More than 3,600 Iowa trout anglers participated in the 2016 Trout Angler Survey, sharing their trout fishing preferences and experiences. Eighty percent of respondents are very satisfied with the trout program.
The popularity of the urban trout fishing program continues to increase, with 99,444 trout fishing trips taken in 2016 compared to 70,202 in 2011. Thirty percent of trout anglers bought their trout stamp specifically to fish an urban trout lake. Heritage Pond, Prairie Park Pond, Terry Trueblood Lake and Ada Hayden Lake are the most popular urban trout lakes.
Iowa trout anglers spent about 489,455 days trout fishing and made 720,611 trips to trout waters in 2016. The most popular trout stream is North Bear Creek, near Highlandville in Winneshiek County, with 35,286 visits in 2016.