How To

Booo! … It’s the month when Halloween festivities and candy are aplenty. It’s the month when combines dot the rural landscape for the crop harvest. It is the month when the smell of wood smoke from fireplaces and backyard fire pits permeates the air. And, it’s the month when leaves turn color here in the Cornhusker State. Eastern cottonwood tree leaves beginning to turn their pretty yellow color along the Platte River near Gretna, NE. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game …

My wife and I spent some time hanging out at a busy boat ramp on a recent weekend.  I have always said you can see a lot of funny things at a busy boat ramp: No, we did not see any one quite that proficient.  We did see a few folks that really knew what they were doing. Also saw a few that did not have a clue. By the way, the more sparkly the boat and the nicer the …

You may recall a couple of my previous blog posts about hybrid fish, Hybrids, Hybrids, More Sunfish.  My intent with those posts was to call attention to some of the interesting fish you likely will encounter in Nebraska waters.  In addition I hoped to point out some tips on fish identification. You may have noticed the “theme” in those previous blog posts being hybrids of the sunfish family, Centrarchidae.  More specifically I blogged about hybrids within the genus Lepomis which …

Nature’s fantastic color show is emerging in the west and north. To me, that means the forest floor will soon be saturated with autumn leaf matter as well as something else — nuts! Freshly fallen black walnuts on the forest floor along a creek bottom in southeastern Nebraska woodlands. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. One of the reasons to take a long walk in the woods during autumn is to gather some delicious, nutritious, wild or homegrown …

I know some of you are still working on your Trout Slam, and I know this will be of interest to you: The latest batch of cutthroat trout raised in our Nebraska State Fish Hatcheries have been stocked recently.  They were all “catchable” size, 10 inches and maybe a little larger.  Here are the locations and numbers: Fall is a great time to get after some trout.  GO FISH!

Calendar says it is mid-September.  The past few evenings have said autumn is definitely here!  Actually, depending on the fish you pursue and the amount of time you spend on the water, the seasons started to transition from summer to fall weeks ago already. You also know that our seasons repeat themselves, year after year.  As a result, I return to the same topics in my blog every year.  So, I am going to dust off an old blog post, …

Double, double toil and trouble … It’s the Halloween season and a witch’s brew is not complete without a moist, edible fall mushroom or two, right? Just kidding. But, guess what? We have an array of fall fungi in Nebraska perfect for your dinner plate. The greatest variety of mushrooms is usually found from about mid September through mid November, depending on weather and conditions. I realize it has been dry in places around the state, but any welcome rains …

Many of you will remember that we started an angler access and renovation project on Standing Bear Reservoir this spring (Standing Bear Renovation).  Beside the renovation of the fish community, this concept map describes the work being done: Weather has been relatively favorable this summer, dirt has been moving and progress is being made.  Got a few photos to show.  These are some of the angler access improvements along the north shoreline: Here is a big picture view from the …

A few weeks ago I published a blog entitled Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Boat.  I wanted to point out that a person does NOT have to have a boat to catch fish, a lot of fish, big fish.  I also wanted to emphasize that good fishing waters are good whether you have a boat or not–find a way!  As an example, I mentioned that shallow water cover often holds fish, even during the summer.  Sometimes you just have to find …

I know, I know, Labor Day weekend is over.  However, some of you will be on the water fishing yet this fall and if you are you might need to know these things: Boat ramp access limited at Sherman, Calamus Seasonal irrigation drawdowns at some north central reservoirs have caused boat ramp closures at two Nebraska Game and Parks state recreation areas. At Calamus Reservoir SRA, the Valley View Flat boat ramp is closed. Boaters can still use Homestead Knolls, …