Recent IDNR research indicates that smallmouth bass in northeast Iowa's Mississippi River tributaries migrate downstream in the winter and return in spring.

Grandpa was an agitator. He was also a wealth of aphorisms, many of which tied a misunderstanding of fish and wildlife patterns to irrational conclusions. If northern pike don't want to bite in July, it isn't because they lost their teeth, as he often suggested. We simply weren't fishing where the fish were.

Grandpa's observation that bass won't bite until the dogwoods bloom seemed equally goofy. But he would say it every early-spring afternoon, when I returned from a local smallmouth stream with nothing but suckers and chubs for the effort.

Recent radio-tracking studies of smallmouth bass and other species in northeast Iowa streams have nothing to do with blooming dogwoods. Research reveals our coldwater failures on bass are for the same reason we used to come up empty on summer pike: we're not fishing where the fish are.

FISH FINDER
"Conventional wisdom that smallmouth bass are homebodies has gone right out the window," Iowa Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Bill Kalishek said. "Telemetry studies clearly show that adult smallmouth bass in the Turkey, Upper Iowa and other tributaries of the Mississippi River migrate downstream to spend the winter, returning in the spring."

Inland migration from overwinter areas in the Mississippi this month is tied to warming water temperatures, often coupled with runoff from snowmelt and spring rains.

"What biologists don't understand is why these fish continue downstream past deeper holes with other habitat parameters, which should provide ideal overwinter habitat," Kalishek continued.

Studies on the Turkey River show fully 50 percent of adult smallmouths migrated sometimes dozens of miles to the Mississippi when water temperatures cooled to the 40s in November, returning to spend their summers in the same location in the Turkey River as waters warmed to about 55 degrees in April.

"Some smallmouths radio-tagged around Elkader migrated 35 miles downstream to the Mississippi in the fall and returned the following spring," Kalishek said.

Exactly when this inland migration occurs is driven by the first spike in water temperature -- usually about the same time the April sun goads dogwood trees to bloom.

"Little smallmouths -- 6-8 inches -- tend to stay in the tributaries year 'round until reaching maturity," the biologist said. "If cabin fever drives you to a favorite smallie spot on one of our northeast Iowa streams and all you catch is juvenile bass, it's probably because the adults haven't moved inland yet."

Dan Kirby manages sections of several smallmouth rivers, which are a little farther away from the Mississippi. "Migration isn't so pronounced a little farther inland," Kirby said. "However, the fish can move eight to 10 miles to find suitable overwinter areas. These areas typically are 6- to 8-foot-deep pools with a few boulders located next to but not in significant current."

Public access to some Iowa smallmouth streams is open to interpretation.

"The water belongs to the people of Iowa," Kirby said. "Essentially, if you can float a section with a kayak or canoe, you have a right to fish, even when the water passes through private lands."

"If you're wading a stream, you need the landowner's permission," Kalishek said. "At least this is according to a recent opinion by the state attorney general."

Belly boats -- inner tubes that allow both wading and floating -- are great tools for chasing smallmouths in waters generally too deep to wade but too difficult to navigate in a canoe.