An angler on the Iowa River has officially set a new state record for the spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus), a non-native species whose growing presence is evident in Iowa’s waterways south of Cedar Rapids. Toby Franks was fishing on October 18, 2025, when he landed a spot weighing 2.32 pounds and measuring 16 inches. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) confirmed the catch, noting that the new record was officially weighed on a certified scale before being released alive.
The record-breaking catch occurred within a productive stretch of the Iowa River, specifically between Coralville Lake and River Junction. This area has become a reliable location for the southerly bass species in Iowa.
Franks’s catch is geographically consistent with a trend of spotted bass being caught from these specific, local-area waters. The Coralville Reservoir, an impoundment of the Iowa River, and Lake MacBride—formed from Mill Creek—have historically yielded other notable spot catches, demonstrating an established population within the region.
The new bass entry tops all other catches for this invasive species within the state. But it might not last too long. Spotted bass rarely grow larger than 15 inches, but Iowa DNR sampling regularly finds spotted bass over 3 pounds in the Iowa River. To qualify as an Iowa state record, a fish must exceed the weight of the former record by a minimum of one ounce.
Franks’s 2.32-pound spot successfully eclipsed the previous record, a 2.06-pound fish caught by Davis Horton at Lake MacBride in 2021 that measured 15 inches. Before the 2021 catch, the record was held by James Steffen since 2013 with a fish from the Coralville Reservoir. Steffen’s spotted bass weighed exactly 2 pounds, but measured 16 inches long.
About Iowa’s Spotted Bass
The spotted bass was first introduced into Iowa’s Middle Raccoon River and Whitebreast Creek in 1963 from fingerlings produced at the Lake Wapello hatchery, according to the Iowa DNR. Spots might still live in these two streams, but there have not been any recently identified catches.
In 1969 and 1970, spotted bass fingerlings were stocked into Lake MacBride where they have established populations. Not surprisingly, Iowa’s Master Angler catches for spotted bass were almost all caught from the Coralville Reservoir, Lake MacBride or the Iowa River.
Different Iowa Bass Species
Black Bass
Ever-popular largemouth and smallmouth bass species are available in Iowa in lakes such as Okoboji, Sugema, Brushy Creek Lake and Hawthorn. The record largemouth weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces, caught in Lake Fisher in 1984 by Patricia Zar.
Iowa’s record smallie weighed 7.75 pounds, caught from West Okoboji Lake in 1990 by Rick Gray. Of course, spotted bass are an introduced species that’s gained traction. And then there’s the meanmouth bass—when a spotted bass crosses with a smallmouth bass — which happens often in the Iowa River.
Temperate Bass
Three members of temperate bass are found in Iowa. White bass and yellow bass are native species, and the hybrid bass (wiper) is an introduced species. The hybrid, a cross of a female striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and male white bass, does not occur naturally. But it provides trophy fishing thanks to regular fish stocking in waters like Saylorville Reservoir.
