Beyond those well-known hotspots, Campbell is intentionally vague about where he finds walleyes. "I've spent a lot of time walking, looking for rock bars, rocky points, riprapped areas, tributaries and high cutbanks with rocks at their bottoms," he said. "There are literally hundreds of really good spots from Fraser all the way downstream to Madrid. Just about any place you find rocks next to deeper water, you'll probably find walleyes. Sometimes a lot of walleyes, and sometimes a lot of big walleyes."

Campbell probes potential walleye holes with unconventional tackle and tactics. In the springtime he often forgoes the twistertail jigs tipped with minnows thrown by most anglers on the river and opts for a tube jig presented as vertically as is possible.

"Crappie-size tube jigs can be deadly for walleyes in the spring, but you've got to present them right," he said. "Instead of swimming them horizontally, I do more of a vertical presentation. I keep my rod almost vertical, so that the jig does a lot of up-and-down. That dropping action of a tube jig really works on walleyes on the spring."

Jig size depends on water flow. If the river is mellow and he's fishing a current break out of the main flow, a 1/32-ounce jig is his choice. More current requires heavier jigs. Line weight is critical.

"I used to use 8-pound line, but caught more fish when I switched to 6-pound," said Campbell. "For the past few years, they've been biting really soft for some reason. The lighter line has helped me feel those light bites and hook more fish."

Campbell rarely tips his jigs with live baits, though he occasionally adds a chunk of night crawler. "I think that part of my success has been the flipping, hopping action of that tube jig," he said. "A minnow or a full night crawler deadens that action. A twistertail and a minnow will definitely catch walleyes that time of year, but I seem to catch more walleyes the way I do it."

Campbell said that once the "window" for walleye fishing on the Des Moines River closes, he switches to fishing for crappies in lakes, and hunting for mushrooms in nearby woods.

"When the spring rains start and the river gets high and muddy, the walleye fishing gets tough," he said. "Year in and year out, I'd say the best time in the spring for walleyes on the river, depending on when the rains start, is early-to-mid April, sometimes into late April, maybe May, if it's a dry spring."

THE "MELLOW" MIDDLE RACCOON
Another river in central Iowa offering similar early-spring walleye opportunities is buffered from the rise and fall caused by spring rains. Lake Panorama, a private lake just north of Panora, absorbs many of the rises and falls of the Middle Raccoon River, creating a consistent walleye fishery downstream to Redfield and beyond.