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Iowa River (Iowa) — a popular fishing spot. About 529 km long. Nearby towns: Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. This page shows an hourly bite forecast for today and the week ahead; the algorithm factors in the weather, atmospheric pressure, and the moon phase.
Nearest towns and cities
Other nearby waters
The course meanders heavily: the current digs a pool on the outside of every bend and builds a bar on the inside. Those pools under the undercut bank are where pike typically sits.
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
Iowa River — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
The computed water temperature is around 57 °F — inside the 57–75 °F comfort range for Black crappie, so baseline activity is high.
Black crappie works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is dropping 0.06 inHg over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an active season for Black crappie here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Clear · feels like +56°
The day is 3 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldG1 geomagnetic storm, Kp 4.7
Kp index — NOAA data. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Iowa: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | active | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| White crappie | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
| Muskellunge | slow | slow | fair | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Pike | fair | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair |
| Rainbow trout | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | active | slow | slow | slow |
| Smallmouth bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Walleye | slow | slow | fair | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| White bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
| Yellow perch | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
| Largemouth bass | slow | fair | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | slow | slow |
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Carp | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Flathead catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
Blue check: this species appears as a catch in reports for this waterbody.
Work the cover — snags, weed edges, hole entrances; retrieve the lure with pauses.
Iowa River — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is strong — fish are active. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
Biting
Fish in 1 of 1 report · Mostly Pike
Anglers have logged 1 fishing report here. Most commonly caught: Pike. Peak season: March.
Measured river conditions are available for Iowa River: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.
USGS gauge Iowa River at Marshalltown, IA, 1 mi away · measured 2026-10-20 21:00 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision