Barbs and Backlashes

I have posted a series of blogs on hybrid fish.  Hopefully, those have increased awareness of these fish in our waters and provided some tips on fish identification.  Want to return to that series today. . . . First, let me define some terms.  If you looked at the title, I used a pointy-headed term, the family name for the pike family, esocids.  Members of the pike family found in Nebraska would be grass pickerel (specifically a subspecies of redfin …

Want to mention a couple of things today, both of them related to walleyes. . . . First of all, we are in the middle of our annual walleye egg collections.  If you have been on Sherman or Merritt reservoirs, you likely have, or will see our crews, and nets.  If you want some more idea of what they are doing, may I suggest an old blog post, Walleye Spawn. If you see the nets in the water, please avoid …

Stumbled onto a fish story I enjoyed reading.  If you have some time this weekend, you might like to read it too: Muskie Stealing Preacher Unfortunately, people can get crazy when it comes to catching fish, especially big fish. Muskies on set lines???!!!  Like I said, some people get crazy. If you need an excuse to read the story, make sure you see the photo of the fish mount at the end.  What a beaut!  Ha. Just another example of …

Chances are you have heard about the solar eclipse coming next Monday, April 8.  If you were around these parts seven years ago, you experienced a total solar eclipse right here in Nebraska.  This time, Nebraska is not in the path of totality.  That don’t mean nothing.  It still should be a spectacular event.  All of Nebraska will be able to see at least 60% coverage of the sun.  Go HERE for a map that displays the extent of the …

Going to mention something today which many of you are already aware.  On the other hand, I know that not everyone knows because I continually answer questions about it. You know about the annual Fishing Forecast: For those of you who are interested in a little more information, information specific to individual waterbodies, make sure to check out our Sampling Summaries. I will always tell you that the fish population sampling that fisheries biologists collect are indices.  Any one year’s …

Do not know that I have a “mix tape”.  Nevertheless, I do have a few fishing-related songs that I like to listen to.  Some of them may be a little obscure, some of them corny. . . . Good subjects for a weekend blog post. This one pretty much nails it, especially for the weekend: Hope you get a chance to do the same this weekend!

You can catch any fish that swims on a jig.  Moreover, if you learn to be a good jig angler, you will flat out be a good angler, period. Those statements are a little misleading as especially in today’s angling world jigs come in an infinite variety of shapes, styles, actions, colors, bodies, tastes, etc.  They all work in the right place at the right time.  Like any bait or lure they are all just tools–use the right tool for …

I hope you were able to sit in on at least one of our public Fisheries meetings last week.  If you could not, never fear, we have ’em on tape! Before I post the links, let me say this:  If you fish in Nebraska, you should take the time to watch at least one of these videos.  If you get around the state and fish a variety of waters, you might want to watch ’em all! First one was southeast …

Disclaimer:  My “lighten up” blog post for Friday this week has nothing to do with fishing in Nebraska.  If you are going to get bent outta shape over that, stop reading here.  Just move along. . . . However, I know many of you, like me, are just plain fascinated by fish.  As a hardcore angler, the whole predator/prey interaction intrigues me.  In addition to that, is there anything better than watching ’em bust on top?  Well, this video takes …

As you know the Lake Ogallala fishery was renovated last fall, Lake Ogallala Renovation.  Rainbow and tiger trout as well as yellow perch have been re-stocked.  The trout are large enough to catch, but I have not made it out there to see if I could dry any off yet. If you are going to be doing some fishing on Lake Ogallala, the canal or North Platte River below the reservoir, you should know that there are a few tagged …