Nebraskaland Magazine
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 son snap that photo right where we were fishing. No, it was not a huge bass, but it was nice enough and fun to catch. We waded and fished right in that aquatic vegetation you can see in the photo. I refuse to call aquatic vegetation, “weeds” (They ain’t “weeds”!!!!!). Aquatic vegetation is some of the best habitat fish can have and that is especially true for species like largemouth bass. So, don’t complain about the “weeds”, wade in and get ’em!
My son and I may not have caught a lot of fish that afternoon, but we did not get skunked either. I suspect if we have fished until “prime time” that evening we would have dried off several more.
Likewise, I fished another middle of a hot, sunny day. I tackled-down just trying to scratch some fish, and caught several panfish and one smallmouth bass.
One of the panfish was a very respectable black crappie!
And I caught a pumpkinseed!
Back home to the office for a couple of days and then another trip “out west”. This time it was a different reservoir and I got smarter and fished evenings. After eating a picnic supper, I was scouting around when I spotted some surface feeding activity. Could see fish busting the surface from a LONG ways away. Hurried over there and got into some white bass for a bit until the school left. So, it was back to being mobile and scouting.
I found more of them feeding, a lot more, and was set then until dark! It was pretty much a white bass every cast!
You are looking, I know you are. You can see what I caught them on. Yep, every one of them on top-water!
This time of year there is nothing better than a white bass feeding frenzy. Unless some wipers also show up, the fish may not be huge. All of these were from 12-13 1/2 inches. However, white bass are great fighters and it is just a lot of fun to get into a feeding school when you know that all you have to do is get your bait in the water and you are going to get bit!
From what I saw, the young-of-the-year (YOY) baitfish, gizzard shad, were not very big yet. The mid- to late-summer white bass binge is just getting started on our Nebraska reservoirs. Beat the heat during the middle of the day by playing in the water. Early and late get serious about fishing and keep your eyes and ears open!
Leave ’em with a sunset photo:
No fish were harmed in the making of this blog post. They were all released, every one of them, even the white bass!
