| The 2025 Catchable trout stocking calendar is now available. Catchable stocking season begins April 1. Start planning your getaway to beautiful northeast Iowa now. |
| Brook Trout - Slow: Use a midge, minnow, or leach pattern for fish looking to get more bang for their effort. |
| Brown Trout - Good: Fish around an undercut bank or similar structure. Cloudy days and off color water are a perfect mix for catching this trout. |
| Rainbow Trout - Good: Hatchery holdovers remain in the stream teasing anglers. Use small spinner baits or hair jigs floated past structure. |
Little Paint is stocked weekly from April through October with catchable 10-12 inch Rainbow Trout and provides anglers opportunities for wild Brook and Brown Trout. It was sampled in September 2013 after catastrophic June flooding. At that time, 160 French Creek strain Brown Trout per mile with fish up to 12 inches were collected. The upstream end of this creek, 0.5 mile above the last camping area, contains a small population of South Pine strain Brook Trout. A genetics study in 2018, yielded 122 Brook Trout per mile with fish up to 13 inches. These are estimated populations and actual trout numbers will be higher. Little Paint is located in the Yellow River State Forest. Bank access is easy with a small paved area for universal access. There are non-electric campsites, restrooms and miles of trails of all levels of difficulty located within the park.(2021)
In nearly all cases, Iowa fish are safe to eat. Cleaning and/or preparing the meal causes most of the problems regarding taste or color of fish. Like all living creatures, fish are susceptible to diseases, parasites, and other naturally occurring conditions in the water. If you suspect your fish is affected by any of these conditions, do not eat it. Consider eating smaller and younger fish which usually have lower levels of contaminants than larger ones. Most contaminants accumulate in larger, older fish. For additional information, check out our resources for eating and cooking Iowa caught fish.
To learn more about fish tissue monitoring, visit our Fish Tissue Monitoring page .