I know nobody's probably been out doing much fishing lately (I tried to yesterday, but the wind finally scared me off), but was wondering if anyone had any general thoughts about the fishing prospects for a couple of lakes.

1) Belva Deer. Sort of a mystery to me. I've done well on it once, catching a nice bunch of big bluegills (9"+) in some standing timber. Never able to repeat, try as I might. Have never found crappie there. Easy to do well on bass in 12-14" range. Caught a nice big catfish there once too (21"). Does anybody have any consistent luck here?

2) Hawthorn. Fished it once in 06 and had a pretty good outing, which included a 13" crappie. Did well enough to make me excited to try it again in 07. No luck. Caught a couple dinks but that was all. Have since heard that this lake might be drained due to a possible shad problem? I've pretty much taken it off my list for 08 due to poor 07, but that 13"er makes me think maybe there are more in there like that.

Hopefully some of you guys with a little more experience in the SE Iowa area than I can offer some thoughts. Thanks!

Never fished Belva Deer myself yet, but I`ve talked to a few who have fished the lake, with one returning from there earlier this week from a 4 day outing.
Sounds as though they caught some decent bluegill last Thursday, but Friday with the severe weather and front that moved through changed things alot. Nothing caught after the front went through.
I have been told this lake turns off for a few days after a big rain, course that can be true for most lakes.

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In my experience it's more off than on. Of course I'm no expert. On the bright side, I've never caught a small bluegill there. Seems they're all in the 9"+ range, even though they can be hard to find.

Fished Belva Deer many times but in the summer. Small jigs tipped w/wax worm under a well balanced float fished 12' to 14' deep from a float tube works VERY well.
If in a boat, avoid aproaching fast. Avoid trolling motor. Drop no anchors.
Slip in cautiously and use clip on brush anchors.
To avoid fast limb wraps from educated bull gills. use light action rod rather than my favorite ultralight action. Horse them FAST for the first few feet to get them comming up your way.
I consider 8lb power pro a must in the tree limbs there. Haven't had a problem with spooking fish with it, but lost a lot of jigs before turning to power pro. My son uses 6 or 8 lb. Fireline with good results also.
Never fished it after a big rain, nor have I fished Hawthorn except once on the ice. Many dink gills and crappie. No plans to return to Hawthorn.

Yeah, you're right IllGill. A stealthy approach is required because of the very clear water. I get so used to fishing the murky stuff that this easily slips my mind. Good call.

That's too bad about Hawthorn. I like the lake itself, but the fishing apparently is hopeless.

Hawthorne used to be good lake to go to about 10 years ago. You can still do 100 fish days there but they run 6-9" with only a few at 9". Good you caught a 13" recently as I have not seen one over 11" for five years now. About 7 years ago, there was a pic in Scheels in Coralville with someone kneeling down on blue tarp (maybe 10' x 10') with about 300 (no kidding) crappie going 10-14". I used to catch anywhere from 1-5 14" fish every time I went there however have fished it about 10 times since seeing the pic and never have caught one over 11" since. I asked Manager at Scheels to take pic down. Don't know about any shad problem there. It does have a few ski's in it, too.

Thanks for the info. Very helpful since you rarely hear anything about Hawthorn, and it's never mentioned in any of the DNR fishing reports. It sure would be nice if the DNR would publish results of their lake surveys on the web somewhere, wouldn't it?

I'd love it though if the fishing could improve out there. It's a very nice lake, even if it is a little far.

I just saw on Bill Dance this weekend that clear water lakes are more affected by cold fronts than stained water. Interesting. I've never heard that before. This might be the reason the lake "turns off". It's the clearest lake we've got around here.