See every public fishing venue in Iowa on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
Turkey River is a public river in Clayton County, Fayette County, Winneshiek County and Howard County, Iowa, managed by State of Iowa (public / navigable water). You can fish it on an Iowa fishing licence; bank access is at road crossings, state and county parks, DNR access sites and bridge crossings, and riparian owners control the bank on non-navigable reaches. A trout fee is required to fish for or keep trout on the Driftless Area streams. Public access confirmed via marquee water.
A northeast-Iowa river (the Upper Iowa, Turkey, Yellow, Maquoketa, Volga, Wapsipinicon) — smallmouth bass, walleye, channel catfish and rock bass in clear, limestone-bluff country carved by the same Driftless geology as the trout streams. The Upper Iowa is a especially scenic float.
It runs roughly 146 miles through the Northeast Iowa (Driftless) region. Anglers here mostly fish for smallmouth bass, walleye, channel catfish, rock bass; largemouth bass, northern pike are also on record. Live flow and gauge height come from the Turkey River at Garber, IA USGS station shown below. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Fitzgerald Creek and Nutting Creek.
Species from PiscaMaps water-type profiles, IA DNR trout designations and hand research.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Iowa. Some state-park and city lakes post hours or gate at dark. Snagging, gigging and bowfishing for carp, gar and buffalo are legal on many waters with their own seasons; trotlines and limb lines are permitted on most rivers and lakes (not on trout streams) with the gear tagged.
Boats: The Iowa Great Lakes, Clear Lake, Rathbun, Red Rock, Saylorville, Coralville and the Mississippi/Missouri rivers have no horsepower limit; smaller state and county lakes often have posted no-wake or horsepower-limit rules. Iowa requires boater education for operators born after 1 Jan 1986.
Bank & bivvy camping: Camp at Iowa state parks (many on the best lakes and rivers — the Iowa Great Lakes area, Clear Lake, Backbone, Pikes Peak overlooking the Mississippi, Lake Ahquabi, Lake Icaria) and Corps campgrounds on Rathbun, Coralville, Saylorville and Red Rock. County conservation boards also run extensive park and camping systems across the state.
Tackle: Statewide largemouth/smallmouth bass daily limit is 6 (14-inch minimum on most water, with special regulations on some Iowa Great Lakes); walleye/sauger 3 in combination (many waters have a minimum length); muskellunge 1 (per-water minimum, often 40+ inch); panfish and catfish generous. Trout limits and gear depend on the stream designation (special-regulation, catch-and-release, put-and-take). Check the current Iowa DNR fishing regulations for this water.
Boat ramps: 18 mapped — Eldorado Bridge Canoe Access, Motor Mill Canoe Access, Valley Bridge Canoe Access, Turkey River Canoe Access, Garber Canoe Access, Huntzinger Bridge Canoe Access and others nearby.
Camping: 11 sites mapped nearby — Canoe Campsite, Frieden Park Campsite, Big Spring Campsite, Campsite, Gilbertson Campground, Deer Run Resort and others.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Loading live flow & gauge height…
Live from USGS gauge 05412500 — Turkey River at Garber, IA. Full gauge data →
Anyone 16-64 needs an Iowa DNR fishing licence — the resident annual is about $22, the non-resident annual about $48, and non-resident 1-day/7-day licences are sold. A trout fee (about $16.50) is required in addition to the fishing licence to fish for or keep trout in the Driftless Area streams and stocked trout lakes. Iowa residents 65 and older can buy a discounted licence, and anyone under 16 fishes free. Buy from Iowa DNR at iowadnr.gov. An Iowa fishing licence covers navigable rivers. The Mississippi is fished on an Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin or Minnesota licence in the border reaches; the Missouri on an Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota or Missouri licence. A trout fee is required on the Driftless Area streams.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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