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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 |
Spring Lake (Iowa) — one of the area's fishing spots. About 20 ha in area. A smart bite calendar — moon phase, atmospheric pressure, and weather combined into an hourly fish-activity forecast for the coming days.
Other nearby places to fish
Other nearby waters
The shoreline is heavily indented — bays, points and spits. Look for pike at the mouths of the bays and on the drop-offs behind the points.
Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Spring Lake — 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?Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Spring Lake — 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.