Fishing

It was a fun day yesterday for more than 200 youths and their families at the annual Cops and Bobbers fishing event held at Omaha’s Benson Park Lagoon sponsored by our friends at Omaha Police with assistance from us at Game and Parks.  Here’s a really neat, short video from the event that Omaha Police Officer Kevin Wiese put together: It was also nice to have Omaha’s Mayor Jean Stothert waterside. Of course, I got in on the action helping …

Let me give you an update on some of what I have been up to lately. . . . I was once again honored to participate in our annual Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BO-W) workshop held at the 4-H camp in Halsey.  I was the instructor for our basic fishing and bow-fishing classes and one of the instructors for our on-pond fishing session.  Let me give you an idea of my schedule for that weekend, what I did, and show some pictures. …

Our family fishing events have been very popular and successful.  All of those events have been held during the summer in recent years until now!  We are hosting some fall family fishing events specifically highlighting the fall put & take trout fishing opportunities around the state. The rainbow trout that have been stocked in those waters mentioned above are almost always willing to bite, and it is a great time to be in Nebraska’s outdoors.  Grab the kids and GO …

Nestled in beautiful fall colors and cool temperatures of the Nebraska National Forest, the Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) workshop was held last weekend at the 4-H camp near Halsey. The BOW workshop is a place where women of all backgrounds and ages gather to learn more about the outdoors in a non-intimidating, friendly environment. It is a weekend of hands-on experiences, learning new skills, making new friends, renewing old friendships and having a great time. I write about this …

I have been on the water a bit this week.  It is fall and the “fish eagles”, more appropriately ospreys, are definitely migrating through the state right now.  While fishing, every now and then my partners and I have heard a big splash and glanced over to see an osprey flying away with a fish.  Yes, they are strictly predators of fish, yes, fish I could be catching, but they do not get a lot and they sure are interesting to …

Pan-sized rainbow trout stockings for fall and winter fishing come front and center on my LIVE Weekly TV Outdoor Report, Thursday at 6 p.m. CST during the Omaha’s WOWT 6 News sportscast. Northwest Omaha’s  Standing Bear Lake at 138th & Fort Street already has received more than 7,000 of these hearty 10-inch rainbows from the Grove Trout Rearing Station and anglers are catching them! As a reminder, if you are unable to view the live broadcast of the outdoor report, video replays of it can be seen after …

Some of you may know that we recently started stocking some striped bass in Nebraska, again.  There is more to the story. . . . Striped bass are a marine species that migrate into fresh water to spawn (anadromous is the big pointy-headed term for fish that live in the ocean but spawn in freshwater).  Sometime in the middle of the last century it was discovered that striped bass did not necessarily have to live in salt water, they could very …

You can see the October 2014 issue of NEBRSAKAland on-line right now! Again you will find that issue packed, in fact it is so packed that it is 74 pages long! As the cover shows there is a special section on waterfowl hunting, and I want to point out a story about the “Trout in the Classroom” program. And a story on preparing and eating crawfish, and a memorable Nebraska elk hunt, lots of excellent pictures and a whole lot …

You know I am fascinated by the predator/prey dynamics that happen below the surface of our waters. I also have a streak of orneriness that runs in my blood. I think I could have a lot of fun with this: Have a great weekend everyone.  Keep an eye out for “land sharks”.

Well, it rained again here in Lincoln last night–A LOT.  Pretty sure these tips are going to be relevant for a lot of waters in Nebraska in the next few days. . . . First of all, high and rising water tends to move fish towards the banks, up into newly flooded habitat.  In some cases the fish will move right to the water’s edge even though that edge might now be a lot farther up the bank. With heavy …