The southern part of Iowa has some fine walleye fishing, as does the northern part. Three hot spots in Iowa are the Mississippi River by Davenport, Little River and Rathbun. When you fish the walleye on the Rathbun, you are going to walk away with a good catch every time you fish. It seems that the walleye on the Rathbun bite rather well when the day is sunny. This is unusual for walleye, but many anglers who fish this are will tell you that they catch more walleye on sunny days than they do on rain and cloudy days.
The best places to fish are by the humps and shallow parts of Honey Creek, Ham Creek and Fowler's Point. The best thing to use is a ?-ounce chartreuse jig with a two inch minnow attached. If you visit the Island View old quarry underwater, you will find many walleyes just lurking around. This has been said to be the prime place to fish for walleye. Never sit in one place to long, move around. You want to find the feeding walleyes because they are the most aggressive. You will find more fish than you can take home in these areas of Lake Rathbun.
Little River is another hot spot for walleye fishing in southern Iowa. This place is a short distance from Des Monies and the walleye are thick. Many times you will hear bass anglers complaining because they cannot catch any bass because the walleye are taking the bait. It seems that the walleye in this area will strike at anything. The more aggressive a walleye the more they will strike. The best places on the lake are by the rock piles, dam and the jetties. Walleye are found mixed in with the bass. You also find the walleye by timber in the lake. If you find trees in standing water, you are going to find walleye if the water depth is more than eight feet.
When the water light is low, anglers can catch a walleye along the shore. This is when anglers who do not have a boat, can catch a fair share of fish. Anglers from the area say that using crankbaits, spinners and jigs work the best. They also say that using a bobber and a worm or a leech will get you a nice walleye bite. If the bait is live, the walleye will bite.
The Mississippi River is an exceptional place to catch walleye. Go down the river from Davenport and you will have the time of your life fishing for walleye. The walleye are aggressive and hungry it seems like all the time. The river is big and you can find the walleye by rock beds and the shorelines. If you fish by the railroad grades, you will find walleye in about eight feet of water. The calm beds are another great area to fish for walleye. You can troll the river and get walleye in many different areas of the Mississippi.
