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West Fork Cedar River (Iowa) — one of the area's fishing spots. About 109 km long. See when the bite is best: hourly fish activity for the days ahead, computed from the weather, pressure, and season.
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.
West Fork Cedar 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?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.
West Fork Cedar 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.
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 |
Biting
Fish in 1 of 1 report · Mostly Largemouth bass
Anglers have logged 1 fishing report here. Most commonly caught: Largemouth bass. Peak season: June.
Measured river conditions are available for West Fork Cedar River: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.
USGS gauge West Fork Cedar River at Finchford, IA, 20 mi away · measured 2026-10-20 22:45 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision