ice fishing

I try to “lighten up” with my Friday blog posts.  There were a couple of things I had in mind for today, but I changed my mind. . . . I love fish pictures, never get tired of fish pictures.  So what could be better than looking over a bunch of fish pictures? We are in our third year of our Take ‘Em Fishing challenge.  Right now there are 24 pages of fish pictures that have been entered for Take …

One thing you learn as a fisheries manager is that there are a lot of things out of your control.  Take, for example, water levels, either due to “Mother Nature”, power and irrigation districts, or other entities, we have no control over water levels in many Nebraska fisheries. In recent years, we have completed some rehabilitation work at Twin Lakes in the Nebraska sandhills.  Access improvements to both north and south Twin lakes were an important part of that project.  …

Hunters, anglers and trappers have been and continue to be the original conservationists!  How? By buying permits, hunting and fishing gear! Thank you for your support.  Our resources thank you. While you are at it, you better pick up a couple more crankbaits in at least a couple more colors! Fishing is worth any amount of effort and any amount of expense to people who live it, because in the end you get such a large number of dreams per …

I cleaned some “stuff” off the dresser at home.  Found some newspaper clippings I wanted to keep.  While I was filing them away at the office these old clippings fell out: Those would be my maternal grandparents.  The clippings were from the Atkinson Graphic.  I love looking back at those old pictures; love remembering times spent fishing with my grandparents.  I am betting I know the exact farm pond Gramps caught the bass from.  Wonder if he caught it on …

I will tell you that the days of building big reservoirs are likely long past.  However, some relatively small reservoirs will continue to be built in Nebraska.  Most of them built by Natural Resource Districts (NRDs).  In most cases these projects are in urban areas to provide flood control and perhaps some recreation.  Fortunately, we, the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission Fisheries Division often are involved in the design and construction of these reservoirs.  Our assistance is provided for water …

Today, I am going to return to a familiar topic–catch and release or more specifically selective harvest.  Some of you will ignore me, I know you will.  That’s fine, just know there is science behind it! Do not take my word for it.  Instead, this time, take the word of retired Canadian fisheries biologist, Gord Pyzer.  He knows his stuff! https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/this-science-proves-that-keeping-small-fish-while-releasing-the-big-ones-improves-the-fishery/?fbclid=IwAR0Hne0rvM-GSCgbvlG9EArU4J0xtgdpAGSW7KZvGzDy0244tNM16KxnRds I hear complaints all the time about certain anglers “keeping fish that are too small”.  You know what?  That …

Trying to think of something to blog about today when I was asked a familiar question, “What are these black specks on my fish?” There are a variety of fish parasites that are present in our waters.  They are there all the time and nothing can be done about that.  From time to time, those parasites will be obvious on or in the fish. Of course the first concern is usually if those fish are safe to eat? There are …

I have blogged a number of times about our completed Aquatic Habitat project at Conestoga Reservoir.  In at least a couple of those blogs I included videos.  Well, there are a total of six videos of the Conestoga project.  You can see the entire playlist here: Again I also realize that many of you have already seen at least some of these.  Forgive me for trying to “spread them around” even more. Better yet, if you get a chance, stop …

The past couple of weeks I have been on a soap box trumpeting the need for folks to have some fish identification skills. Might as well have some fun with it.  Watch the video, consider it to be your Friday quiz: Here is the second part: The weekend is here.  Get on the water, put your skills to work!

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the importance of having some fish identification skills, You Gotta Know!  Yes, I believe that even beginning anglers have a responsibility to know what they are catching. At that time, I mentioned that we had a fish identification aid in the works.  Now we have it! Fish Key Again, I would recommend EVERY angler spend some time looking at that publication and brushing up on their fish identification skills.  However, keep a …