2011 Was a Record Year for Iowa Trout Anglers
OutdoorHub 04.10.12
The expansion of the urban trout fisheries into new locations was the driving force behind record trout stamps sales in 2011, according to results from a recent survey of trout anglers. In 2011, trout stamp sales topped 40,000 for the first time ever.
According to angler responses, 31 percent purchased their trout stamp specifically for the urban trout fishery, up from 26 percent in 2006, and more than 12 percent of all trout angler trips were to urban trout fisheries, up from 8.6 percent. The most popular urban trout fishery was South Banner Lake, near Indianola, with 7,150 trout fishing trips.
Overall, respondents to the survey said they fished an average of 10.3 days in 2011, which works out to more than 430,000 days spent trout fishing in Iowa. The most popular trout fishery is North Bear Creek, near Highlandville in Winneshiek County, which had nearly 30,000 visits in 2011.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will post the complete 2011 Iowa Trout Angler Survey later this summer at www.iowadnr.gov.
