In Iowa this year, the angling mantra may sound something like, "You want it? We got it!"

Big Spirit Lake, the Missouri River and Iowa's eastern streams like the Maquoketa and Turkey rivers are expected to attract plenty of attention from smallmouth bass enthusiasts this year. Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

And that's not without reason. Whether anglers prefer quantities of fish (bullheads filling 5-gallon buckets) or trophy-caliber catches (50-pound muskies), the opportunities abound in Iowa this year.

Here's an overview of the fishing options and opportunities awaiting Iowa's anglers in 2010.

JANUARY
Yellow Perch, Big Spirit Lake
Yellow perch populations are cyclical at Big Spirit Lake, but the current cycle is a barnburner. Creel reports from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources indicate the harvest in 2008 was the second highest since 1958. IDNR fisheries management biologist Mike Hawkins predicted a "phenomenal" population of keeper-sized yellow perch in Big Spirit Lake this winter.

"It's always risky to make predictions in print," said Hawkins, "but based on angler reports and our netting surveys from last summer, ice-fishing for perch this winter could be the best we've ever seen up here."

Saugeyes, Coralville Dam Spillway
A midwinter run by saugeyes is a tradition in the spillway below Coralville Dam. In recent years, the bite has been excellent. Weather isn't as important as outflow through the dam. Bites are hottest when spillway releases have been consistent or slightly increasing.

Trout, Banner Lakes
Put-and-take stocking of trout in selected lakes around Iowa provides trout-fishing opportunities otherwise unavailable to anglers in western, central and north-central Iowa. Trout have been stocked for several winters at Banner Lakes in Summerset Park, off Highway 69 between Des Moines and Indianola. Other put-and-take trout fisheries include Lake Petoka near Bondurant, Blue Pit at Mason City, West Lake and Lake Sauganash at Council Bluffs, Lake of the Hills near Davenport, Heritage Pond near Dubuque, and Bacon Creek Lake at Sioux City.

FEBRUARY
Walleyes, Mississippi River
Timing and bait presentation are essential to catch walleyes from open water below dams on the Mississippi River in February; insanity is optional but beneficial. Conditions are brutal, but the potential for limits of 4- to 10-pound walleyes encourages anglers to do crazy things. Walleyes will make similar runs below large dams on interior river dams at Saylorville and Red Rock.

Northern Pike, Northern Natural Lakes
Ice-fishing for panfish can slow a bit during midwinter, but tip-up fishing for pike in our northern natural lakes actually seems to improve. Small lakes connected to the Iowa Great Lakes can provide impressive pike for patient anglers who dangle large chubs beneath tip-ups.

Crappies, Lake Anita
Lake Anita was renovated several years ago and rebounded with strong populations of panfish and especially crappies. The lake is famous for water clarity, so figure on fishing deeper than normal if ice is clear, the sun is bright or fish are spooky. Or try dropping a line at night.

MARCH
Yellow Perch, Big Spirit Lake
We'll send you back to Big Spirit Lake for the second time this winter, simply because the potential to catch a limit of yellow perch (daily possession limit is 25) is so great. John Grosvenor, a professional fishing guide at the Iowa Great Lakes (712-330-5815, jtg@fishokoboji.com), notes that the perch bite moves south on the big lake as winter progresses.

"They start (the ice-fishing season) toward the north end, then by midwinter they're in the main basin," said Grosvenor. "The best late-winter fishing always seems to be toward the south end."