Fishing

Last weekend I was informed, sort of anonymously on the inter-web, that I was a fine, lazy state worker.  Ironically, that came after working my seventh weekend out of the ten since the first of the year.  I recalled that yesterday when I actually got out of the office to help with some field work.  I do not do that often anymore, but on occasion I get to be back on the water helping one of our field biologists.  The occasion yesterday was …

I know the spring trout stocking schedule went out in a news release last Friday, but my phone continues to ring, the weather is nice, and folks are ready to go fishing!  We have a lot of fish out there already, you do NOT have to wait for the stocking truck before going fishing, but the put & take trout stocking is very popular especially for young anglers and beginners, so look this list over and then GO FISH!  Stocking …

Sport show/seminar/banquet season is drawing to a close for me.  It is time to “shut up and fish!”  I have one last boat show I am working this weekend: I will be at Waconda Boats in Rep. City on Saturday; giving seminars on the 2015 Fishing Forecast for all of Nebraska at 10:00 and 2:00.  If you are in the area, stop by, check things out, tell me a fish story!

Nebraska Conservation Officer Rich Berggren of Waterloo, NE takes your outdoor law and regulation questions on my Great Outdoor Radio Show this Saturday (tomorrow) morning, March 14th, from 9-10 a.m. CST on Omaha’s KOZN Radio/1620 AM “The Zone.” Rich and I will be covering the gamut of Nebraska’s outdoor scene offering pertinent information on hunting, fishing, boating, state parks, wildlife and much, much more. We’ll also offer regulation reminders for fishing, spring wild turkey hunting, plus other outdoor activities. Rich enjoys coming to the studio …

We have had an “on again, off again” ice fishing season this year.  As the calendar rolled into February I was seeking treatment for depression after an unusually warm January had brought my ice fishing season to a premature end.  Then as it usually happens in Nebraska, the weather, the climate, changed and it got cold again and my ice season was re-born.  I was thrilled to have a second season.  Actually, with the freeze/thaw cycle that we had repeated …

The weather has broke and I know we all are chomping at the bit to be outdoors, but I still have a seminar or two scheduled.  Here is the next one: Walleye Fishing Workshop Set for March 12 at Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium LINCOLN – The public is invited to a free walleye fishing workshop March 12 at Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium near Gretna. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission fisheries outreach program manager Daryl Bauer will present the 7 p.m. workshop, which will include …

I have not recommended to anyone in the past several weeks that the ice is completely, entirely safe.  However, I am fully aware that there are folks still ice-fishing in Nebraska and I have been taking advantage of “late ice” myself as much as possible.  Even this late in the ice-fishing season you can be safe and the fishing can be terrific, but you better know what you are doing ( Safety First ).  I cannot talk to anyone on …

It has been a few years since we had any state record fish that have been caught through the ice.  We had a couple of fish caught & released through the ice last winter that were state record class ( Big Fish! , Big Fish! Its Happened Again! ), but none in recent years that have been certified as state records.  I have one that was caught through the ice this winter, and it is a bit of an unusual …

I have often said that all of our waters can be important fisheries in Nebraska, and that includes some of the state’s smallest waters–pits and ponds.  Angler surveys have consistently shown us that at least a quarter of licensed Nebraska anglers spend some time fishing pits and ponds each year.  Those small waters produce some of the best largemouth bass and panfish fishing in Nebraska every year and there are a variety of other species caught from some of those …

Brrrr! It’s been so cold outside! Temperatures have been running far below normal as evidenced this past week by the large thermometer I have in our backyard. Off and on, I continue to suffer from cabin fever! How about you? From my vantage point in eastern Nebraska, we’re kind of in between seasons in the state’s outdoor scene, too. As a sportsman, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of snow and Ross’s geese for light goose conservation order hunting here in eastern Nebraska and open water fishing for various …