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(Des Moines, IA) -- School may be back in session, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says fall is an excellent time to take children fishing, because the fish tend to be active.
Tyler Stubbs of DNR Fisheries says he tries to make time to take his children fishing. "It's something we can do together, we can fish close to home, and I don't have to block out a long time to fish, we can do it in a half hour," Stubbs said. He says the DNR offers several aquatic education programs, including Fish Iowa, which is offered at schools.
Stubbs says license sales have been down since the pandemic peak of 2020. He says in 2020 so many other activities were cancelled or postponed that the state saw a tremendous increase in fishing license sales as Iowans looked for outdoor recreational options. He says since then, sales have fallen off a bit.
Stubbs says there are some monster fish in Iowa. He says among the biggest caught: a 118 pound big head carp taken out of Lake Rathbun, and a 108-blue catfish taken from the Missouri River. He says there are some very large flathead catfish, muskies, and walleyes.