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Best fishing times / Iowa

Best Fishing Times in Iowa This Week

Near Spirit Lake, Decorah and Clear Lake: today on a 24 hour timeline and the next seven days rated Fair to Best.

Working out the moon and the sun for Spirit Lake, IA, and reading the forecast.

Fishing somewhere else? Enter any ZIP for your own spot

Photo: “Fall fishing on the Madison River at sunrise”, Jacob W. Frank, Yellowstone National Park (NPS), Public domain

Iowa at a glance

Solunar windows plus the agency calendar
3
Towns rated this week
Spirit Lake, Decorah and Clear Lake
4
Solunar windows a day
two majors, two minors, set against sunrise and sunset
4
Dated entries from the agency
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
2
Fish the calendar names
walleye and bluegill
The fishing year

When fish bite in Iowa

Iowa's fishing year starts with walleye spawning in early April, peaks for bluegill around Memorial Day, brings trophy walleye from late fall to ice up, and bluegill through the ice.

Each entry below is from Iowa Department of Natural Resources or its published guides, quoted word for word and linked. Line the season up with the week above: a run in its prime and a Great day with a window at first light is the morning to take off.

  1. Early April

    Walleye

    Walleye spawn when water reaches 42 to 54 degrees, usually in early April in Iowa.

    “Spawning starts when water temperature is 42 - 54 degrees (usually in early April in Iowa).”

    Walleye | Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, read October 9, 2026
  2. Late spring and early summer

    Bluegill

    Bluegill gather in the shallows to spawn in late spring and early summer, peaking when water reaches 75 degrees, usually around Memorial Day.

    “Bluegill gather in shallow areas to spawn in late spring and early summer. Spawning peaks when the water temperature reaches 75 degrees – usually around Memorial Day.”

    Bluegill, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, read October 9, 2026
  3. Late fall until ice up

    Walleye

    Late fall until ice up is some of Iowa's best walleye fishing, with a chance at a trophy over 10 pounds in deep, low current wintering areas.

    “Late fall until ice up offers some of Iowa’s best walleye fishing, with a good chance of catching a real trophy (>10 lbs.) in deep, low-current overwintering areas.”

    Walleye | Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, read October 9, 2026
  4. Winter (ice)

    Bluegill

    Bluegill are the easiest and most often caught fish through the ice, and northern Iowa lakes add yellow perch and walleye.

    “Most Iowa lakes are full of bluegills, which are the easiest and most often caught during the winter. Lakes in northern Iowa will have yellow perch and walleye in addition to bluegills.”

    Ice Fishing, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, read October 9, 2026
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Before you go

License, stocking and ice in Iowa

Iowa fishing licenseWhat a license costs and where to buy one.Iowa trout stockingWhere and when the state stocks trout.Iowa ice fishingWhen the lakes freeze and the ice is safe.Iowa daylightSunrise, sunset and day length all year.
How the days are rated

Reading the Iowa timeline

Each day has two major solunar periods of about two hours, centered on the moon overhead and underfoot, and two minor periods of about an hour at moonrise and moonset. A window within an hour of sunrise or sunset is marked in gold. The rating adds the moon phase, the gold windows and a capped nudge from the National Weather Service forecast for each town. Every factor and its points.

Dawn and dusk are the reliable part; the moon windows are the old angler’s rule.

An angler in a cap seen from behind, holding a rod over a calm lake at dusk, with a bobber on pink water and a pine shore beyond
Walleye fishing on a northern Wisconsin lake at dusk. The Wisconsin DNR says that in clear waters walleye stay deep in the day and move into the shallows at night, which is why the hour around sunset is shaded on every timeline here. “Fishing in northern Wisconsin for walleye”, Joanna Gilkeson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region, Public domain

Iowa fishing times questions

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Best fishing times in other states