Anybody Fishing Ponds/lakes In Eastern Iowa? 2024

GOOCHY reply :

I'm going to start hitting up Lake of the Hills and Railroad Lake in Davenport this year. Can anybody suggest any other good spots for public fishing around this area? I know there's a small lake/pond out near Mt. Joy Airport that doesn't seem heavily pressured.

einsteins reply :

I live in the quad cities area and just bought a used bass boat this last fall.

Like you I am looking for places to take my boat this year.

I know the river pretty well but need to find some lakes to fish.

One lake I want to check out is lake storey in Galesburg.

I did take the boat down to the strip mine lakes by Buda. IL late last fall and those lakes look promising.

Also they just built a new reservoir not far from Scott county park and it will be filling this year. IA dnr is going to stock it and it should be good in year or two.

Not familiar with railroad lake you mention. I did hear of lake of the hills but don't know much about it.

Send me a pm....maybe we can go explore sometime.

einsteins reply :

I caught 4 Bass in 1 hour the other day at one of the lakes of the Rock Island Conservation Club.

I was fishing from shore using a jika rig.

Going to try and get the boat out this Saturday.

GOOCHY reply :

On 3/30/2012 at 5:42 AM, einsteins said:

I caught 4 Bass in 1 hour the other day at one of the lakes of the Rock Island Conservation Club.

I was fishing from shore using a jika rig.

Going to try and get the boat out this Saturday.

Nice! I've been catching some decent ones out of Railroad Lake over on the west end of Davenport. I'm going to try out Lake George out in Andalusia sometime this week I think.

einsteins reply :

Went back out on the conservation club lake with the boat last evening....caught 3 real nice bass on a swim jig with a rage craw trailer, fished very slow along the bottom.

Thinking of hitting the strip mine lakes down by Buda, IL in the next week or so.

GOOCHY reply :

I couldn't find much information on the conservation club. Do you have to be a member to fish there? How's the shore fishing?

einsteins reply :

Yes it is 50.00 year to join the Conservation club.

All the lakes have shore fishing in different spots...some areas are only excessable via boat.

The Lakes are old sand dredging operations but are very mature.

Just drive onto Big Island and the conservation club is about 1 mile down the road on the right side. Go in and talk to them and I bet they will let you look around before joining.

Money goes to a good cause also....Conservation.

Big Ken reply :

The conservation Club is worth looking into. I am a member and have had many great fishing days there. Well worth the $50.00 fee. You can fish from shore or use a boat with trolling motor.

unionman reply :

I live in Davenport and fish Railroad Lake, Lake of the Hills, Laumbach and many other small lakes and ponds in the area on a regular basis. I will be getting a bass raider this season to increase my catch rate. All lakes at West Lake Park are highly pressured and must be fished with uncommon lures at early or late hrs of the day. The new lake you are talking about will be in McCausland. Its supposed to be over 300 acres. I walked through the existing creekbed and discovered many man made structures to provide cover for fish. Tire piles and hundreds of wooden pallets stacked along the waters future edge like a coral reef. I made many mental notes but need to go back with a gps and mark waypoints of these potential honey holes. This lake is going to be amazing and a long time coming for this area.

GOOCHY reply :

On 5/28/2012 at 4:49 AM, unionman said:

All lakes at West Lake Park are highly pressured and must be fished with uncommon lures at early or late hrs of the day.

I've found this as well. I've caught several decent bass out of Railroad Lake this spring. They're definitely a bit easier to catch early. The pressure on these lakes is unbelievable.

einsteins reply :

I dont fish the west Lake park lakes due to heavy pressure. I never paid attention to the names so I didnt recognize the names of the west lake park lakes when mentioned above.

I have not tried lake Goerge yet but suspect that pressure there is high as well...

Need to find some good places on the river but with the low water this year it has been tough to get to any sloughs. Ineed to find out where the good sloughs are these days.

Always looking for someplace to take the boat though.

JazzNBell reply :

On 3/30/2012 at 5:42 AM, einsteins said:

I caught 4 Bass in 1 hour the other day at one of the lakes of the Rock Island Conservation Club.

I was fishing from shore using a jika rig.

Going to try and get the boat out this Saturday.

I have a membership over at at the Conversation Club and I've caught one bass all year on a silver and black lake fork worm... I'm new to the bass fishing seen, so I'm assuming my choice of bait and approach has a lot to do with it. This is my first year with the club, where are some good off shore fishing spots over there??

Matt Jungblut reply :

i am in maquoketa and fish hurtsville pond not much luck there everybody keeps everything they catch even though sign says they have to be 18 inches

i mostly fish the mississippi river pool 12

i also have a few decent spots of the maquoketa river i fish

would like to try those places around davenport but dont know where they are i never go to davenport and would like to meet up with someone and fish them

DILLY07 reply :

Im in Muscatine, Iowa. Theres nice sloughs around here. I got 5 pounders and some less. I think Im going to hit West Lake this weekend and try it out. I probably to have to use different kinds of lures and baits. How deep are the ponds facing the interestate 280?

