Sunny skies and warmer temperatures this week present an opportune time for anglers to catch some fish in Guthrie County.

Fall is a great time to catch fish in Iowa’s rivers and streams, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, because fish become more active and feed up as the water temperature drops. Guthrie County Conservation Director Joe Hanner states an adage that 90% of the fish live in 10% of the water, “If you can find the bait or figure out what they’re feeding on, and you’re in and around that area you’re probably going to be pretty successful. That’s probably where that 10% of the water comes in and the fish are concentrated in that. Another thing to consider is water temperature. Fish are cold blooded so if you can pick up a couple of degrees of water temperature on a certain area of the lake or the pond, the bait tends to gravitate towards that area and the fish will follow because they want to feed up.”

Hanner says anglers can likely find smallmouth bass, crappies, and walleyes in the middle Raccoon River. Other popular fishing spots in the county are the south Raccoon River and Brushy Creek.