Stinking it up on the Wapsi

Well it has been another great week of weather here in Iowa, which means another great weekend to fish. Saturday morning I met up with my friend Corey Conrad in Eldridge and we went out to the Wapsi for a little cat fishing. Conrad and I launched the boat early and were immediately attacked by gnats. These gnats were everywhere! Luckily Conrad kicked the mercury into high gear and we took off from the boat ramp. We didn’t get 100 yards off the ramp when we ran into Dennis Heintze and Buck Biddle. I have been hunting with these guys for as long as I can remember, and I know Dennis is a catfishing MACHINE! So if we I took away anything besides a good laugh was the fact that we were at least in the right place.

We went to our first spot and caught a couple of small ones, but nothing of any size. We then kept going down the river, stopping and fishing at random spots catching more of a sun burn than any fish. We both kind of made the decision that the main river wasn’t working for what we were doing, so we headed back to the back waters to see if we could do any better. We tried fishing close to the channel and then worked our way deeper into the backwater. We did this with the thinking that the river was going down, and when the water starts to get low or even disappear in spots, the fish like to find an area that is still out of the current but safe enough to not get stranded or landlocked in an area. If they were to stay in the area, they might be easy pickings for a predator or even suffocate when the water runs out of oxygen.

Luckily for us the backwaters really produced for us. We caught a lot of 1-2 pound fish, as well as some smaller catfish. Conrad decided to change it up a little bit and tied on a stink bait noodle with a heavy sinker. He had bought some stink bait in a tube, and was trying to pipe it in the tube liberally and we were trying to figure out how long is lasted in the water. He filled it a couple of times, and realized he was getting a little low and was getting a little irritated with the amount that he got of the money. No sooner did we start discussing it, he noticed the unmistakable stench rising from the floor of his boat. He was squeezing the tube the wrong way, and the tube broke on the backside and half a tube of stink bait lay on the bottom of his boat and his shoe. So there he sat, smelling like blood bait, and trying to figure out how to get this stuff off the bottom of his brand new boat. Luckily he was able to scoop it up and toss it over the side. We decided at this time is about time to head in. It was a great morning of fishing and really just a great day to be outside. If anybody was still wondering Dennis and Buck caught 30+ catfish, far exceeding our total.

I would like to thank everyone for their fish of the week contributions. I have been bombarded with pictures so it is really hard to narrow it down. A personal challenge has been set by my girlfriend Jess. She really wants to be fish of the week, so I told her that if she catches the biggest bass sent in this week she gets fish of the week. So everybody better try to out fish her or I will never hear the end of her “fish of the week” title. Keep sending them my way, unijudkins@hotmail.com


This weekend is really exciting because it is free fishing in Iowa. Anyone is able to fish for free and see if they like it. Go out and try your luck. It doesn’t look like a great weather weekend, Saturday morning looks like the best time to go. Good luck to everyone!

Tight lines,
Pat