Barbs and Backlashes

It is Friday and time for a little fun. . . . I joke this time of year that the weather gets nice and everyone considers themselves to be a fisherperson.  Folks that may not pick up a rod & reel the rest of the year have an undeniable itch to go fishing when we get a nice, warm, spring afternoon.  That is great! What kind of a fisherperson are they? How many of those different stereotypes have you met? …

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of my son with a very nice, 36-inch pike he pulled through an ice hole this winter.  I put all of my blog posts on my FaceBook page too, and there a friend was giving me a bad time about the “hero shots” and holding fish closer to the camera to make them look bigger.  Another friend chimed in and said something that I thought was profound; I want to share it …

If you are in the area and can make it to this meeting next week, we would love to have you! Commission to Host Meeting on Valentine-Area Projects LINCOLN – A public informational meeting will be held in Valentine on March 26 to discuss several planned improvements for fishing, boating and angler access in the area. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will host the meeting at the Niobrara Lodge, 803 E. U.S. Highway …

I have three large oak trees in my yard.  When I am up on the roof cleaning gutters or raking 16 tons of leaves, I sometimes mumble unpleasantries about those trees.  But then every once in awhile, and it has happened frequently the past few weeks, after dark, I hear an unique call outside.  It sounds like this: On occasion the kids and I can shine a flashlight up into one of those trees and even spot the little screech owl …

Last weekend I was informed, sort of anonymously on the inter-web, that I was a fine, lazy state worker.  Ironically, that came after working my seventh weekend out of the ten since the first of the year.  I recalled that yesterday when I actually got out of the office to help with some field work.  I do not do that often anymore, but on occasion I get to be back on the water helping one of our field biologists.  The occasion yesterday was …

I know the spring trout stocking schedule went out in a news release last Friday, but my phone continues to ring, the weather is nice, and folks are ready to go fishing!  We have a lot of fish out there already, you do NOT have to wait for the stocking truck before going fishing, but the put & take trout stocking is very popular especially for young anglers and beginners, so look this list over and then GO FISH!  Stocking …

Sport show/seminar/banquet season is drawing to a close for me.  It is time to “shut up and fish!”  I have one last boat show I am working this weekend: I will be at Waconda Boats in Rep. City on Saturday; giving seminars on the 2015 Fishing Forecast for all of Nebraska at 10:00 and 2:00.  If you are in the area, stop by, check things out, tell me a fish story!

We have had an “on again, off again” ice fishing season this year.  As the calendar rolled into February I was seeking treatment for depression after an unusually warm January had brought my ice fishing season to a premature end.  Then as it usually happens in Nebraska, the weather, the climate, changed and it got cold again and my ice season was re-born.  I was thrilled to have a second season.  Actually, with the freeze/thaw cycle that we had repeated …

The weather has broke and I know we all are chomping at the bit to be outdoors, but I still have a seminar or two scheduled.  Here is the next one: Walleye Fishing Workshop Set for March 12 at Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium LINCOLN – The public is invited to a free walleye fishing workshop March 12 at Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium near Gretna. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission fisheries outreach program manager Daryl Bauer will present the 7 p.m. workshop, which will include …

I have not recommended to anyone in the past several weeks that the ice is completely, entirely safe.  However, I am fully aware that there are folks still ice-fishing in Nebraska and I have been taking advantage of “late ice” myself as much as possible.  Even this late in the ice-fishing season you can be safe and the fishing can be terrific, but you better know what you are doing ( Safety First ).  I cannot talk to anyone on …