Luke Haugland and I started out the day looking for walleyes in a little backwater area on the Iowa River near Iowa City, IA. After drilling a few holes near shore, we realized that the ice was not as safe as we hoped and moving around would have to be very limited. It didn’t take us long to change our game plan. We decided to hit a private pond that I have permission to fish. We were rewarded with a few nice crappies, some small bass and gills, and some BIG cats!
Soon after getting a few holes punched I had a gill, then a bass. Then all the sudden Luke yells “Hey, I think you better come over here!” At this point I don’t know what he’s got on but I know it’s big! After a long battle, Luke had the fish to the hole and we saw that it was a monster farm pond cat. Unfortunately, this fish couldn’t fit through the hole so we don’t have a picture. However, I managed to get two of these beauties through the ice for a pose.
Lil Cecils with a single wax worm is what did the trick today. The fish would show up above my bait on the LX-5 and I simply raised it to them slowly and waited for the hit.
Catching these big cats through the ice was a blast! I think these are the biggest fish I’ve caught through the ice, period.
Ummm Andy..buddy??? How far do is it from St Paul to the “pond”????
Maybe is just that I haven’t seen a cat for so darn long…but those photo’s sure had some nice colors!
Nice fish…what are you guesstamating the said of Luke cat to be?
Wow..what a GREAT personal photographer you have there Andy!!
Those brutes were sure fun on ultra light St. Croix Avids, with 3 # line on…
Too bad you have to work in the morning…
Briank, I think all three that we saw, luke’s and my two, were all between 8 and 12 lbs. We had to use a little force to get em through the hole. luke’s just wouldn’t budge.
I believe you’re looking at about a 5 hour drive. Do it!
I’ve got Tuesday off!
Great report. My experience with cats is that they will be in those same holes over and over!
–Whitey
Luke and Andy,those side horns on big cats can be hard to get through the hole can’t they? Alot of fun to catch.Cole got 3 on the ice last year out of the same hole.I bet they wouldn’t be bad eats this time of year also.
We were out for a few hours today also,slow but fun.
Ryan Hale
Nice fish. You guys sure dont have any trouble catching fish, no matter what you are fishing for.
Thanks for the report and pics Andy. Bet those cats were sure fun on a ice fishing rod.
You guys sure know how to have fun down there. 
Thanks, Bill
Ryan, they are a little big for me to eat, but would probably be great out of the ice water. The big cats were the only thing we had instructions to NOT eat. The owner asked us to take as many bass and gills as we wanted. The problem with that was, I don’t eat bass and we didn’t get very many gills. Still a blast.
Those cats do a wonderful job of thinning out small panfish… they would be the last predator you’d want to take out if the long-term health of your pond was a priority. That and the larger bass. It takes quite a bit of effort to keep the predator / prey populations in balance. If you do a search on google about pond management you’ll find some pretty detailed info about the number of pounds of bluegills you need to harvest for every pound of bass or cats. The ratio is VERY high. You’ll be eating a bunch of ‘gills before you can eat that cat if you’re attempting to maintain a healthy pond.
Check it out. Its interesting reading.
You’re right James. My dad has a pond at our farm in southern IA and we finally learned that we needed to harvest a lot of the bluegills to get the bass and cats into regular proportions. Before we thinned the gill population, the cats were stuck at two lbs and the bass were what we call “big heads”. they have huge adult heads and tiny skinny bodies. Almost immediately after thinning the gills we saw a lot of progress in the bass. they were finally getting bellies on them. i can’t wait to see how they’re doing in the spring. i’m gonna check out some pond management stuff to get some numbers on this.
Thanks,
Andy
Here’s some good info on pnd management, specific to your geographic region.
IA DNR – Iowa Farm Ponds
A short section from this article…
MANAGING YOUR POND FOR FISHING
Years of experimentation have shown three fish species are best suited for Iowa ponds. Largemouth bass and bluegill are the primary species stocked in ponds, and must be stocked in combination with each other if a good fishery is desired. Channel catfish are also recommended for pond stocking because they are popular with Iowa anglers and provide excellent fishing.
Iowa ponds contain about 250 pounds of bluegills per surface acre of water; hence, this species will provide most of the fishing in a pond. Harvest of bluegills can be started the second year after stocking. Bluegill limits need not be imposed because they are plentiful.
Bass populations in a balanced Iowa pond will reach 50-75 lbs/acre, approximately 1/5 that of bluegill. Bass should not be removed from the pond until the fourth year after stocking. No more than 15 bass/acre over 14 inches in length should be removed annually. Greater harvest rates will reduce the quality of both bass and bluegill fishing.
Channel catfishing can begin three years after initial stocking. Harvest should not exceed 15 fish per acre.
We have a stream running through our property and were thinking of getting some Bobcats and what not and making a pond for ourselves. Just to attract ducks, geese and a little bit of fish. Is there any permits or anything you have to buy to do this?
Did those catfish bite on the jigs with waxies too? Amazing, cats through the ice.
Man you guys are some serious go getters.
..However I don’t like to fish with ice picks around my neck. 
.I suppose that is why I live in MN instead of Iowa.. I would go nuts too with weather like this lately.
Awesome report guys!!!
Nice camera work Luke! 
Keep the reports coming…and be careful!!!
Thanks guys.
Joe, I know you need to acquire a stream alteration permit from the DNR in order to dam or divert a stream. If it is a substantial running source of water, this may not be that easy. just contact your local dnr office and ask.
Andy
…”sissy”…
or maybe “intelligent” would fit better…
Not trying to pry but is that pond most of the way down stewart road and then left? If it is I grew up fishing lots there- the dam sure looks familiar!! My best friend growing up moved out there in about 7th grade and I fished it tons through college- there were some big cats, big bass and lots of fish in it!
BB- nope, this pond isn’t off of Stewart…
I’m not proud…8 inches of ice in MN…with ice picks in my pocket and i’m wearing my summer PFD under my jacket.
Keeps me warmer too.
He even wore them to the gun range yesterday, which I thought was a bit much.
Chris…I did have my ice picks along…but that wasn’t a PFD…that was a bullit proof vest!
Very nice report guys
Man those cats fight through the ice. As James said, with those ponds down there, the best thing you can do is throw back all the bass and catfish you catch. They are your primary predator fish and are needed to keep the gills in check. When we used to start new ponds we kept a 5 to 1 ratio, Bluegill to Bass. The size of the bass does not matter. They will thrive in the presence of bluegill.
Thanks Scott. I am starting to think about how much we’ve slacked on our own pond. we’ve taken cats to eat here and there, but no bass. We need to keep on the gills for a while and get this thing in shape. What’s your opinion on putting in some eyes? we’ve got about 2 acres and 17 ft is the deepest. a lot of ponds in southern iowa have good perch and some saugeyes/walleyes in them and seem to do well. All i know is it could be better.
Thanks,
Andy