Tag Archives: Fisheries Science

The May issue of Nebraskaland magazine has a short article on bluegill growth rates.  You will want to check it out. Right now you can see the full issue HERE. Or, here are the two pages: Over-harvest of panfish, bluegills and crappies, is a real problem on a lot of waters.  No, those populations are not harvested to the point where there are not enough fish to reproduce and maintain the population.  They are over-harvested to the point where they …

Total open-water fishing is nearly upon us in parts of Nebraska and anglers are organizing their tackle boxes. Chances are they have an assortment of different colored artificial fishing lures in the trays of that tackle box; probably more than they’ll ever use. But if you want to get a good discussion going about fishing lures, start one on colors. WOW!  Anyone who fishes has an opinion about the color of the lures they cast for success. So, what about …

The December issue of Nebraskaland has a one-page story by Jeff Kurrus, Don’t Stunt.  Yes, Jeff spent some time in my office talking about the story.  Yes, Jeff quotes me in the article.  If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will recognize the subject matter, again: I have said before, will again now.  I have seen far more panfish populations that suffer from the effects of over-harvest, than I have seen in less numerous, larger, predator …

I have commented before that when you spend enough time in the field or on the water, you will see some unusual things.  Pointy-headed fisheries biologists handle thousands of fish.  Sure, we see some exceptionally large specimens and occasionally we see some other oddities. Unusually-colored fish get a lot of attention.  The “interwebs” often have photos of oddly-colored fish or fish with other weirdness.  I believe part of the reason for the occurence of those oddities is fish produce so …

I spread word last week about the rotenone renovation of Goose Lake.  I was busy and did not make it up to see the operation, but I did see a couple of follow-up photos.  It is always unbelievable the numbers, and domination, of rough fish when we do a renovation! Previous renovations of sandhill lakes have shown that there can be over 1600 pounds per acre of just common carp (Rat and Beaver)!  At that level, there just ain’t much …

Seems to be common anymore that every one is looking for workers.  Might as well join the list. . . . Most years we, the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, will be doing on-the-water, angler surveys someplace in the state.  That kind of survey work is labor-intensive and expensive.  We never do a lot of angler surveys in any one year.  On the other hand, as it is with most data we work with, I will tell you that information …

From time to time I like to blog about some deep, science-stuff.  I do not do it often, because I do not want to be boring.  On the other hand, I know many of you have at least a passing interest in fisheries science and the work done by pointy-headed, fisheries biologists. There is an overwhelming amount of scientific literature documenting everything related to fisheries science and the almost infinite number of fish species.  Unfortunately, there is so much it …

I want to point out some fisheries research work currently being done on the Missouri River in northeast Nebraska.  The easiest way for me to do that is to “copy and paste” a page from our July 2021 Nebraskaland Magazine: As the article says, if you happen to catch one of these tagged fish, we would like to know about it.  If you do not have any other contact information, you can always let me know about it, daryl.bauer@nebraska.gov. The …

Today, I am going to return to a familiar topic–catch and release or more specifically selective harvest.  Some of you will ignore me, I know you will.  That’s fine, just know there is science behind it! Do not take my word for it.  Instead, this time, take the word of retired Canadian fisheries biologist, Gord Pyzer.  He knows his stuff! This science proves that keeping small fish, while releasing the big ones improves the fishery I hear complaints all the …

Research is just one of many jobs done by the Fisheries Division of the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission.  Yes, we have a research staff that does some of that work.  But, we cannot get it done all by ourselves.  Over the years we have contracted with several universities to do some of that research.  The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has and continues to be an important partner.  We completed several years of research on our sandhill lakes in conjunction with …