The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has scheduled a virtual public meeting to update the public on statewide chronic wasting disease surveillance and management efforts.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about fishing and outdoor things recently. When I don’t go fishing, much of the time I’m reading about fishing. Following are a couple of fishing things that I’ve been reading about.

Life as a turtle isn’t always easy, especially for Iowa’s threatened Blanding’s turtle. Many populations have been declining for decades across their range due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Native to the northern two-thirds of Iowa, land conversion and loss of wetland habitats are hurdles that this species has struggled to overcome.

TUCSON, Ariz. — The No. 4 seed Iowa Lakes men’s soccer team advanced to the semifinals of the National Championship Tournament in Tucson, Arizona, after outscoring their first and second round opponents by a combined score of 10-0.

Iowa Lakes announced six players to the ICCAC Men's Soccer All-Region team for the 2023 season. The Lakers went 13-3-2 on the season and have won a pair of games to advance to the semifinals of National Championship Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

Freshman Emilio Cazares was named First Team All-Region for his fantastic season in front of goal. The striker led the team in goals with 15.

HOLSTEIN — Spencer girls wrestling opened it second sanctioned season Tuesday evening in a multiteam event at Ridge View. Nine Tigers finished the night 3-0 while two others picked up a pair of wins; as six of the purple and gold competitors ended their matches in 25 seconds or less.

As a team, Spencer rolled Carroll Kuemper, 66-0; drop Denison-Schleswig, 66-12; and battled Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 54-30.

SIOUX RAPIDS — Tuesday, the Sioux Central girls wrestling program opened its season with a home sweep against War Eagle foe Emmetsburg and Okoboji/HMS. The two dual victories by the Rebels came at the expense of the E-Hawks, 48-30, and the Pioneers, 54-24.

Nichole Hart, Ella Farmham, April Banda, Makala Zeka, Vivi Orenday, Sigrid Adams and Odola Cham all went 2-0 on the night. Hart, at 115, produced two dominant pin victories.

MARSHALLTOWN — Brooklyn Ferguson medaled, Lily Gross broke a school record she recently set herself, and two of the three Spencer Tigers relays improved on their seedlings Friday and Saturday at the Iowa High School Girls Stare Swim Meet in Marshalltown.

“We had a great state meet and we are so very proud of the swimmers and so very thankful for all of our supporters who made the trip down to cheer on all of the swimmers,” Spencer coach Amie Lawrence said.

The Iowa Lakes Laker women’s basketball team went 1-1 on the weekend, falling to No. 4 Johnson County 80-52 Friday. The Lakers were led by Jordyn Stokes with 12 points. Emma Kanz added 11.

On Saturday, ILCC defeated William Penn JV 72-57. The Lakers finished with four in double figures with Kanz leading the way with 24. Arianna Smith contributed 14 points, Alexandria Wolff added 12 and Stokes dropped 10.

The Iowa Lakes men's basketball team moved to 3-2 on the season after splitting at the Johnson County Classic over the weekend.

In the first game, the Lakers would face 11th-ranked Johnson County, falling by a point, 67-66.

The Lakers were led by Sam West with 17 points and seven rebounds; Kai Evans would add 14 points and Benard Omooria would score 12.

Johnson County was led by Massi Malterer with 17 points.

Fishing Iowa’s trout streams is a unique way to enjoy the cool fall weather and marvel at the amazing colors of Iowa’s prize trout. Male brown and brook trout display their brightest, most vibrant spawning colors this time of year.

The Iowa Great Lakes Fishing held its annual DNR Night this past Thursday evening, and what a success it was! With nearly 200 people in attendance, the evening was filled with updates, good food (55 jumbo pizzas consumed), raffle results and winners (over $4,000 made on the large raffle project) and updates from Department of Natural Resources personnel on the past year.

I was going through some of my tackle boxes recently. In 50-plus years of fishing, a guy accumulates a lot of lures. I sort through this accumulation of tackle in early winter every year for two reasons. First of all, to take an inventory of what lures need to be added for next season.

Although we anglers enjoy fishing our home waters, there is always the lure of fishing trip destinations. From my northwest Iowa home base, it might be a day trip to Clear Lake in north-central Iowa or Lake Rathbun in southern Iowa. Then, of course, there are the larger trip destinations across the Midwest.

Six members of the Spencer girls swim team will compete at the Iowa High School State Meet in Marshalltown Friday and Saturday against the best in the state. Lily Gross pre-qualified ahead of last week’s regional competition in Mason City; while Brooklyn Ferguson earned a spot at state in the 100 breaststroke. Both Gross and Ferguson will be joined by teammates Emily Quanbeck, Emma Storms and Ella Kasperbauer as the Tigers qualified in all three relay events.