02-16-2007, 04:15 PM
Good to excellent crappie fishing and very good catfish numbers should greet anglers on Lake Macbride and Coralville Reservoir this season. Bluegills on Macbride will be plentiful, but small. That outlook was offered over the weekend by Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Paul Sleeper. A near standing room only crowd at the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Sports Show in Coralville heard Sleeper's update.
The Coralville-Macbride fishery is really a 'tale of two lakes.' Built in the 1950s, Coralville is an old reservoir, now; without a lot of bottom structure. Macbride, after renovation in 2001-02, has many 'new lake' features. "Generally, all species-except bluegills-have responded well to the renovation," observed Sleeper. "Increased habitat, better water quality; it's a better environment for fish." During renovation, crews created more 'vertical' habitat; scooping up bottom-silt and mounding it alongside. Rock was used to create more contours and hiding places for invertebrates and bait fish. "Until you lower the water, you can't re-form that lake bottom," reminded Sleeper. More than 100,000 tons of rock went into the project; armoring 12 miles of shoreline and created dozens of underwater structures.
Walleyes remained the mystery fish for anglers at the session. "We see a lot of walleyes, 15, up to 18 to 19 inches when we do population sampling in Macbride," reassured Sleeper. There are bigger ones, too, but he acknowledged that the six and seven pounders don't show up in creel surveys conducted each year. Anglers who try and fail to catch the popular game fish don't always buy into the forecast. That's because the walleyes are too well fed; gulping down a healthy supply of six to seven inch gizzard shad.
The shad create a solid food base in the Coralville Reservoir, but next door, Macbride's 940-surface acres are not enough for the shad and bluegills. "They are in competition for the same food--the microscopic zooplankton and insects," said Sleeper. "Predator fish will eat the little shad, but as they grow, they crowd the bluegill population, stunting their growth. You're going to see-and catch-lots of six inch bluegills, but not too many larger than that," cautioned Sleeper.
Crappies, on the other hand, benefit from the misplaced shad. "Crappie fishing will be real good this year (on Macbride). Lots of seven to nine inch fish, with some 12, 13 and 14-inchers not uncommon", said Sleeper. But the big ones are on the reservoir side of the dam. "Coralville should be excellent for crappies this year, if there is decent water; not as muddy as it has been," suggested Sleeper. "There are lots of 14 to15-inch crappies in the Reservoir."
Channel catfish get lots of attention in later June, as water temperatures hit 75 degrees. Your best bet? Poke around the steep, rocky banks of the Reservoir, and around the rock placements on Macbride. "For two or three weeks at the end of June, they're concentrated on the rock," said Sleeper. "Males are guarding the eggs laid by females. They'll jump out at about anything you run by them."
Largemouth bass fishing will be a little better on Macbride than Coralville in '07. Sleeper says the lake renovation, finished in 2002, provided a lot more rock; which holds a lot of crawdads and other 'bass food.'
'Wipers,' white bass/ocean-striped bass hybrids, create a stir every summer. "When we start getting calls that some one just caught a state record white bass, we know the wiper run has started," said Sleeper. The big hybrids prey heavily on gizzard shad; a sight to see on a midsummer morning or evening. "When those one, one-and-a-half inch shad start feeding on the surface, the wipers will pound them," relayed Sleeper. "The surface just explodes as they chase shad. Troll any kind of crankbait through the area."
Since hybrids do not reproduce, those wipers are stocked. While fry are sometimes stocked, Sleeper says the best year classes come a couple seasons after fingerlings are stocked. Last year, 62,000 one-to-two inch wiper fingerlings were stocked.
One of the most heavily fished lakes in the state, Macbride (in combination with Coralville) figures to be the destination of thousands of anglers this year, too. [left] [/left] [left]by Joe Wilkinson [/left][/url]
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The Coralville-Macbride fishery is really a 'tale of two lakes.' Built in the 1950s, Coralville is an old reservoir, now; without a lot of bottom structure. Macbride, after renovation in 2001-02, has many 'new lake' features. "Generally, all species-except bluegills-have responded well to the renovation," observed Sleeper. "Increased habitat, better water quality; it's a better environment for fish." During renovation, crews created more 'vertical' habitat; scooping up bottom-silt and mounding it alongside. Rock was used to create more contours and hiding places for invertebrates and bait fish. "Until you lower the water, you can't re-form that lake bottom," reminded Sleeper. More than 100,000 tons of rock went into the project; armoring 12 miles of shoreline and created dozens of underwater structures.
Walleyes remained the mystery fish for anglers at the session. "We see a lot of walleyes, 15, up to 18 to 19 inches when we do population sampling in Macbride," reassured Sleeper. There are bigger ones, too, but he acknowledged that the six and seven pounders don't show up in creel surveys conducted each year. Anglers who try and fail to catch the popular game fish don't always buy into the forecast. That's because the walleyes are too well fed; gulping down a healthy supply of six to seven inch gizzard shad.
The shad create a solid food base in the Coralville Reservoir, but next door, Macbride's 940-surface acres are not enough for the shad and bluegills. "They are in competition for the same food--the microscopic zooplankton and insects," said Sleeper. "Predator fish will eat the little shad, but as they grow, they crowd the bluegill population, stunting their growth. You're going to see-and catch-lots of six inch bluegills, but not too many larger than that," cautioned Sleeper.
Crappies, on the other hand, benefit from the misplaced shad. "Crappie fishing will be real good this year (on Macbride). Lots of seven to nine inch fish, with some 12, 13 and 14-inchers not uncommon", said Sleeper. But the big ones are on the reservoir side of the dam. "Coralville should be excellent for crappies this year, if there is decent water; not as muddy as it has been," suggested Sleeper. "There are lots of 14 to15-inch crappies in the Reservoir."
Channel catfish get lots of attention in later June, as water temperatures hit 75 degrees. Your best bet? Poke around the steep, rocky banks of the Reservoir, and around the rock placements on Macbride. "For two or three weeks at the end of June, they're concentrated on the rock," said Sleeper. "Males are guarding the eggs laid by females. They'll jump out at about anything you run by them."
Largemouth bass fishing will be a little better on Macbride than Coralville in '07. Sleeper says the lake renovation, finished in 2002, provided a lot more rock; which holds a lot of crawdads and other 'bass food.'
'Wipers,' white bass/ocean-striped bass hybrids, create a stir every summer. "When we start getting calls that some one just caught a state record white bass, we know the wiper run has started," said Sleeper. The big hybrids prey heavily on gizzard shad; a sight to see on a midsummer morning or evening. "When those one, one-and-a-half inch shad start feeding on the surface, the wipers will pound them," relayed Sleeper. "The surface just explodes as they chase shad. Troll any kind of crankbait through the area."
Since hybrids do not reproduce, those wipers are stocked. While fry are sometimes stocked, Sleeper says the best year classes come a couple seasons after fingerlings are stocked. Last year, 62,000 one-to-two inch wiper fingerlings were stocked.
One of the most heavily fished lakes in the state, Macbride (in combination with Coralville) figures to be the destination of thousands of anglers this year, too. [left] [/left] [left]by Joe Wilkinson [/left][/url]
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