Barbs and Backlashes

When you see this you obviously will know that I stole it from the internet. . . . I recently inherited a bunch more fishing gear including rods and reels, but I do not quite have my pickup full of rods, yet. Come to think of it, I just bought another rod too. Wives and girlfriends might wonder why we need all of those rods and reels?  Because, they are tools and a person needs the right tool for the job!  I …

Let me give an update on some of my latest fishing in our great state.  On Father’s Day my kids and I were invited by a buddy to fish on a private pit.  That sounded like a really good idea and we jumped at the opportunity. As soon as we got there and tackled up, we spotted a bunch of bluegills and small largemouth bass cruising the shorelines.  That is a very common sight on Nebraska pits and ponds this …

Last Saturday was our annual Carp-O-Rama carnival at Pawnee Reservoir.  A lot of folks came out and I hope they had a great time with us and maybe learned a thing or three along the way.  The fishing was slow.  We had a significant rainfall event overnight before the event and I wonder if the carp fishing might have been better at the upper end of the reservoir where there was some water flowing in? Regardless, if you were not …

The politically correct world in which we are supposed to live is crazy. Yes, that insanity even applies to fish and fishing.  If you have read my blog for any time you know that I mostly blog about fish and the folks who pursue them.  In doing that I try to remember that political correctness dictates the use of gender-neutral terms.  Even though the term “man” or “men” would be gender-neutral when referring to a group, that use has been deemed to …

I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago, a request.  It was one of the folks from Nebraska public TV’s Backyard Farmer.  Somehow they had my name and wanted to know if I would film a segment on native fish people could put in their backyard ponds.  I told them I was in no way an expert on backyard ponds, but I was honored they asked, and  if they wanted to talk about some Nebraska fish in those ponds …

Next Saturday is the day!  Time for our annual Carp-O-Rama carnival at Pawnee Reservoir! We will have another major “Carp-O-Rama” event next month at Lake Maloney south of North Platte; stay tuned, I will post some reminders about that later. I always say that basically we just show up and have fun at these family fishing events and we hope folks come out and have fun with us!  Our Carp-O-Rama event at Pawnee Reservoir is one of the biggest examples …

Sunday is Father’s Day.  Many of you know that I lost my father less than a month ago.  If you continue to read this blog post, you will have to indulge me as I share some more memories and thoughts about my Dad. Master Angler At the end of our spring turkey season this year I shared a memory of Dad (Paradox).  I am pretty sure that Dad and I killed our first spring turkeys together on the same day …

I do not own a boat, that is unless you want to count my float tube or “belly boat”.  Yes, I have a life-long dream of owning a boat, but I figured out a long time ago that a person can catch a lot of fish, and a lot of really big fish, from Nebraska waters without a boat.  I have even suggested in the past that in some fishing situations I can flat out out-fish boat anglers (The View …

If you are interested in learning to fly-fish, and do not be intimidated, it is not that hard to learn, I found this on the calendar for this coming Saturday, June 14. That is being held at our Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium, directions are included and a little map to let you know where it is located.  Class size is limited, there are a few spots still open, so be sure to call ahead and reserve yours.  The Cornhusker Fly Fishers are …

I have a couple of somewhat random things to share with you before I head out the door for the weekend. First of all, you have probably heard me say before that understanding predator/prey dynamics is KEY to finding and catching fish.  That is doubly important for anglers because we not only have to find our quarry, we also have to make them bite!  So, here is a short video that I found.  I never get tired of watching big …