Barbs and Backlashes

The Nebraska Fish & Game Association has installed bins for recycling fishing line all around the state, NEFGA Line Bins Map.  I am a huge fan of the program not only because it gets discarded fishing line off the shores of our waters, but because I love it when anglers take ownership in the care and condition of THEIR resources!  If you are interested in contributing to, or participating in that program, make sure to check it out, NEFGA Line …

Fish have been displayed at the Nebraska State Fair almost every year since 1885.  There was a year, 1898, when there was no funding for displaying fish at the state fair, and in 1976 no fish were displayed because a new aquarium complex was under construction.  That complex housed fish every year at the state fair in Lincoln until the fair moved to Grand Island.  We have not had fish at the state fair since it moved to Grand Island …

I will not pretend to know a thing about sports psychology.  What I do know is that at the highest levels of competition, whatever the sport, competitors look for any advantage they can gain.  To calm nerves and focus on execution of every sport, one technique athletes employ is to picture, visualize, themselves hitting the baseball, sinking their free-throws, catching that touchdown pass. Fishing is a sport for everyone.  It can be enjoyed on a variety of levels in a variety …

A few weeks ago I told you about the 2014 High School Bass Fishing Championship held at Merritt Reservoir.  I want to return to that event in this blog post because there was something else about that day that I think was really special. When the state high school bass championship was held at Merritt this year, there was also a Nebraska Walleye Association tournament at the same time.  As a matter of fact the NWA folks were kind enough …

I think this is an appropriate way to end “Carp Week”. If fish could smoke cigarettes, common carp would. However, come to think of it, I have seen stocked rainbow trout eat cigarette butts. For some reason I cannot get this song out of my head today:

We are having some fun with “Carp Week” on our Game & Parks FaceBook page this week.  You are not going to find carp near the top of any of my favorite fish lists, but I have said that all of the fish that swim our waters are unique and should be appreciated for their uniqueness.  No, carp are not going to be the most popular sport fish in Nebraska, but they can be a lot of fun to catch, …

Every year about this time the Discovery Channel has their Shark Week.  If you are a pointy-headed fisheries biologist like me, you think that is pretty cool, especially when great white sharks are munching on seals (Ah, poor seal.)  Unfortunately, Nebraska has some really cool toothy predators, but alas no sharks.  To piggyback on the whole shark week thing some have thought it would be fun if we had “Carp Week” at the same time.  OK.  If we are going …

I know it is August, and folks do not think that “fall” starts until September.  But if you look for the subtle signs, fall has already begun.  I was reminded of that earlier this week when my “co-blogger” Joel Jorgensen blogged about Attracting Hummingbirds–It’s Time .  If you watch closely, you will start seeing some Monarch butterflies heading south on a north wind, and now is when the hummingbirds are migrating back through Nebraska.  It will not be long and the …

A week or so ago I got a fishing report from an old college buddy.  He catches some big catfish from Omaha area waters and recently landed another one.  This one was a flathead catfish, a 41-inch flathead catfish.  That fish was released after taking some pictures, but it would have weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 30, maybe 35 pounds.  Although there are bigger flatheads caught from Nebraska waters every year, a 41-incher is a very respectable fish, plenty big …

I try to brag up our youth fishing instructors because they are a tremendous asset to our fishing education programs!  For those of you who are NOT already one of our youth fishing instructors and are interested in becoming one, here is an opportunity: Become a Certified Youth Fishing Instructor in Columbus Area LINCOLN – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will certify youth fishing instructors Aug. 30 in Duncan, Neb. The free workshop will be held at the Boystown …