Upper Iowa River Fishing Guides and Conditions, Iowa

About the Upper Iowa River

The Upper Iowa runs across the top of Iowa through country the last glaciers missed, which is why it looks nothing like the rest of the state. Instead of flat black farmland the river cuts through limestone, and the bluffs above Kendallville, Bluffton and Chimney Rock stand two hundred feet over the water. It is the best-known canoe river in Iowa and one of the better smallmouth floats in the upper Midwest.

Smallmouth bass are the main event on the river itself. They hold on rock, on the outside of every bend, and along the current seams below the riffles, and a good day in June or September puts a lot of fish in the boat with a real chance at an eighteen-inch fish. Channel catfish and rock bass fill in, walleye and northern pike show up in the lower reaches toward the Mississippi, and the cold spring-fed tributaries that feed the river through this corner of the state hold wild brown trout, which is what draws fly anglers to the region as much as the smallmouth do.

The Dorchester gauge covers the lower river above the Mississippi. Moderate readings are ideal float conditions, with defined riffles and enough water to keep a canoe off the gravel. Spring melt and heavy summer thunderstorms bring it up fast and brown, and the river becomes pushy and unsafe in the bluff sections; it drops and clears within a couple of days. Late-summer low water is clear and beautiful but means dragging a boat over the shallow riffles.

Decorah is the hub, with outfitters, lodging and an easy drive to the trout streams. Bluffton, Kendallville and Dorchester are the launch points on the lower half.

Access

Kendallville: the classic upper launch below the bluffs.
Bluffton: canoe access under Bluffton Palisades.
Chimney Rock: outfitter and access point on the middle river.
Decorah: town access, Dunnings Spring and the trout streams nearby.
Dorchester: lower river access at the gauge.
New Albin and the Mississippi confluence: the bottom end.
Numerous county road bridges provide wade access on the middle river.

Seasons

April and May: high, cold water, then the first good smallmouth on the rock.
June: peak float season, hopper and popper fishing, warm days.
July and August: low clear water, wade fishing and early mornings.
September and October: the best big-smallmouth window; trout streams fish well too.