seen a nice stringer of catfish today.

Just got back from the grocery store and a couple guys in a pickup were parked there and looking in the back of thier truck. I seen thier poles and walked over and looked in the back. They had 8 or 9 nice 1 1/2 to 3 lb. catfish plus one that was about 10 or 11 lbs. I asked where they got them and they said below the roller dam here in town and caught them on livers. I asked if they fished from the bank and they said they waided out to waist deep water and fished the deeper water they were next to. They said they lost 5 or 6 more and a couple were nice ones. The bites back on, now to get some cooler temperatures. They said wadeing was the only way they have been able to stay cool long enough to fish.

Fished there this past week..and I will not fish the Cedar again til we have rain. As much as i love to catch fish it broke my heart to see all the fishes concentrated by the roller dam for oxygen. I don’t even think you need bait to hook one. Water level is too low and easy to catch but to actually see these fishes trying to get up the dam is sad.

If they’re gonna die, it may as well be from harvesting and feed someone. Might give some relief and extra oxygen to the remainder.

Its so bad here Herb that I went to an old friend of mines house that lives on the Cedar. I went down to his ramp and his and another guys boat is setting on dry ground and 5′ from the water. The 4′ sq. fish cage for holding the fish until they can be cleaned is on dry ground and the water is 5′ below normal flow. The whole west side of the river is dry ground from an island mid river to the west shore with weeds growing that are about 2′ high off of the old river bed. I was actually standing on the dry river bed and looking (up) at sand bars. You can wade 90% of the river almost anywhere.

This was in the Waterloo Courier Sunday, this the lowest I ever remember seeing it myself, has me little worried. If you click the link, there is a picture with a guy fishing. Where he is standing is usually under water and most the dam in the back ground has water going over it.

Quote:

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According to the National Weather Service, water flowing at 1 cubic foot per second is approximately equal to 7.5 gallons per second.

The Cedar River on Friday in Waterloo was flowing at 510 cubic feet per second, or about 3,815 gallons per second.

For comparison, last July the river was at 7,700 cubic feet per second, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That translates as about 57,600 gallons per second.

The record low rate is 152 cubic feet per second set in 1959. The rate equals slightly less than 1,140 gallons per second.

During the flood of 2008, the Cedar in Waterloo was moving at 112,000 cubic feet per second, a record. The rate is equal to 837,760 gallons per second.

The Cedar at its record high flow could have filled 1 1/2 Olympic-sized swimming pools each second. At its record low, the river would need nearly 10 minutes to fill just one.

Read More: http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/drought-taking-a-toll-on-iowa-rivers/article_b05199cc-9979-5fa9-991a-30bd8d013989.html#ixzz21SiNiW26

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It’s a sad state for sure… not sure what this means long term… but these next few days in the 100* area are going to be rough.