French Creek Iowa Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies: Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Spring Creek
Species
Brown Trout (Wild and stocked)
Brook Trout (Native and stocked)
Size
Small
Location
Northeaster Iowa
Nearest Towns
Lansing
Waukon
Season
Open year-round
Access:
Good with ample public and some
private sections
Non-Resident License
State of Iowa
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
Year-round
Spring:
Spring is a good time to fish the creek due the aquatic insect hatches.
Summer:
Fly fishing French Creek gets a little tougher during the hot summer months but the water stays cool enough for
the trout to survive and they can still be caught in the deeper pools.
Fall:
Fall is an excellent time for fly fishing Waterloo Creek, actually the best time to catch the larger size brown trout.
Winter:
As long as you can get around on the streams and are willing to brave the cold weather, you can catch trout
throughout the winter months. The spring water originates from the ground at a relatively constant temperature.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing On French Creek In Iowa
Iowa’s French Creek is located in the northeastern section of the state in the Driftless area. It is a beautiful spring creek trout stream approximately ten miles long that is ranked among the best the state has to offer. The very fertile spring creek water stays cool in the summer and has plenty of food for the trout including a large population of crustaceans and aquatic insects.
This stream isn’t stocked at all and is managed strictly as a wild trout stream. It has a good population of both brown and brook trout. Some claim it has as many as 2500 trout per mile and that is a lot for such a small stream. Most of the brook trout are located in the upper section of the creek and most of the browns in the lower section.
The Driftless region of the mid-west consist of an area of the northeast corner of Iowa, the southwest corner of Wisconsin, and the southeast corner of Minnesota. The
region has a peculiar type of terrain that’s the result being by- passed by the last continental glacier. The area’s limestone ridges were not ground into boulders and gravel that geologists once called glacial “drift”. Within the Driftless area, there are hundreds of springs with clear, cold water that are capable of supporting a diverse aquatic food chain necessary to sustain native brook trout and wild brown trout.
French Creek has a large amount of public water especially considering it is only about ten miles long. Over six miles of it can be accessed by the public upstream of Hartley Drive. Much of the stream flows through the French Creek Wildlife Management Area. Only artificial lures and flies are permitted and the brown trout must be released.
The upper part of French Creek consist of two feeder streams and contain mostly all brook trout. It is fairly tightly enclosed by trees which provide shade and helps keep the water cool; however, It does make for some tight casting conditions. As mentioned above, the lower section, downstream of French Creek Drive, has the highest number of brown trout.
One of the primary foods for the trout are scuds. They are plentiful and trout can be taken on them year-round. Sowbugs are also very plentiful. Aquatic insects consist mostly of Blue-winged Olives but there are a few other species of mayflies including plenty of Tricos. Several species of caddisflies exist in the stream and provide some good top water action at times. There are tons of midges, damselflies, dragonflies, and during the
warmer months, plenty of terrestrial insects.