went fishing at Hickory creek yesterday (12/13/2018) for first time this month
It looks like the Browns are off their redds, and are hungry as horses
Don't forget though; even though adults are off the redds, eggs (and then babies) will be in them through January.
So, if you don't remember where the Redds were made back in October, don't walk in the water, 'cause it will gett hard to see where the redds are now that the adults aren't keeping them clean. Fish from shore!

had good luck with my soft hackled pheasant tails (orange thread and wire, brass bead), and with small adams dries.
I saw quite a few fish (some large) rising to what i figured were midges, but i got 3 on the adams
Still quite a few rainbows in the water, they seemed fat (from eating eggs?) whereas the browns were all skinny

Just got back from fishing in Wyoming, on the Grey Reef and then up in the Big Horns.
They are having a hopper infestation, which means that those are the thing to use out there now.
Here's a pic of the North Tongue river up on US-14a, which is a cutthroat protected (catch and relase) area.

The stream work on Hickory creek is almost complete!
here is how it looks as of August 31, 2018

the fish seem to have adapted to it already, and they are feeding well.  They seem to like grass hoppers more than past summers (i'm assuming because of the extra sun), but this might be the fact that i'm Throwing more grasshoppers. 
The water has sped up, and is deeper; which means that the bottom is less silty (which should be Great for reproduction!); but the trouts don't seem to find it Too Fast (at least when it's not flooded). 
The bad news is: the construction equipment has made a lane, which makes the Whole lower stretch completely accessible to anyone walking up; this might be terrible, we'll have to see

yesterday , I went up to Patterson creek (which is up north of Waukon sort of on the way to Pine creek, if you were going to Pine creek from Waukon)

a couple of years ago, TU gave the state $28,000 to give to the landowner for a PERMINANT Easement on his property (which he was allowing access on already.  Then, the state did Quite a bit of stream enhancement (riprap, bank hides, etc)

I hadn't been up there for years, and wanted to check it out.

 The middle  stretch was full of very polite cattle, and the lower stretch had a guy and a girl fishing; so I went up from the second style, up to the east bridge. 

The pasture area didn't work for me (too sunny?), but once I got up to where the trees started, it was full of trouts.  I only landed 6 (2 browns & 2 bows on a quill Gordon, a brown & a bow on a pheasant tail), but I had countless strikes, including at least 10 on grasshoppers. 
There were trouts in the trees all the way up to the east bridge.  

It was a sunday, and I had about a mile (half mile?) totally to my self.
It was WAY better than it used to be, that's for sure.

went on Hickory Creek day before yesterday.  Great News!
The farmer has started (is pretty far along) on his stream work. He's taken out trees of the north side (right side, as you walk upstream), and is stabilizing the banks. There's no riprap, yet; but that should be coming.  What it means:
The creek got spread out in the HUGE floods back in 2013.  Many stretches are (were!) still too wide and thin; the stream Had re-channelized some in the last 5 years, but not as much as needed.
Also, the creek was eating into his cornfield (adding mud to the stream, and costing him money).

His stream work is pushing the stream back up against the bluff, which will deepen the pools, and get rid of the bayous and sloughs .  I'll post a pic soon.

Interestingly, it was fishing well on the whole stream; even right where the work was being done.  The 'used-to-be-pretty-good hole'  is Right where they were digging on Weds; and i caught 5 trouts right there!   The new run above the bridge is another spot where he's done work; and it was fishing better than ever!

20180619 fished North Cedar creek this evening.  There was bad flood damage last time i was here (two years ago?); and things are looking alot better.  There's still drifted trees in spots, but the stream is starting to channelize back into shape.  There were a few pools that looked like they'd have trouts: they did.  I didn't go up far enough to where the brook trouts used to be; so i don't know how they're doing.  But the stocked rainbows were either growing nicely, or they're putting 14 inchers in there/

i just got back from checking out the decorah area streams this afternoon , here's my report

Upper Iowa River  back in its banks; BARELY,  surrounding fields have much standing water
North Bear   2pm  back in its banks,  (normally) dry side channels full and/or flowing.
                             somewhere between muddy and very very very cloudy, vis 2feet?
                             took me about 30 minutes to hook and land a trout.
                             tried pools and back waters; no joy , no even a strike
                             then tried a riffle (pocket water?) and had a strike quickly. Figured was rainbow, but was brown
                             quit after catching that one, which was on a beadhead green and partridge with wire rib and peacock
Waterloo   3pm    back in banks.
                            between very cloudy and cloudy
                            took about 20 minutes to hook and land a trout
                            only fished one spot (end of a riffle and start of a run)
                            brown trout on beadhead green and partridge with wire rib and peacock thorax (i call this a Green Retro)
                            quit after that one
French     4pm     high, well within banks
                            between slightly cloudy and hazy (which is pretty bad for french)
                            I didn't fish, cause i was hungry and wanted to go home

I think (assuming that the weather cooperates) that this weekend will be okay for decorah.  I'd fish Waterloo [Don't Forget!  parts of Waterloo are catch and release; And access now goes all the way down to the upper iowa]            Have fun!