Conservation

I have blogged about fishing topwater baits several times (e.g. Top Edge , Topwater Bait Selection).  Safe to say that catching fish on topwater baits is one of everyone’s favorite ways to catch fish.  Also safe to say that right now, summer, is peak time for using topwaters. However, if you have spent any time on the water, you know you better have a plan B, plan C, and a whole lot of other plans.  Some days the fish, for …

Work Improves a Unique Fishery in the Sandhills Story and photos by Eric Fowler Joel Klammer repeatedly casts a woolly bugger fly toward rock structures in Long Pine Creek and lets it drift through the deep holes below them. He thinks he sees a fish attempting to bite on one drift, but after 20 minutes, he decides his first choice of flies wasn’t going to cut it on this section of the creek on Pine Glen Wildlife Management Area. So, …

The July 2023 issue of Nebraskaland has a excellent story on Long Pine Creek.  That story highlights some of the aquatic habitat and angler access work done there.  Of course it also highlights the fishing.  Follow the link and turn to page 48 to check it out! Nebraskaland July 2023

A wise fishing buddy of mine once said that “fishing is mostly about understanding fish.”  That makes a lot of sense and most anglers would agree with that statement.  However, there are a lot of things out there that we think we know that may not be exactly as they seem. The more you know about the biology, habits, characteristics, and dare I even say, personalities, of the fish, the more often you will figure them out and hook up.  …

I know this news release previously went out.  There has been some discussion about this already and some questions answered.  However, I have also learned that just the time you think everyone has heard the news about something, well, they have not.  So, I am going to send this around again: Wildwood WMA east entrance, ramp to close temporarily for boat access project Wildwood Wildlife Management Area’s boat ramp and east parking area will close temporarily for a boat launch …

Why do some people get perplexed when they see someone release a massive, master angler-sized catfish? After all, catfish, even the larger ones, sure taste good, don’t they? Consider the belly meat on a flathead catfish. So why is it every time we see an angler report or a social media post mention or show a picture of a large catfish they have put back in the water, a spirited discussion most likely ensues over what should or should have …

I laugh sometimes at all the jargon that applies to fishing.  Listen to yourself sometime! Lure names alone are stimulating.  You have your Hula Poppers and Rat-L-Snakies, Lazy Ikes, Royal Coachmen, and Whopper Ploppers.  Jerkbaits refer to how an artificial lure is properly fished, and not necessarily the guy on the end of the rod. What in the world is “bottom bouncing”?????  And, “walking the dog” ain’t what you think it is and has nothing to do with canines. Shockingly, …

We are in the middle of summer, but that does not mean I have quit fishing!  In fact, I have been out and about the state a couple of times over the past two, three weeks.  As always the fishing gear went with me, and I grabbed some time on the water when I could! Spent one afternoon wading and casting for some bass in the sandhills.  No, all sandhills lakes did not winterkill last winter. I purposely had my …

This was mentioned in a news release last week.  Let me publicize it some more here: Research seeks answers to Missouri River fishery decline after 2011 flood Biologists are continuing to tag and track walleye and sauger in the Missouri River and Lewis and Clark Lake between Fort Randall and Gavins Point dams as part of an effort to understand declines in the fishery following historic flooding in 2011. Since 2021, 201 fish have been tagged in the river and …

In many parts of Nebraska the “D” word has been used frequently in the past year or two–“drought”.  Even now some parts of the state have had less than the amount of precipitation we usually see.  However, other parts of the state have been blessed with significant precipitation for several months now. What is unusual about all of this is that the “rain shadow” I learned about in some meteorology class has actually been reversed this year!  You have heard …