Barbs and Backlashes

We are having some fun with “Carp Week” on our Game & Parks FaceBook page this week.  You are not going to find carp near the top of any of my favorite fish lists, but I have said that all of the fish that swim our waters are unique and should be appreciated for their uniqueness.  No, carp are not going to be the most popular sport fish in Nebraska, but they can be a lot of fun to catch, …

Every year about this time the Discovery Channel has their Shark Week.  If you are a pointy-headed fisheries biologist like me, you think that is pretty cool, especially when great white sharks are munching on seals (Ah, poor seal.)  Unfortunately, Nebraska has some really cool toothy predators, but alas no sharks.  To piggyback on the whole shark week thing some have thought it would be fun if we had “Carp Week” at the same time.  OK.  If we are going …

I know it is August, and folks do not think that “fall” starts until September.  But if you look for the subtle signs, fall has already begun.  I was reminded of that earlier this week when my “co-blogger” Joel Jorgensen blogged about Attracting Hummingbirds–It’s Time .  If you watch closely, you will start seeing some Monarch butterflies heading south on a north wind, and now is when the hummingbirds are migrating back through Nebraska.  It will not be long and the …

A week or so ago I got a fishing report from an old college buddy.  He catches some big catfish from Omaha area waters and recently landed another one.  This one was a flathead catfish, a 41-inch flathead catfish.  That fish was released after taking some pictures, but it would have weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 30, maybe 35 pounds.  Although there are bigger flatheads caught from Nebraska waters every year, a 41-incher is a very respectable fish, plenty big …

I try to brag up our youth fishing instructors because they are a tremendous asset to our fishing education programs!  For those of you who are NOT already one of our youth fishing instructors and are interested in becoming one, here is an opportunity: Become a Certified Youth Fishing Instructor in Columbus Area LINCOLN – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will certify youth fishing instructors Aug. 30 in Duncan, Neb. The free workshop will be held at the Boystown …

I found this on the internet: If you ask me I will tell you that my favorite bait or lure is whatever is the right tool for the job, whatever the fish are biting on.  And, if you have been reading my blog for any time you have probably heard me say that I am not sponsored nor endorsed by any fishing tackle manufacturers. But I really, really like Rapalas! After buying that many Rapala baits, I should own stock …

We are in the middle of a Nebraska summer right now and that means in most cases that the fishing has become a little bit tougher than it was a few weeks ago.  The reason for that is simple, even though the fish’s metabolism is peaking in the warmest water of the year, the abundance of natural prey is also at its peak right now and fish do not have to look very hard to find more than enough to eat. …

I got back yesterday from the 2014 High School Bass Fishing Championship at Merritt Reservoir, and I need to give a quick report on that tournament.  Here is the news release that will be going out: Lincoln County Anglers Win High School Fishing Tournament LINCOLN, Neb. – Kylan Rhodes and Austin Denisse of Lincoln County won the 2014 Nebraska State High School Fishing Tournament on July 26 at Merritt Reservoir. The Lincoln County team weighed in a five-fish limit totaling …

Have you ever been in one of those awkward social situations where you are among a group of people and you are supposed to mingle and talk, but you just really have nothing to talk about? Here is my excuse. . . . I saved this quote, I believe Matt Straw made it in some In-Fisherman article or on-line story.  I do not remember where.  But, I thought it was really good advice when you walk into a room and …

I am old enough to remember when we basically had 2 and only two choices in fishing line–monofilament and braided dacron (By the way, I still use some old braided dacron, and it is a great line for some fishing situations).  We used to think we had hit the jackpot when we could walk into Gibson’s and find a huge spool of 8-pound test monofilament for 99 cents.  As I got older and wiser I discovered that there were much …