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Please consider me the proverbial town-herald, rather than an alarmist. But…The end is near! THE END IS NEAR!! January 31, draws nigh and with it comes the end of my beloved bird season.  And what a season it has been, too.  Last season (2014/15) I was pleasantly surprised with bird numbers.  This season (2015/16) I was shocked.  The birds bounced back. Yes-yes, I heard all the good news prior to heading to field this past fall, but data is just …

I hope many of you have looked at the title of this blog post and wondered, “What in the world is “barotrauma?””.  Barotrauma is the pointy-headed fish biologist term for what happens to some species of fish when they are quickly raised from relatively deep water to the surface.  Most species of our freshwater fish have swim bladders–internal “bags” of gas that the fish use to regulate buoyancy.  Fish living at depths of 20-30 feet or more only have a …

It is Friday!  I try to keep in “light” on my Friday blog, but like to get something posted before I am “out the door” for the weekend.  I have posted a number of funny fishing commercials, but I must not be watching the right shows anymore because it has been a long time since I saw a good one.  I used to look forward to the Rapala commercials every fishing show “season” as they had some great ones, but …

The following blog post was written by Nebraska Game and Parks District 3 Commissioner Mick Jensen.  Serving as a Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioner, I have the great privilege and opportunity to help introduce people to outdoor recreation and the excitement of hunting and fishing. Last year, Clint Kantor and I became acquainted at the Big Game Society dinner and auction in Lincoln.  The Big Game Society auction raises funds for big game habitat in Nebraska. The event brings together …

At the end of each year I like to look back at the state record fish that were certified; kind of a “state record annual report”.  It is time to do that again. . . . Surface Spearfishing Let me start with the surface spearfishing state record category.  We typically do not see a lot of surface spearfishing record fish in a year and 2015 was no exception.  There was one fish certified as a surface spear-fishing record last year, …

Someone I knew once said: “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives you a snow day, you make snow ice cream!” I couldn’t agree more! With an ever-expanding blanket of snow cover over much of Nebraska, I thought it would be a perfect time to share with you my recipe for making snow ice cream. Creating this scrumptious “snow cream,” as I call it, is a fun activity to do with the kids on a cold winter day here on the Great Plains. They’ll …

I do not know a lot about this, but I saw a news release just today and there are a bunch of Nebraskans, especially Nebraska anglers, who should be aware of potential dam repairs at Box Butte Reservoir: Bureau seeking comment for possible dam repairs at Box Butte Reservoir The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking comment regarding an environmental assessment document for the dam at Box Butte State Recreation Area north of Hemingford. Engineers have identified problems with sedimentation through …

I am heading out of the office here in the next few minutes, but I have a couple of news items to get out before I leave.  Do you want the good news first or the bad news?  Let’s do the bad news first. Discover Ice Fishing On-Ice Clinic in Kearney Canceled LINCOLN – The Discover Ice Fishing on-ice clinic scheduled for Jan. 16 at Kearney’s Yanney Lake has been canceled because of a lack of safe ice. The Nebraska …

I will admit to you that my desks are not neat.  I subscribe to the theory that a clean desk is evidence of a warped mind.  Come to think of it, I have messy desks, AND a warped mind.  Anywho, I digress. . . . There are a couple of piles of books you will always find on my main desk, sitting to my left.  Forward left is a big pile of In-Fisherman magazines; I read them religiously.  Off to my far left …

I do not own a snowmobile or ATV, have ridden on a few on the ice, but not a lot.  I do know this, a person needs to be even more careful when running an ATV or snowmobile on a frozen lake.  Four inches of clear, new ice is enough to walk on, but if you want to run some kind of ATV or snowmobile, you better have a lot more than that, preferably at least twice that much.  Unfortunately, …