We compared energy flow to the fish community in two contrasting streams in northwest Iowa. Analysis focused on creek chubs (Semotilus atromaculatus) collected from an open prairie stream (Anderson Creek) and a forested stream (School Creek). Creek chubs from the prairie stream had significantly higher growth rates than fish from the forested stream. Mean weights for age 0+ fish increased from 7.4g in the forested stream to 10.3g in the prairie stream. Mean weights for age 1+ fish increased from 12.5g to 22.3g. By contrast, age 2+ fish were comparable in size in the two streams. These results are consistent with the well-known river continuum concept which predicts increased energy flow to food webs in open-canopied streams due to increased in-stream primary (autochthonous) production resulting from higher light availability compared to heavily-shaded forested streams which rely more on detritus-based (allochthonous) energy sources from the watershed. We attempted to trace shifts in food sources to food webs of the study streams using stable isotopes, however the results were mixed. The delta super(15)N values for creek chubs from the prairie stream were significantly higher than from the forested stream, although the magnitude of the increase was small (0.5 ppt). There was no difference in delta super(13)C values in fish from the two streams.