Barbs and Backlashes

The weather has been relatively hot in Nebraska the past couple of weeks, but the calendar says it is fall.  The calendar is not wrong.  The fall bite has started and I have been trying to spend as much time on the water as possible the past several weeks.  Some evenings, as I stand in the water waiting for a big fish, my mind wanders back to autumns past, of fish caught and memories made. I guess I am old enough …

Time for a state record update.  This is the time of year when we see the most activity in the spear-fishing and bowfishing state record categories.  I have a few bowfishing updates to share with you. . . . Hybrid Sunfish The first one is a hybrid sunfish, a green sunfish X bluegill hybrid that was taken on July 1 by Zachary Welch of Ainsworth.  Zachary found his 14.4 ounce, 10-inch hybrid sunfish in a private sandpit in Brown County. …

If you were watching, there was a very positive announcement on the water front last week:  State entities working on first-of-its-kind water sustainability plan Historic agreement to ensure lasting uses of Niobrara River for Nebraskans LINCOLN, NEB. – A historic agreement has been negotiated to preserve the future of the Niobrara River Basin between the Niobrara basin’s Natural Resource Districts (NRDs), the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (Commission) and the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD). Formal action on a memorandum …

I was surfing around on Rapala USA’s FaceBook page and saw that someone likes #9 Shallow Shad Raps so well he got a tattoo of one on his arm: If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I love Rapala crankbaits.  The #9 Shallow Shad Rap is a very good choice, I have caught a ton of fish on that bait. However, if I was going to get a tattoo of that bait, it would have …

It is that time of year again, time for our annual review of fishing rules and regulations.  This is an ongoing process that involves many different folks on many different levels here at the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission.  Typically, the October commission meeting is the one where changes in fishing rules and regulations are discussed.  We do not have a lot of time to meet deadlines before that meeting, but we want to give our anglers and idea of …

I do not like it when folks give human attributes to fish and game, but I imagine if there was ever a working man’s fish, a real roll up it’s sleeves and go to work, sweaty, dirty, “Get -R-Done” kind of fish, it would be a black bullhead.  So, why not celebrate Labor Day by doing a little bullhead fishing? Stocked Bullheads Provide More Late-Summer Fishing Opportunities LINCOLN – There is still time to take children fishing for stocked bullheads …

It is Friday before a holiday weekend; time to lighten up a bit. . . . I have not posted anything about KVD lately, no not Kevin VanDam, the other KVD, Karl VonDibble.  The internet is full of lists, top 10 this, top 10 that. . . here is a good one from KVD: For the record, I have seen some beard flies that were quite excellent (the fish do not care what they look like), and craw chaw really …

Our Nebraska bullfrog season has been open for over two weeks now and I have not said anything about it.  I do not need to!  Check out Mark Davis’ article that ran in the Omaha World-Herald last weekend, Summer Evenings Around Ponds Make for Perfect Time to Grab Large Bullfrogs.  Mark is an excellent photographer and got some great shots to go with that story, make sure you check them out. Mark went frogging with a couple of experts who …

Every spring I try to update you on the pallid sturgeon brood stock collection efforts on Nebraska’s Missouri River (e.g. 2015 Pallid Sturgeon Broodstock Collection).  Here is a follow-up, here is why our crews and a host of volunteers put in that effort: Recovery Efforts Continue with Stocking of Pallid Sturgeon in Missouri River Posted by: Jerry Kane, August 26, 2015 LINCOLN – More than 2,000 5- to 6-inch pallid sturgeon were stocked in the channelized portion of the Missouri River …

It is Friday, quick blog post today, returning to one of my favorite subjects–predator/prey interactions! A co-worker sent me some photos this week of a largemouth bass his son caught recently.  Take a close look at this first photo and see if you can guess what that bass recently ate, look deep in the throat: Cannot tell?  Here is more of a clue: If you have not been “grossed out” yet, this will give it away: You may think that …