| 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. |
Portions of Waterloo Creek above Dorchester are stocked weekly April through October with catchable 10-12 inch Rainbow Trout. Wild Brown Trout populations are present throughout this stream. Waterloo Creek below Highway 76 is posted as a catch and release area for all trout and artificial lure only rule applies. Sampling data from 2010 showed 685 Brown Trout per mile with fish up to 23 inches. This is an estimated population and actual trout numbers will be higher. Stream access is easy with many angler access points on both public and private land open to fishing only. Primitive camping is available on the Waterloo Creek Wildlife Management Area.(2022)
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 .