Fishing

I hate to repeat “stuff” on my blog, but when talking about fish and fishing, a lot of what happens occurs seasonally, at about the same time every year.  For example, it is early April and that means the walleyes are spawning.  Oh sure, the exact timing of the walleye spawn will vary a bit from year to year, but photoperiod or the amount of daylight is an important cue for the walleye spawn and thus it occurs about the …

By the look of the calendar, today is April 1, “April Fools Day”.  I would love to put an April Fools prank here on my blog, but I do not dare.  Once upon a time, I posted a spoof about an Olympic figure skater falling through the ice ON AN ICE RINK and that did not turn out well for her.  If she had just used her spud bar she would have been fine.  I know of another spoof involving …

LINCOLN – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will collect spawning walleyes from Sherman Reservoir, Merritt Reservoir and Lake McConaughy in April. The collection goal to meet 2016 walleye stocking requests is approximately 78 million eggs. As of April 1, a designated area along the dam at Sherman is closed to bank anglers and boats following sunset. The collection at Sherman will begin the night of April 4. Anglers and boaters are asked to avoid Nebraska Game and Parks boats …

There is no doubt that black bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, are some of the most popular sport fish in North America.  That is true in Nebraska too, but do not make me pick favorites.  I love ’em all and have a lot of fun fishing for a variety of species of fish.  Nebraska is a great state for that!  However, I have a confession to make:  You may think less of me when I say this, but …

EEEEK! TICK! The ticks are out! In Nebraska, ticks become active early in the spring and are one of the first biting pests we experience as the weather warms. Ticks are part of Nebraska’s environment, and they shouldn’t stop any of us from pursuing our favorite outdoor activities this time of year — wild turkey hunting, morel mushroom picking, bird watching, tent camping, hiking, fishing, etc. We just need to take the necessary precautions to dissuade these little buggers from crawling on us, embedding …

Even the most hard core of us ice-anglers are now resigned to the fact that it is going to be a few months until we are on the ice again.  Yes, I go through a period of depression every year when the ice melts.  In short order, I pick up the open-water rods and reels and “get back on the horse”, but I still am counting the days until we again have ice! So, I know many of you reading …

If you have caught more than one fish in your life, you have probably hooked and lost one, probably hooked and lost a big one.  We have all been there.  It hurts, I know. I found another blog that had a great post about losing a fish, The 7 Extremely Sad Stages of Losing a Fish.  Follow the link, read it, it will not take you long and it will make you smile. If you lose a fish, do not …

LINCOLN – A free workshop discussing lake and pond management, scheduled for March 23 in Norfolk, has been postponed due to the weather. It has been rescheduled for April 26. The workshop, to begin at 6 p.m. at the Lifelong Learning Center, 601 E. Benjamin Ave., is a joint effort of the Nebraska Extension, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Workshops also are scheduled for April 18 at the Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1071 …

Spring is upon us, no doubt about that.  We will have some schizophrenic “ups” and “downs” in temperatures yet, we do every spring, but there is no doubt that it is here.  This is the time of year that many anglers get “spring fever” and hurry to get on the water.  On a warm afternoon, who can resist? You will hear a lot of talk among anglers about spawning activities of a variety of fish this time of year.  Some …

I have a very informative video to share on this blog post.  Now, do NOT ignore it just because you see that it is filmed on ice.  Yes, I am proud to be an ice angler and we may be crazy, but that does not mean that we may not know a thing or two.  The subject of this video is fish parasites, it just happens that it was filmed on ice, watch it, learn from it. There are a variety …