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Some Not-So-Random Thoughts for the Weekend

Friday, a couple of weeks before Christmas, lots of things bouncing around in my head.  First, most importantly. . . .

We Have Ice!

By the time you are reading this there will have been fish pulled through the ice on Nebraska waters!  YESSSSS!!!!!!  This weekend most of that ice-fishing is going to occur in northern and western parts of Nebraska, maybe on some small waters in other parts of the state.  First ice is some of the best fishing of the year, on ice or otherwise, but always remember that you have to be careful EVERY TIME you walk on the ice.  That is especially true on first ice.  Right now you are going to find safe ice in places, I look for at least 4 inches of good clear, new ice, but even on the same body of water there will be ice that you should NOT be on.  So, be very, very careful, and first time on the ice you should be checking ice thickness every step of the way.  For you hardcore ice anglers, do not forget this:

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HINT: Another name for ice chisel!

Seriously, I blog about ice safety every winter.  Take some time and do some review:  Safe Ice, Ice Safe, “Safety First”, The Ice Man Cometh.

If you check out those old blogs, you will find a couple, three different videos on ice safety, excellent videos.  Watch ’em!  I do not care if you are an ice veteran of many years, review.  When you think you know it all is when you will get careless.  If you want to watch a short one, one we did here at the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission:

‘Tis the Season

I mentioned that we are two weeks out from Christmas.  Not quite time to push the Christmas-shopping “panic button” yet, but we are getting there.  Some helpful lists of ideas have been delivered to my e-mail inbox, check these out:

Target Walleye Gift Ideas

Bass Blaster Gift Ideas

If you are sitting there thinking, “OK, but my favorite angler is not a walleye or bass angler”.  Baloney, look at those links anyway, there is lots of good fishing “stuff” there, a lot of it for species other than bass and walleyes.  And besides, bass and walleye “stuff” will work for other species too!  Expand your horizons, experiment, learn–versatility is a key to consistent success!

Here are some more gift ideas on the ice-fishing scene:

Ice Force Gift Guide

Ahhh, will be on the ice, soon.  Think I gotta bust out my happy dance!

That song will be stuck in my head all weekend.  Hope it is stuck in yours too!!!!!

About daryl bauer

Daryl is a lifelong resident of Nebraska (except for a couple of years spent going to graduate school in South Dakota). He has been employed as a fisheries biologist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for 25 years, and his current tour of duty is as the fisheries outreach program manager. Daryl loves to share his educational knowledge and is an avid multi-species angler. He holds more than 120 Nebraska Master Angler Awards for 14 different species and holds more than 30 In-Fisherman Master Angler Awards for eight different species. He loves to talk fishing and answer questions about fishing in Nebraska, be sure to check out his blog at outdoornebraska.org.

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