Big Ken reply :

The side along 280 as some spots as deep as 20 feet. I fished there last weekend (Sat) and caught around 7 bass most about one pound. I was surprised and did catch one that was 3.4lbs on my scale. Try the lake right off on 110Ave called Railroad lake. Go on the side near the woods across from the recycling area and boat ramp away from the road (the Southeast side) thats where I caught all the bass that day. I was just using a Texas rigged worm (7.5" culprit in red shad color). A friend of mine said he caught 3 nice bass off the end of the rock jetty on the main lake with a crankbait. I've never fished that lake seems way to used.

unionman reply :

Yea its pressured but there are still fish there. You just have to put in some work.

unionman reply :

My avatar pic is from Lake of the Hills...

GOOCHY reply :

Put some time in this morning on Lake of the Hills and caught 7 bass over a few hours. Mostly little guys but still fun. They were really liking the hula popper and a white/colorado blade spinner.

unionman reply :

Got some nice ones at West Lake on a Rage Tail Shad. First time using it. Its a nice "buzzbait type" plastic.

rellison8 reply :

I would think you guys would be far better off fishing the river up there than you would be trying to beat up on the West Lake Park ponds if you have access to a boat. The Mississippi is likely the best bass fishing resource we have in the state. It does take some time to get tuned in on but once you do the fishing is excellent and the challenge keeps you going back for more.

Just something to think about. Don't overlook that resource right in your back yard. Lots of good large and smallmouth bass out there.

einsteins reply :

I dont have much luck on the river any more....I grew up on Andalusia Slough and as a kid I fished all of the backwater sloughs with my 16ft flatbottom. I have gone back to these areas 25 yrs later and they are all filled in or you cant get access any longer due to the river levels being lower than they used to be. I would love to find some good Bass spots in the mississippi around area but everywhere I have tried in the main sloughs or channel just dont produce much for bass.

Suggestions are welcome....

Big Ken reply :

On the Miss. River fish up near Princeton on the Iowa and Illinois side and farther up near Follets in the backwater and by the Cordova power plant. I've been up there 3 times in the last two weeks and caught 12 bass, 15 and 9 on the 3 trips. Mississippi River is by far the best bass fishing large or small mouth around here.

einsteins reply :

I am in the QC's and would love to try up there.....I just dont know the waters up that way at all. I have seen some sloughs by the 3m plant that looked interesting but again its a bit tough if you dont know where to go.

Thanks for the heads up, I am going to check it out. I will either trailer up and launch in that area or just take the boat for a ride.

Maybe we can hook up sometime and fish...

unionman reply :

I fish up near the Clinton area from time to time when my buddy with a boat invites me. He used to talk smack about bass fishing but I changed his mind and soon after he joined a club and started doing tourneys..lol! We just use the navigation on my smartphone to look for sloughs and backwaters. If anybody around here needs a buddy to go with you, just PM me. Im 29 and pretty layed back. I LOVE to fish. No kids. No wife (not homosexual lol). Ive got a '08 Ranger FX4 that can pull a boat if need be. Ill be getting my own boat as soon as I pay off my truck. Most of my friends have kids and can hardly ever go fishing. I could use a new fishing buddy.

einsteins reply :

I just bought a new Nitro Z7

Plan to be hitting river a lot this year.....the area around Cordova intrigues me for some reason.

C'mon spring!!!!

Big Bassman reply :

I prefer the upper Mississippi, but considering I live in Muscatine, I fish upper pool (Andulusia), Muscatine, and lower pool (New Boston) and also Lake Odessa regularly. Spring and early summer were very good this year and lots of fish were caught. Muscatine "The Breaks" area was hit very hard particularly by Quad City folks. Lake Odessa was pretty free of fishermen, but there was a fish kill late this summer and I don't know how adversely it may be affected next year? Any of you that use boats should consider these areas, you won't regret it. I agree with Big Ken.

Big Ken reply :

Mississippi back waters are really good right now.

Jig4pigs reply :

I'm down in fairfield and there are a couple of lakes round here that are worth the drive. Sugema in Keosauqua is very nice, Belvadere in Sigourney is up n coming. Lots of action just not an abundunce of big fish yet. And lake geode surprised the hell outa me last fall i caught my pb of 8lb 6oz there.

Big Bassman reply :

I have not fished Sugema yet, but plan on it because it looks great and word is it is! I fished Belvedere last spring a couple of times and caught some really nice fish almost 5#. As far as lake Geode goes, I have fished that lake for over 40 years now and taken many large bass there. I wasn't sure how well it would do after they drained and refilled it, but my youngest son and I have been fishing there again the last couple of years and catch 5# fish there regularly. I use to catch 7# & 8# fish out of Lake Wapello near Drakevilles before they drained it but my understanding is it has not made a good recovery like Geode. I spoke with IDNR this week and Lake Darling near Washington Iowa has been filled or almost filled but haven't heard if they will stock any larger fish in it or not. As I said, 40 years ago the Iowa State Lakes were fantastic all across southern Iowa! Good luck to all you Iowa fishermen and gals, spring is now here!

jerkbait joe reply :

Fished Belva Deer in Keokuk county with my brother in law a couple of years ago. Caught thirty bass in an 8 hour stretch. He caught a few less of course.

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