Throughout a year of fishing open water, I spend a lot of time casting and retrieving, over and over again. Depending on the season, water, and species pursued, I know I may spend hours in between bites. That does not bother me especially if those few bites result in big fish. This fall I have been standing in the water doing a lot of that, and I have been thinking. . . . You hear a lot of athletes, especially …
Read More »Trout Stream Rehabilitation
There has been some “press” recently about a project to improve stream conditions on one of our trout-supporting, cold-water trout habitats in Nebraska. The first story I saw on it ran in the Scottsbluff StarHerald, Sowbelly Creek Project will Restore Trout Habitat. My fellow-blogger here at the Game & Parks Commission, Justin Haag, recently posted about the project, Sowbelly on the Rise (you gotta look at Justin’s blog, he included some great photographs!), and here was the Games & Parks Commission official …
Read More »Hunting Stereotypes
Our Nebraska hunting seasons are in full-swing right now. I know this has been floating around the internet and many have seen it already, but it is funny and it is a good Friday blog post: What is funny about stereotypes is that they are so true. I am betting you can see these stereotypes in your hunting partners. I am betting you can look in the mirror and see at least one! GO FISH, GO HUNT, get outside and …
Read More »Fishing Basics
In my position I have taught a variety of fishing classes and workshops. Those classes have ranged from introductory levels for folks who barely know which end of the rod to hold, to hard-core anglers who have spent literally thousands of hours on the water. One of the things I love about fishing is the learning process. It is never-ending, you can always learn more about the fish and how to catch them. That is a huge reason I never …
Read More »Missouri River Boat Ramp Projects
The best of fall is upon us! The fish are biting, pheasants and quail to hunt, deer are moving and the weather has been gorgeous. I plan to spend as little time as possible sitting in front of my computer in the coming weeks. But, I want to get a quick blog post up today, an update on some angler access improvement projects being done this fall: Two Missouri River Boat Ramps Will Be Built in Northeast Nebraska LINCOLN – …
Read More »A Late Autumn Fish Story
It had been a frustrating autumn evening, one that felt right, but had resulted in no fish. I was on my third lure change already. He appeared suddenly. I had my head and head-lamp down tying on a bait; all of a sudden he was standing right beside me, peering into my tackle box. Where he came from or how he arrived unnoticed at my side, I have no idea. He was just there. An old gentleman with thick glasses, a well-worn seed corn …
Read More »“Gasp”, Horror
Just in time for Halloween, I have to tell you about a fish, a “scary” fish. . . . As I have mentioned in a couple of blog posts in recent weeks, our Nebraska paddlefish snagging season is in “full swing” during the month of October (a little World Series lingo there). We have had a new state record paddlefish caught during this year’s season, Stop the Presses, BIG FISH!, and recently I have shared some other interesting paddlefish news items, …
Read More »Duck Creek #12
If you look close at the 2015 Fishing Guide, the list of public fishing areas in the back, southeast region, you will find this line: Duck Creek #12 (Nemaha County)–65 acres, 3.5 W, 1 N of Peru. Dam scheduled to be built 2015-2016. I am betting most have not seen that line, have not thought anything about it. But, there is a new reservoir being built in southeast Nebraska! The project is a flood-control reservoir being built by the Nemaha …
Read More »Fall Colors, Above and Below
Nebraska truly has a great diversity of fall colors to see from one corner of the state to the other. This year it seems to me that our fall colors are a little late; we have had a relatively wet year and so far a mild fall. Every year is just a little bit different. However, there are some other fall colors that are right on time. . . . Almost all Nebraska fish spawn in the spring and summer. …
Read More »More on the Paddlefish Front
Yep, Still a Really Big Fish October is paddlefish snagging season on the Missouri River in northeast Nebraska. Paddlefish are BIG, weird-looking fish and for those reasons they generate a lot of interest. Last week I blogged about the new state record paddlefish that was caught on the ninth of this month, Stop the Presses, BIG FISH! If you want to learn some more about that fish and the angler, Tom Keller, check out this video: There is an additional story, and …
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