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Barbs and Backlashes

State Record Update, Late Summer 2018

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Been awhile since I have given an update on the state record applications that have crossed my desk. . . . It has been the time of year when we see some activity for underwater spearfishing state records, so let me start there: The first to cross my desk was a bigmouth buffalo speared by Mike Ban from Colorado.  Mike was diving on a private sandpit in Dawson County when he speared his 30 pound 7 ounce buff. Mike’s fish …

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Frog Held Hostage!

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I have some roots in North Platte, graduated from high school there.  This headline from the ole hometown newspaper caught my eye: Driver hit with Taser after threatening deputy, holding frog hostage Obviously, there is some funny stuff going on back in Flat Rock–holding frogs hostage!  What is this world coming to?  Here’s the whole story as reported in the North Platte Telegraph: A man rolled his car, then held an amphibious bystander hostage during an altercation with a deputy …

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State Fair Time!

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Fish have been displayed at the Nebraska State Fair almost since there was a state fair.  We know live fish were displayed at the State Fair back in 1885, and they have been there almost every year since.  This year is no exception as fish were collected from all corners to the state and hauled to the state fair last week.  Fish are collected primarily by electrofishing, hauled on pickups and then displayed for the duration of the fair in …

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Filleting

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I am fully aware that there are 1,338 videos on YouTube demonstrating how to fillet a fish.  Well, make it 1,339: Keep in mind that video was made with the idea of keeping it simple for someone who might not have done it before.  I know there are a lot of variations, a lot of tricks and a lot of preferences that go beyond the basics.  You likely have a better way of doing it!  I also know that many …

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Mend and Hope

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Found this video on the interwebs this week.  Love it! I have not been where the young man in the video has been, but his story truly is an inspiration.  If you fish, you share that passion, and in many ways it defines our lives. I never will completely understand people who do not fish. Have a great weekend, and of course, GO FISH!

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Summer Field Work

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I actually escaped the office a week or so ago and helped with some field work!  I got to smell fishy again! Mostly I just want to show you some pictures of the fish we were sampling, flathead catfish at Branched Oak Reservoir.  However, I realize there might be some who read this and want more information, so let me recommend a previous blog if you want to know why we were doing this sampling:  Branched Oak Flatheads. Once again …

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Summer Kill

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Gonna start this blog with a news release, like I often do, but then there is more to the story. . . . Major fish die-off investigated at Olive Creek Lake August 17, 2018 LINCOLN, Neb. – Low oxygen levels have caused a major die-off of fish at Olive Creek Lake, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The remaining fish population is suspected to be small. The die-off was reported by the public and investigated by Game and …

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Ocean of Grass

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Gonna take a break from my usual Friday blog material. . . . Yes, I am all about fishing, almost all the time.  I am also all about Nebraska, all the time.  I’m born and bred Nebraskan, my blood runs red, it is home, I love it. Someday I am going to write a blog about the Nebraska sandhills.  I have not done it yet because I am afraid I cannot capture my thoughts in words.  There have been a …

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Bonus Catfish

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I got outta the office this week to help stock some fish.  Stocking fish is nothing unusual, we will stock over 30 million fish in over 250 Nebraska waterbodies again this year, and once in a while I lend a hand. The species of fish I helped stock was nothing unusual either, channel catfish.  We will stock over 200 thousand channel catfish in over 160 different Nebraska waterbodies just this year.  No, what made this unusual was the size of …

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A Lake, or a Stream, is Reflection of its Watershed

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We live in a land that has been greatly altered by man.  You can see that in most every habitat in the state.  Many of our rivers and streams have been very much altered.  In fact, I would bet that if you could jump in a time machine and travel back a couple of hundred years, you would not even recognize some Nebraska rivers and streams. Naturally, a pointy-headed fisheries biologist could recite a long list of changes that have …

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