Barbs and Backlashes

The lakes on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge have been some of the most unique and best fisheries in Nebraska for a long, long time.  Several generations of Nebraskans have stories of pulling big beautiful panfish, pike, and largemouth bass through ice holes drilled on those Valentine Refuge lakes.  The open-water fishing has provided just as many memories. In conjunction with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service which owns and operates the refuge, the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission through …

Heading over tomorrow morning to team up with my buddy Greg Wagner on his weekly radio show, Great Outdoors Show, on 1620 The Zone in Omaha.  We will be on-air starting at 9:00 a.m. Central Time.  You can listen to us for an hour and still have time for pre-game before the Huskers kick it off. We will talk all things fishing, especially fall fishing, and knowing Greg, whatever else comes up.  Even if you are not close enough to …

It was late afternoon, the day was winding down; my phone rang.  I answered and listened as an angler at nearby Bowling Lake described a fish he had just caught and laid in the grass; something he had never seen before.  Identifying fish over the phone is always a challenge, but in this case I had an idea what he had caught.  I asked him if he would be there for a few more minutes, I was on my way. …

A couple of news items I want to call attention to today.  These will affect anglers in a couple areas of Nebraska, so even though the news releases have been published already, I want to mention them in my blog too. Merritt Reservoir Merritt Reservoir’s Main Landing temporarily closed September 8, 2017 LINCOLN, Neb. – The construction of a new boat-launch facility at Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area’s Main Landing has begun. The Main Landing area will be closed temporarily. …

It is Friday, thank goodness.  I am not in a mood to post anything too heavy on my blog today, so let me tell you a little bit more about myself. . . . In my opinion, the old Muppet Show was some of the best TV ever!  As a matter of fact, I have the DVD sets of most of those old shows; still get ’em out watch them, and yes, I still laugh! A lot of Muppet characters …

I again have a few state record applications to clear off my desk; this is the time of year when they are mostly spear-fishing and bow-fishing records.  Let’s go underwater to start: Underwater Spearfishing Three applications for state record fish taken by underwater spearfishing are in the stack.  All of those fish were taken in July, let me start with the first taken on July 6. . . . Dylan Trauernicht of Gering was doing some diving on a private …

This news release went out at the end of last week, so I fully realize many folks have already heard about this, but I want to make sure everyone hears about it! Incident at Calamus is reminder to Clean, Drain and Dry August 31, 2017 LINCOLN, Neb. – A recent incident at central Nebraska’s Calamus Reservoir is a reminder for all water users – especially boaters – to clean, drain and dry their equipment after every use, according to the …

If you read my blog post earlier this week, you know that I just got back from a week fishing with family in Montana.  I love going to different waters, experiencing and learning different things.  In Montana we fished a couple of the most well-known fly-fishing waters in the world, and it truly is a different world.  It reminded me of this video I found a couple of years ago. . . . Warning:  Before you take the ten minutes …

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This blog ain’t about Nebraska.  It IS about a lifestyle that includes family and fishing.  Even though this particular post is not Nebraska-centric, I suspect many of you will be interested in the adventures anyhow.  In fact, most of us have a list of waters in-state and out-of-state that we love to fish, let me drop the names of a few of them here. . . . My immediate family and I spent a week in Montana recently. …

Today I want to blog about a little project some of our fisheries staffed did at Victoria Springs State Recreation Area (SRA), recently.  To give you a little background, I have to tell you about duckweed, a small aquatic plant. Duckweed is a common aquatic plant on some Nebraska waters, it is a small plant that floats on the surface.  It is NOT an algae, it actually has leaves and small roots.  Typically, duckweed grows on small waters that are …