Palo

Fished my way up the Wapsi this morning from CC all the way to the Littleton dam with nothing to show for it, so I headed back past PC Lake out at Palo.

Man does that lake have a ton of fish in it. With no boat, we just shore fished around the handicapped pier with small plastics. The smaller panfish are all swarming in the shallows there along with some smaller bass. Literally hundreds of perch, thousands of gills, and a ream of small bass all hanging out in the shallows there. Nothing biting too aggressively or willing to chase, but a tiny (1″) black plastic crawdad on a split-shot rig did bring in a couple of gills, a perch, and a small bass.

Standing on the dock I got to see a nice muskie cruise underneath me and wander off into the bay. Must’ve been 35″ easy. I tossed a white spinnerbait after him for a couple of casts, then just told him I’d be back later in the summer for him.

The perch are milting big time when you pull a male. I suppose they’re spawn is just around the corner, so hopefully this cold snap we’re expecting doesn’t hose things up for them. I suspect it will take another two weeks or so of warm weather before the bigger gills move up and start on their annual tear.

If somebody could help me out a little bit with a question: Are the docks in yet? I didn’t even pay attention today, and usually don’t get the boat out until they’re in (doesn’t bother me, but man, my family don’t like having to wade into cold water to get aboard).

Fished Palo on Saturday morning with KornKing. Started out cold cold cold and ended up windy windy windy, but in between there were a handfull of fish caught. The bluegills have started to move into the shallows, along with the really small bass. The bigger gills are not there yet, but crawlers in 6″ of water kept the fishing consistant at least.

Got to see a load of muskies while we were out there. I’m guessing we saw no less than a dozen different ‘skis from 7-noon. They would come cruising through the shallows and all the smaller fish would hitail it to cover. Most of them looked to be in the 30-40″ range, but one that sat right under the boat for a while in 5′ of water was easily in the 45-50 range. Don’t know how to catch ’em, but they sure are cool to watch.

almost forgot

G, looks like you guys had fun out there. Thanks for the pics. Supposed to get a little more sunshine this week so maybe that’ll get things going.

Gianni, I have never fished Palo and had a couple of questions for you. Where is it located? Is Palo just a marsh or is it a lake? Can you put a boat on it? I am always looking for a new place to try. Maybe we can get together. I’d be willing to haul the boat if you wanted to show me around. Let me know.

The Lake is called “Pleasant Creek State Park” but everyone I know has always just called it “Palo Lake” because it’s right North of the berg of Palo (about halfway to Center Point). To get to the lake, if you’re in Center Point, you head toward the 380 on-ramp but just keep going straight over the interstate and stay on that road. You’ll cross the Cedar River and curve South. The dam will be on your right up the hill, and the lake access road is at the top of the hill before you get to the nuke plant. If you’re coming from highway 94, it’s pretty well marked, but a reverse of the above.

There is a public area called Palo Marsh between town and the lake, and the Cedar from Palo down to about Seminole Valley is called Chain of Lakes, but that’s all just done by the Cedar Rapids Fishing Cabal to confuse outsiders. The lake itself is 400 acres and ranges in depth from the shallow bays and inlets to 50+ feet near the dam. It’s the clearest water in the Eastern half of the state, although by late June it starts to green up pretty good and by fall some of the lake is choked with weeds.

If you want to get together and fish it sometime, I’m all for it. If you don’t want to haul the boat that far (?don’t know where Grimes is?) then you’re welcome to share mine. Right now the crappie bite is heating up good on MacBride, and Coralville should start soon as well. As soon as that bite is done, the bruiser gills will be hitting the shallows out at Palo which is one of the fastest bites all year.

This weekend is my annual adventure at Clear lake, but anytime after that just PM me and we’ll have at ’em.