Barbs and Backlashes

A couple of months ago I had a blog post speculating about ways the invasive “Asian” Carp, Bighead and Silver Carp, might be caught on hook & line, hooked in the mouth (Milk Fish?  Silver Carp?).  Those species are not caught using traditional fishing techniques because they are primarily filter feeders and do not swim around selecting and ingesting food items that anglers typically use for bait.  If someone could figure out some techniques to catch those fish, hooked in …

If you are in the area and you like watermelon, you might want to join us tomorrow night! Conestoga Reservoir aquatic habitat project open house is Sept. 13 LINCOLN – Learn about the aquatic habitat project occurring at Conestoga Reservoir during an open house Sept. 13. The public is invited to attend the 6:30 p.m. event at the boat ramp parking lot on the north side. View the work that has been completed and hear updates by the Nebraska Game …

Through the ages fish and fishing have generated innumerable superstitions.  Gramps Roth always told me I had to hold my mouth just right to catch fish.  To this day, I am trying to figure out what he meant by that?  No doubt a lot of that superstition arises from the fact that we cannot see below the surface of the water and directly observe fish behavior.  Some days it seems that purely random events are the difference between catching fish and …

I know folks who fish Merritt have been wondering about our boat ramp improvement plans, there are some details in this old blog post, Angler Access Improvements.  Getting that work accomplished is dependent on end-of-summer water levels at Merritt.  So, the bad news is that water levels again this fall are too high for the work to be accomplished.  On the other hand, you will never hear me complain about water in our Nebraska reservoirs, so the good news is …

I am not a big fan of hot dogs, but I kind of have a hankering for corndogs.  Everyone knows the best corndogs are the freshly-dipped, deep-fat-fried ones at the fair.  If you have yourself a fair corndog and a big, freshly-squeezed, cherry lime-aide, well, life don’t get no better than that! Just recently my buddy Ron taught me something about corndogs that I never knew!  Apparently, they grow along the edges of Nebraska waterbodies.  Here is his explanation: Mother Nature …

I believe from the moment we are born we have this desire to be independent, on-our-own, free.  Those of us who recognize the hunter and fisher in our human DNA feel the urge even more.  We start our adventure into independence by rolling, scooting, and crawling, but that is not enough.  We walk as soon as possible and then comes that glorious day when we master some form of mechanical transportation.  For must of us that was a tricycle followed …

I like to give a little update now and then about some of the fisheries management activities going on around Nebraska.  Your pointy-headed fisheries biologists, researchers, and fish production workers never rest. In late summer we do a bunch of our Channel Catfish stocking around the state.  Channel Catfish are very popular with Nebraska anglers and can be found in waters throughout the state.  Those Catfish have no problem reproducing in a variety of waters, but there are a lot of …

I was looking at The Walleye Guys e-letter this week and discovered a new song.  I kind of like it: Pretty much sums up my attitude when I am on the water.  At work and even in my personal life, I may do some talking, but when it is time to fish, well, shut up! Do not know what you are planning for this weekend, but do not forget to GO FISH!  And shut up while you are at it.

I have been hearing some “chatter” recently on the ole inter-webby about Gar.  Gar tend to have the reputation as being an ugly, toothy, vicious, despised predator.  There are a lot of misconceptions about Gar; let me talk about a few. . . . Alligator Gar Most of the current talk about Gar comes from some news stories that have circulated recently about Alligator Gar.  Even though all Gar have a relatively narrow snout full of sharp teeth, NOT ALL …

Got another Aquatic Habitat Rehabilitation project to tell you about.  This one is underway at Bowman Lake just west of Loup City. Aquatic Habitat Project in Progress at Bowman Lake August 16, 2016 LINCOLN – An aquatic habitat improvement project has begun at Bowman Lake, just west of Loup City in Sherman County. Bowman Lake has long suffered from poor aquatic habitat conditions resulting in mediocre fishing opportunities. This rehabilitation project is designed to increase lake depth, deepen channels that …