High water sends Des Moines River catfish into the eddies

What's biting

What's next

With flow sitting near 13,700 cfs and no rain data provided in this feed, expect conditions to hold high through the next couple of days before any gradual drop-back becomes likely. A river system this size typically needs several days of dry weather to shed a bump like this, so treat today's number as a snapshot rather than a forecast and re-check the live USGS gauge 05465500 reading before heading out, since flow on a Midwest river can swing quickly after localized storms.

If flow does start to recede and clarity improves over the coming days, look for channel catfish action to stay strong right through the transition, since falling, still-slightly-stained water is classically productive for cut-bait presentations along wing dams, riprap, and the tailouts of eddies. Walleye should become easier to pattern again once the water settles, with forward-facing sonar remaining a useful tool for locating suspended fish away from bottom contact points, an approach regional writers at Fishing the Midwest have been highlighting this season as more anglers move off the old assumption that walleye always sit on bottom. Smallmouth bass are the species most likely to lag behind the recovery, typically not firing back up on moving current breaks until flows drop closer to normal summer base levels.

For timing, early morning and evening windows remain the safer bet in August regardless of flow, both for angler comfort in the heat and because low-light periods tend to concentrate catfish and smallmouth activity along current edges. Weekend anglers should plan a flow check the morning of any trip rather than relying on today's reading, and should be prepared to fish the eddies and slack water first if the main channel is still running high and off-color. Boat ramps and wading access on both rivers can also be affected by elevated flow, so scouting a put-in before committing is worth the extra few minutes this week.

Context

The 13,700 cfs reading at USGS gauge 05465500 is well above what the Des Moines River typically carries by early August in a normal year, when base flow this deep into summer usually runs a fraction of that number, suggesting recent rain has pushed extra water through the system. That kind of bump is a routine summer occurrence for Midwest rivers, even though a precise year-over-year comparison isn't available from this feed.

Beyond the flow reading, no state agency, charter, or shop reports specific to the Des Moines or Iowa Rivers came through in this cycle, so there's no direct signal this week on how the 2026 season is tracking against a typical year for the region. The Iowa-focused regional forum in this feed didn't carry actionable fishing chatter in this pull, and the season-long-pattern claims from national blogs aren't Iowa-specific, so we're not stretching them into local testimony. Historically, channel catfish and walleye are the backbone species for these rivers through August, with smallmouth bass rounding out the rockier, current-broken stretches. Anglers with recent, on-the-water Des Moines or Iowa River reports are the best corrective to this gap; check back as more localized intel comes in.