116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
My Biz: Guide finds the fish in Coralville Lake
Korey Miller took the test, started Sugar Bottom Crappie Guide Service this year
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He’s fished Eastern Iowa waters for decades, but a chance encounter at Coralville Lake’s Mehaffey Bridge boat ramp convinced Korey Miller to turn pro.
“I’d had a good day, and there was a gentleman and his son sitting on a bucket at the West Overlook campground, fishing,” Miller recalled one recent afternoon. “I asked them, ‘How’s the fishing?,’ and they said ‘Slow, it was bad.’
“I said ‘You guys got an hour? If you want to hop in, I think I can show you a good time.’ I took those guys out, put them on a good mess of crappies. When we got back, he said ‘How much do I owe you?’ I said ‘You don’t owe me anything, I just wanted to take you there.’
“He said ‘You’ve got a knack for it, kid. Anybody can go out and catch fish, but you can entertain people catching fish.’ I’ve just had people push me to take that next step.”
Muddy waters
Miller, 38, took that step early this year, launching Sugar Bottom Crappie Guide Service in February.
“There’s a lot of (certifications) you have to have when you guide on federal waters,” he said. (The reservoir is managed by the Army’s Corps of Engineers.) “I’m legal to haul up to six passengers, any craft 30-foot and below. The test was about six hours.”
Born in Muscatine, Miller grew up a self-described “river rat” there and on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River after his father’s job took him there. He’s worked as a lineman building powerlines for 20 years for a Wilton contractor, spending his time off from work gaining experience on area lakes.
“I grew up muddy-water fishing,” Miller said. “Whether you’re down South or in Iowa, that muddy water holds some big fish. That’s what draws me to Coralville, that turbid water. Those fish have their own attitude and they’re big.”
Coralville Lake
Miller attributes the big crappies to a healthy population of gizzard shad, “one of the most widespread and abundant of Iowa’s fish,” according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources.
Feeding on plankton near the surface of sluggish, slow-moving waters, the shad provide a steady diet to the crappies Miller has made his specialty.
“Coralville has white and black crappie in the lake, and every year those year classes change,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got a really solid year class in both. Those fish are just good, solid-eating fish.”
Finding the fish
Miller will tailor his approach to customer preference, but Miller’s most effective strategy is spider rigging: a slow troll around likely structure and brush piles with 16- to 18-foot rods, lines baited with minnows.
The tactic benefits from a recent change in state law allowing each angler to have three rods in the water — the previous limit was two.
“That’s the easiest way to get folks a good box of fish in a short period of time,” he said. “All you have to have is a license.”
Miller charges $150 per angler for a two-person fishing party, and he’ll clean the crappies for a dollar a fish. The charge for one angler is $225, with free fish cleaning.
Most two-member parties land 30 to 45 crappies in five or six hours (the state limit is 25).
Miller meets his clients at the same Mehaffey access where inspiration struck a few years ago.
He travels from Wilton, where he lives with his wife, Tara, daughter Raegan, 13, and son Riley, 10. Tara, a schoolteacher, helps over the summer with small-business logistics, while Raegan advises on social media.
“She’s an excellent fisherman,” Miller said. “My daughter says, ‘You post pictures of fish and people will call,’ and she’d be right.”
Miller’s usual practice is to schedule guide sessions Friday through Sunday, “but there’s times of the year I’ll open that up as the work schedule allows.”
“I’ve just really been humbled at the response I’ve received. When folks are done, and you see the look on their faces ... they’re worn out from having a good time. That’s all I want.”
Korey Miller shows one of the fish he caught Sept. 15 at the Coralville Lake. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Korey Miller, using sonar, points to a fish hidden in some cover as he fishes for crappie on the Coralville Lake on Sept. 15. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
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Sugar Bottom Crappie Guide Service
Owner: Korey Miller
Phone: (309) 781-8245
Website: https://www.facebook.com/p/Sugar-Bottom-Crappie-Guide-Service-61562253942623/
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