Has anyone ever paddled on Rathbun lake in South East Iowa. Can you share any info about it???

How timely. Two of us just did a presentation on kayaking Lake Rathbun at a paddling Expo in Indianola, IA.
I have a cabin at Rathbun and decided to circumnavigate the lake this summer. I'm short of finishing by about 15 -20 miles, having paddled 107 miles so far.
It's a good lake for paddling for a couple of reasons:
- it's big enough that you can get some big water practice (swells, rollers, "crossings", etc
- it has enough inlets that you can easily duck bad weather. Its orientation is NW to SE, so in the summer with prevailing southerly winds, you can get a long paddle in on the southern shore.
What else can I offer?

I'm just a little curious about water clarity. Is it usually a clear lake or is it pretty cloudy???

As a reservoir, it's natural to be cloudy, but, compared to the other reservoir's in the state, it's comparatively clear. The water does not have a "fishy" or stale odor, and their is comparatively little chemical runoff from farms. The southwestern section (called "south fork") tends to be muddy. The main part of the lake, during the summer, has some clarity