Waterloo 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)
Rainbow Trout (Wild and stocked)
Size
Small, almost 10 miles long
Location
Northeaster Iowa
Nearest Towns
Dorchester
Dorshire
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 to numerous aquatic insect hatches.
Summer:
Fly fishing Waterloo Creek gets tougher during the hot summer months but the water stays cool enough for the
trout to survive and they can still be caught.
Fall:
Fall is an excellent time for fly fishing Waterloo Creek.
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 water comes out of 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 Waterloo Creek Iowa
Waterloo Creek is a beautiful spring fed, trout stream that flows through both wooded areas and open prairie. it has a good population of wild brown trout. Some of the brown trout are very large, especially for such a small stream. It is part of the Driftless Region of the mid-west. It is just short of ten miles long and a tributary of the Upper Iowa River. The stream begins in Minnesota where it’s called Bee Creek. The name changes to Waterloo Creek when it crosses into the state of Iowa.
Driftless Region:
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.
Probably the best thing going for Waterloo Creek is its “catch and release” section. These regulations will help insure it remains a good trout stream. A substantial amount of restoration work has been done on the creek. Invasive non-native plants have been removed and replaced by native plants, and the original meandering of its spring-fed brooks that feed the creek have been reestablished. Although it is still recovering from heavy farming, it is considered one of the best trout streams in Iowa.
The uppermost part of Waterloo Creek runs along Waterloo Creek Road upstream of Dorchester. It is much smaller than middle and lower sections of the creek. It is narrow with very clear water. There are some well marked public access points along the road although some of it runs through private property. This part of the stream is stocked.
From Dorchester downstream, most of the stream can be accessed from highway #76. This section isn’t stocked and has some very nice size wild brown trout. It is wider, more open and easier to fish that the upper part of the creek.
Below the highway #76 bridge downstream to near its confluence with the Upper Iowa River, a distance of about two miles, the stream is managed under “catch and release”, artificial flies/lures only regulations. There is a lot more structure, deeper pools, undercut banks and more holding places for the wild brown trout in this section. The special regulations section ends at the intersection of A-26 and highway #76.