Conservation

I spent a few days out of the office recently; might as well tell you about it. . . . Spring is a busy time for fisheries workers.  Once the ice is gone, one species after another starts spawning.  We have a variety of crews busy collecting eggs for producing fish to stock, then there is sampling that needs to be done, some tagging projects, etc., etc.  In the spring it is “all hands on deck”. Pretty much every year …

A brief news item in my blog today.  Not a big deal, not going to affect a lot of people, but some of you will want to know: Grove Trout Rearing Station temporarily closing for maintenance The Grove Trout Rearing Station near Royal, Nebraska, in Antelope County, will close to visitors April 11-15 for maintenance and inspection on the diversion pond. “While the maintenance takes place, staff will be using heavy equipment, and public safety is taken into consideration for …

By Cassidy Wessel, Wildlife Biologist I can remember the first rooster pheasant I ever held as a kid, standing over the trash can in our garage helping my dad clean birds and thinking that this brown, purple, blue, red and green iridescent thing might just be too pretty to pluck. And I’m sure I did think “pluck” — skinning a bird at that time would have been completely foreign to me. Pheasants were rare table fare. Being the fifth generation …

I think this is a relatively new song, at least it is new to me.  I love it! That should be the theme song for our Take ‘Em Fishing promotion this year! It is the weekend, GO FISH!  Then, show me!

I have a couple, three state record applications on my desk.  Time to give an update. . . . We usually do not have a lot of state record fish caught ice-fishing, but it is not unusual to have one or two.  I say it often, again, you just never know what might bite on the end of your line, even when you are ice-fishing!  In the order that they were caught: Yellow bass The first one was caught on …

Another news item today.  This news release went out late last week, but again I want to spread the word: Walleye egg collections begins; dam, breakwater to close at rec areas Fisheries staff at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission again will capture spawning walleyes at Sherman Reservoir, Merritt Reservoir and Lake McConaughy to collect eggs to meet stocking requests. As of April 1, a designated area along the dam at Sherman is closed to bank anglers and boats following …

The Sandhills region is tops for Blanding’s turtle habitat and numbers Grass-covered sand dunes accented by wetland marshes and lakes as far as the eye can see. Humans and vehicle traffic sparse. Vibrant community of turtles and other wildlife. If real estate advertisements targeted wildlife, such words would catch the eye of at least one species. Thanks to research at the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, we know many Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) are already living the good life in the …

There are so many fish and fishing-related things to blog about.  I try to include variety.  I try to include a blend of news, fisheries science, ichthyology and just plain fishing.  A lot of you are likely better sticks than I am, but I also like to include stuff that has worked for me, things that might help someone catch more fish. . . . Well, this is one of the biggest breakthroughs that I have seen in years.  I …

I need to spread the word on this too, and looking at the calendar, I need to do it now! Two angler creel surveys to begin at Lake McConaughy in April It’s the time of year for Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to survey Lake McConaughy anglers for information that assists in statewide fisheries management decisions. Two surveys will be conducted at the state recreation area starting April 1: 1. A daytime survey will take place April through October with …

The “Zoom” Fisheries meetings we just held around the state are up on video.  Some of you know that already, for the rest of you, that is why I am spreading the word! I was going to embed all four of the videos, but that is too much embedding.  Instead, follow the links, please. Here is the one for the Southeast Region: Southeast Region Fisheries Informational Meeting, 2022 Southwest Region: Southwest Region Fisheries Informational Meeting, 2022 Northwest Region: Northwest Region …