Conservation

I usually post a water/boat safety reminder in the early spring when the water is cold.  I did not this spring, but with the heat of summer and peak activity on the water, this is a good time to mention it again.  Unfortunately, it seems like there has been a story about some tragedy on the water someplace in Nebraska nearly every weekend this summer. My buddy Greg blogged last week about The Worst Excuses for Not Wearing a Life …

The big college baseball tournament in Omaha just finished up.  Like Major League Baseball, there are a darned lot of strike-outs in the game nowadays. . . . Likewise, if you have spent any amount of time on the water, you have at least a story or three about “the one that got away”.  Probably got a bunch more stories about fish you missed on the hook set.  You know you do, and you will appreciate this video: Had a …

Been a long time since I mentioned what is new on the state record front.  Got three new state records to tell you about.  Let’s start with a couple of rod & reel records: The first to hit my desk this year came back in April.  Scott McGuire from Grant pushed our tiger trout record even higher, just short of 5 pounds now, 4 pounds 14 ounces. Scott’s fish was 24 inches long, and was caught from the North Platte …

When we, the Fisheries Division of the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, does an Aquatic Habitat rehabilitation project, our goals are usually much larger than just providing a few fish attractor structures.  Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with brush piles, log cribs, root wads, broken concrete, etc. that can be placed in a waterbody to attract fish and make them easier to find and catch.  But, when we are doing a rehabilitation project we usually have …

Blogged about fishing running through my veins earlier this week.  With Father’s Day last weekend, I got to thinking about fishing with my Gramps Roth and a story I want to write down. . . . I have lots of memories of fishing with Gramps when I was a kid, he lived in Atkinson, Nebraska and spent a lot of time fishing, hunting and trapping in that beautiful part of our state.  I always looked forward to visiting Gramps, seemed …

We are in the middle of our Take ‘Em Fishing Challenge this fishing season.  In fact, we have had the first round of prizes awarded. There are a lot of reasons you should find someone who has not fished before, or someone who has not fished recently, and take ’em.  Fishing is the perfect participation sport, anyone can participate at whatever level they would like.  Fishing is good for you, emotionally, spiritually, and yes, even physically.  Fishing is a great …

I will always tell you that May and June are two of the best months to fish open water in Nebraska.  It does not make any difference what species of fish you want to catch, what waterbodies you want to fish, during May and June, “do not pass “GO”, do not collect $200″ just GO FISH! If you look at your calendar right now, you will note that we have entered the last half of June, 2019.  As we progress …

Just found this video from Simms.  LOVE IT! https://youtu.be/Ou_jwttk3vk We have discussions around the office here all the time about how we can get more people “hooked on fishing”.  If people lived their lives well, fished it well, we would not have those discussions. Entirely appropriate for this Father’s Day weekend.  Hope you and your dad, you and your kids, have fished it well!

Growing up in North Platte I discovered that the borrow pits along Interstate 80 running through Nebraska provide some really good fishing.  Between my career as an angler and my “real” job as a pointy-headed fisheries biologist, I have worked on or fished pretty much every one of the interstate lakes, from Grand Island west to Sutherland.  Most of those lakes offer excellent fishing for largemouth bass, bluegill and some channel catfish, and, depending on the pit, a variety of …

Nebraska’s Aquatic Habitat Program has been in existence for over twenty years now.  That program with funding dedicated solely to the enhancement of water quality and aquatic habitat was the first of its kind anywhere in the United States, and it has and continues to accomplish a variety of projects on waterbodies from one corner of Nebraska to the other.  Nebraska fishing is better today because of the Aquatic Habitat Program!  Up until now, much of that work has focused …