1996 to an outstanding local program that exemplifies the goals of the Fish Iowa! Angler Education program. Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.
Faith Bruck with Logan-Magnolia High
School is the 2018 recipient of the Brass Bluegill award from the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources Fish
Iowa! program.
In 2015, Logan-Magnolia Schools’ science teacher K.C.
Kersten got a grant through Monsanto to develop a fishing pond and wetland area
next to the school. The pond was stocked in the fall of 2016. In 2017, Bruck capitalized
on the outdoor interests of her students and the newly stocked pond to create
excitement about lifetime recreational activities through fishing. She also
drew on student knowledge and expertise, having more experienced students help
those who were just learning how to fish. About 85 students spent several weeks
fishing and caught and released bluegill, bass, catfish and walleye during
their Fish Iowa! unit. Pictures of
students with their catches were posted on the school website.
Bruck’s
classes sparked a strong interest in fishing. Students continued to fish on
weekends and they asked to do more fishing activities. Her unit also made many
cross-curricular connections with the junior and senior high science classes,
helping students become more aware of their environment and more conservation-minded.
Bruck
and her colleagues currently are exploring ways to expand the fishing unit and
take advantage of the on-site pond to incorporate other opportunities to get
students active outside and enjoying Iowa’s natural resources.
Bruck
was honored at the September 13 Natural Resources Commission meeting. She
received a plaque and a set of 16 spinning rods and reels for use with her
classes.
Other
educators recognized for their outstanding contributions to Fish Iowa! in 2018, include Spencer Bauer,
Greene County Middle School; Megan Cook, Sac County Conservation Board; Larry
Kadner, Marshalltown High School; Mike Richard, Ridge View Schools; Greg
Villegas, East Sac High School; and Kate Zimmerman, Ringgold County
Conservation Board.
Each
program includes education, support and opportunities to get Iowans outdoors
and connected to our natural resources through fishing. Bauer leads a fishing
club for about 100 middle school students that includes 30-minute weekly
sessions with fall and spring outings after school. Cook incorporates fishing
into public events, school programs, and summer camps for about 300
participants. Kadner teaches design to 140 students by building lures and hosts
an after-school fishing club with 27 members. Richard is a hands-on school
administrator who not only advocates for, but helps lead, fishing outings at
the elementary and high school. Villegas’ P.E. fishing unit for some 150
students is well-supported by the community and connects with ecology and
agriculture classes. Zimmerman uses fishing extensively in her conservation
education programs for some 3,000 participants each year. She sums up the
philosophy and many of these educators, “[Fishing] provides a skill set, mental
and physical wellness, and passion for the outdoors that will teach … respect
[for our natural resources].”
The Brass Bluegill award has been
presented each year since 1996 to an outstanding local program that exemplifies
the goals of the Fish Iowa! Angler
Education program.
Media Contact: Barb
Gigar, training specialist, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 515-494-3891.
Statewide Park Volunteer Day is this Saturday, Sept. 22. Iowans can help out at more than 40 state parks with activities that may include litter pick-up, staining or painting buildings, planting trees, clearing trails and more.
Details including meeting times, locations and activities for each participating state park can be found at www.iowadnr.gov/volunteer .
Clean-up efforts are partly in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the Iowa state park system, which takes place in 2020. The DNR is working with several organizations to create park improvements and plan activities for the centennial event.
Volunteers for the Sept. 22 clean-up day are encouraged to share their activities on social media with #iowastateparks.
Media Contact: Todd Coffelt, Chief, State Parks Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 515-725-8485.
Step back in time, to life in the
1840s at the Annual Fort Atkinson Rendezvous Sept. 29-30. The event takes place
at the historic Fort Atkinson State Preserve in Winneshiek County.
This year’s rendezvous will focus on
the theme of “trade blankets,” which were an important item for trading with
Native Americans. Trade blankets were made both by Native American tribes, and
by the French and British traders throughout the region. The rendezvous will
feature several examples of trade blankets, as well as other items that were
frequently traded in the 1800s.
The Fort Atkinson Rendezvous is a
free, family-friendly event. Throughout the weekend, visitors can experience
cannon drills, anvil shoots, period instruments and music, a flint and steel
contest, primitive bow shoot, 1840s kid’s games, cooking contest, melodrama and
a bullwhip contest.
All participants wear clothes and
uniforms of the 1840s and have trade blankets on display with thousands of
period artifacts such as guns, tomahawks, knives, cannons, furs and supplies.
Period crafts of all types are demonstrated throughout the weekend.
Event hours are 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
on Saturday, Sept. 29, and 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30.
Fort Atkinson was an active military
post for the expanding United States from 1840 to 1849. The purpose of the fort
was to keep the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) tribe on neutral ground in the Iowa
Territory and to keep peace on the frontier between the Ho-Chunk, Sioux, Sauk
and Meskwaki tribes and Euro-American settlers.
The fort was acquired by the State of
Iowa in 1921 and the Fort Atkinson State Preserve Historic District was placed
on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
For more information about the
rendezvous and history of the fort, visit https://www.fortatkinsoniowa.com/rendezvous-days/rendezvous-days-info. The weekend
rendezvous activities are sponsored by the Friends of Fort Atkinson and the
Iowa DNR and are free and open to the public.
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