Barbs and Backlashes

Judging from the messages, e-mails, phone calls, and just general “chatter” I have heard this morning, I can tell you the channel cats are getting close to spawning.  Why do I say that?  Because every year about this time there are a bunch of mistaken identifications of “funny-looking” catfish.  Simply put, male channel cats get fat heads and darker colors during the spawn, and some folks not used to seeing that mistakenly believe those fish are “blue cats”.  So, if …

I have not made a Friday post on KVD lately, well, he’s up to something again. . . . Seriously, I am not sponsored by anyone, I am not endorsing or “pushing product”, I just think the videos are hilarious.  If you want, check it out, Mystery Tacklebox. It’s the weekend, remember it is supposed to be fun, and GO FISH!

The internet is a funny place, but you know you can believe everything you see and hear there. . . . Recently, I was admiring some photos and the stories that went along with them about some really nice muskies that had been caught and released.  Yes, I was jealous especially knowing they had been caught from a Nebraska waterbody.  Somewhere in the discussion that followed someone asked, “Which state?”, as in “surely those had to be caught from someplace …

It has been awhile since I have teased you with photos of some of the big fish that our field biologists have had their hands on.  Time to change that. . . . We do a lot of our fish population sampling in the fall, but there is also some that is done in the spring and summer.  Again let me say that when pointy-headed fisheries biologists are sampling fish they are NOT just trying to catch the biggest ones, …

I gotta admit I am not a big fan of late night talk shows anymore.  I don’t know, maybe it is just because I am getting old, but they just don’t seem as funny, as entertaining anymore.  I long for the days of “monkey-cam” and velcro suits brought to you from the home office in Wahoo, Nebraska! However, fishing did make it on one of the late night shows this week.  Here is what it looked like: I don’t know …

Wow, it is June already!  I have been sitting on a few state record applications, time to tell you about them!  I will start with the first to cross my desk this year. . . . Tiger Trout If you have followed Nebraska’s record fish you know that we have had quite a bit of activity for tiger trout in recent years.  Realizing that there may be someone new reading this, let me bore the rest of you with some …

There is no question the most common phone call/e-mail/FaceBook message I have received in the past few weeks has been about some dead fish in this or that location across Nebraska.  This has been widespread enough that we put out a news release last week: Spring fish die-offs not unusual in Nebraska LINCOLN, Neb. – Spring fish die-offs in Nebraska are not unusual. Reports of these fish kills – which have been due to natural causes – have come from …

I did not spend a lot of time on the water over the Memorial Day weekend, but that was alright.  We spent a lot of time with family.  Never fear, I did spend some time on the water; would have spent more if it were not for a nasty storm that blew up one evening.  From that little bit of time on the water, I can tell you one thing:  Right now the channel catfish are en fuego. Fishing reports …

There is a new reservoir in southeast Nebraska set for a grand-opening this weekend! Duck Creek Recreation Area is newest fishing opportunity in southeastern Nebraska LINCOLN, Neb. – A new fishing opportunity is available in southeastern Nebraska with the June 2 grand opening of Duck Creek Recreation Area. The Nemaha Natural Resources District owns and manages Duck Creek, which is located 5 miles northwest of Peru in Nemaha County. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission manages the fishery, is a …

I do not do this often, but from time to time I will copy “stuff” I have found on other blogs or somewhere else on the interwebs and post it here on my blog.  This week my buddy Greg Wagner wrote a great blog on not just hooking big fish but then landing them, and what to do with them after they are landed.  Yes, I talked to Greg while he was writing his blog and he quotes me in …