Barbs and Backlashes

Just got the newsletter on this spring’s efforts to collect adult endangered pallid sturgeon and I want to share it with you! If you wish, here is the .pdf file, 2016 Pallid Sturgeon Broodstock Newsletter Collecting eggs from sexually mature Pallid Sturgeon in Nebraska’s stretch of the Missouri River and then producing young fish from the eggs and milt of those brood fish for stocking back into the river is an important part of recovery efforts for Pallid Sturgeon.  This effort is …

This ole “inter-webby” thing is a great tool for information and communication.  Where would we be without it? Unfortunately, it is also a great source of misinformation and rumors.  You know what they say, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet”! Recently, I have become aware of a particularly nasty rumor that has been making the rounds: I categorically deny that this is a picture of me at my senior prom! Everyone knows I would have much preferred a …

Please allow me to interrupt my usual subject material here on my blog. . . . It is turkey season and my mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time.  Right now it bounces back and forth between spring turkey hunting, mushroom picking and fishing. Every morning I hear the birds singing, they may not be turkeys and I may be in the middle of town, but as soon as I hear them, my ears are straining to …

I again completely realize that I am “recycling” some information that has already been released and some folks already know about.  However, again I want to spread the word as much as possible and if you use Jeffrey Reservoir south of Brady you need to know about this: The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (HOLDREGE, Neb.) – The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District is making preparations for a dredging project at Jeffrey Lake that will begin …

I guess this past weekend was some masterful golf tournament or something like that.  I don’t know much about golfing; always figured it was for folks who did not fish.  Looks to me like well-known professional golfers playing in big tournaments would still rather be fishing. Water must have been pretty warm, or at least it better have been, he was jigging too fast for cold water. That “rod” was really stiff.  I prefer something with a little more action …

There is no doubt that the fish species that can send the largest masses of anglers to the banks during the spring outbreak of fishing fever would be crappies.  Everyone loves to sit on a shoreline on a warm afternoon and experience a good crappie bite.  On the other hand, with schizophrenic weather changes, I can think of no other species of fish that can be more frustrating than spring crappies.  Consistently successful anglers are always adapting and adjusting.  What …

I know there have already been news releases on these news items, but I like to highlight them again to try to get word around as well as possible.  Although believe me, I know that no matter how much something is publicized there will be someone who did not know when they needed to.  I took a phone call last Friday from a gentleman who had just pulled into the parking lot at Goose Lake and discovered it was closed. …

I know it has been W-I-N-D-Y lately.  Typical for spring in Nebraska.  But, on occasion the wind quits blowing and I can stand on my front step, feel it in the air, smell it, and if I listen hard enough I am sure I can hear it. . . .There, there it is. . . . I know I just heard a turkey gobble. Now, I am stationed at our headquarters here in Lincoln, and I live not far from …

I love big predator fish.  Duh.  Of course part of that comes from the fact that they are just plain big fish, and what angler does not love big fish?  But, it is more than that.  I marvel at the big predator fish in particular because there is such raw power and mystique about them.  It is the same reason I believe that mink, bobcats, coyotes, wolverines, mountain lions, and great whites are such cool creatures.  There is a pure, …

I hate to repeat “stuff” on my blog, but when talking about fish and fishing, a lot of what happens occurs seasonally, at about the same time every year.  For example, it is early April and that means the walleyes are spawning.  Oh sure, the exact timing of the walleye spawn will vary a bit from year to year, but photoperiod or the amount of daylight is an important cue for the walleye spawn and thus it occurs about the …