An Iowa Department of Natural Resources expert says the June flooding will have good and bad impacts on the fish population. Steve Waters says the flooding should be good for those fish in lakes and reservoirs. Waters says fish respond to the extra water in a positive way, as they have a much bigger lake to swim in, and there’s more food. Waters is more concerned about the impact on fish in rivers.
Waters says some of the habitat gets destroyed in these types of floods, while some new habitat areas are created. He says some of the new fish spawned and born this year may suffer. He says the setback in the fish population shouldn’t be a major problem.
Waters says any setbacks in population should be very short, and the void should be easily filled. He says anglers may have some trouble as the habitats that were good for fishing may be very different than before the flood.
Waters says Iowa anglers may have to get a little adventurous. He says you’ll have to be a little like Lewis and Clark and do some exploration to find the hot fishing spots following the flood. And he says it may take awhile for the new habitats to develop after the floods. Waters says you can check with the D-N-R office in your area to get information on the new fishing hot spots.