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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 …

On my WOWT 6 Outdoor Report this week, I’ll be featuring  and promoting the 2014 Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) event coming up the first weekend in October at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp near Halsey. Space remains for this outdoor education program which is a hands-on, fun, camaraderie-filled one designed to give women the basic skills to become active participants in the outdoor lifestyle; including activities related to fishing, boating, hunting, hiking and camping to name a few. Check out these photos from past BOW …

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 …

Mixed bag opportunity. Not much pressure. Reasonably priced permits and stamps. Mobile apps for information and some permits. Special $5.00 youth permits. Long seasons. Generous bag limits. Great tradition. Crisp mornings, warm afternoons, and the nicest folks you’ll meet anywhere! WHEW! Believe it or not, those are just some of the reasons why I think you should consider planning a hunting trip here in Nebraska this fall or winter! Having lived in Nebraska all of my life and traveled the state extensively, …

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:

“Anything you can see underwater you can expect a carp to see too – and more besides.” – Marc Coulson, The Complete Guide to Carp Fishing. Have you ever noticed the relatively large eyes of a carp you caught while fishing? Did you know that the big eyes of the carp have a highly developed sense of color vision and an incredibly wide field of view? They sure do. Interesting, huh? Think about it. Carp generally live in a turbid, …

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, …

An extraordinary aspect to wildlife management these days is the extent to which technology is being used to learn more about animals. It seems telemetry, the process of using tracking devices attached to the animals to collect data, is increasingly being used to monitor a variety of species. In my time with the Game and Parks Commission, I’ve photographed researchers putting collars on animals as big as elk and as small as burrowing owls. I even read an article not …

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 …