Fall Trout Fishing Excitement

Fall and winter trout stocking south of Hwy. 20 began in 2004 when South Banner Lake received 2,000 fish and at each stocking event since, the hatchery truck has been greeted by throngs of anglers eagerly anticipating the first strike.

From that initial successful release, the DNR has expanded cool weather trout stocking from Council Bluffs to Burlington.  With each new location comes a new group of followers greeting stocking trucks with rods in hand.

“This is about as a sure thing as there is with fishing,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of fisheries for the Iowa DNR. “These are fun fish to catch and they are aggressive right off the truck. People are getting limits quickly once the fish are stocked.”

The fall trout stocking events are listed on the DNR’s online calendar of events at www.iowadnr.gov/calendar

“These trout are easy to catch using simple, inexpensive tackle. We usually have a family friendly fishing event associated with the stocking to help novice anglers be successful,” Larscheid said.

Bringing trout to cities and towns offered a unique fishing experience to Iowans who might not normally travel to northeast Iowa to fish for trout. The experiment has been a success.

“We’ve seen a steady increase in the number of trout fees sold since the first trout was released in South Banner Lake in 2004. We are less than 300 sales shy of breaking the all time record for trout,” he said.

Anglers are required to have purchased a trout privilege in addition to having a valid fishing license to fish for or possess trout. There is a five fish per day limit with a possession limit of 10.  Children may fish under their adult’s license but may only take one daily limit. The child may have their own limit if they purchase a trout privilege.

Media Contact: Joe Larscheid, Chief of Fisheries, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 515-281-5208.