Rathbun Lake
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Rathbun Lake Fishing Reports
Stay up to date with the latest fishing reports from Rathbun Lake. Reports are submitted by local anglers, fishing guides, and our team of fishing experts.
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Largemouth BassTechniqueBladed JigsSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureFlooded BrushThis was stop #1 for the IKFC. We had quite a bit of rain the week leading up to the event which put the bushes on the bank in 1-2' of water. We had a warming trending through out the week but had a cold front moved through on Friday. I abandoned my initial plan but it didn't work out. I made a mid morning move to find cleaner water and managed to put 3 on the board to finish midpack. A chatterbait around the shallow bushes got all of my bites highlighted by a 20".
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueDeep Diving Crankbaits (13'+)SeasonSpring (Pre-Spawn)StructureLedges
Had an Iowa Kayak Fishing Club tourney on Saturday and it was a struggle to find bites. The day before was very windy and hot. Tourney morning was windier and temps dropped to the 30s. Managed to catch a nice one early in the morning with a deep diving crankbait. Caught some small ones and got some bites off of a white swim jig and small swim bait. There weren’t a lot of fish submitted for the tourney but the quality was great. There are some big bass in Rathbun, if you can find them.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Walking)SeasonSummerStructureRip Rap
First time at Rathbun with my dad and son and initially were going to chase crappie. We could only catch the 7-9” ones so I changed it up to largemouth. I started with a shower blow and instantly was catching fish. I tied on the choppo for the other 2 and they were having a blast with their top water blow ups! We just looked for rocky banks and covered water.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueTexas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)SeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureLaydowns
Fished on Friday and Saturday and the conditions were not very good. Air temps were in the 30s and the wind was in the 20s. On Friday I fished the lower arm and tried find bass in the channel that runs through. I marked a ton of fish but could only manage one bite. Not sure if they were bass or not. The only one I managed to catch was on a laydown in a little cove flipping a bandito bug. On Saturday I went up the lake and tried the flooded timber. Once again I was marking fish but could not find any bass. All I caught was a big drum. The cold and wind were terrible so I left the water early. Water temps ranged from 51 to 54 degrees and only had less than a foot of visibility.
Omnia Community MemberBronze AmbassadorSpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueDrop ShotSeasonSummerStructureRock PileWe find muddy points that where are around 10 to 6 feet and throw a drop shot since they were very lethargic
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueBuzzbaitsSeasonSummerStructureRip Rap
It was a challenging tournament but seemed to make the most out of the morning bite throwing a buzz-bait down as much bank as you could possibly go. Once the sun got up it was a good idea to go swinging and throw a big jig around.
SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueSoft JerkbaitsSeasonSummerStructureRip RapFirst time at Rathbun practicing for TBF qualifier today so didn’t get a lot of time with a rod in my hand but what time I did I was able to catch a few fish fishing a fluke very shallow over rip rap quickly to get a reaction bite but the most productive bit for better fish was dragging a swing head on step ledges. Every species seemed to like that approach as well caught many flatheads, walleyes, and even a few drum.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueTexas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)SeasonSummerStructureDocks
I caught some on a stingy Rathbun. Was able to get some decent quality bites flippin around a stick bait.
