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I actually escaped the office a week or so ago and helped with some field work!  I got to smell fishy again! Mostly I just want to show you some pictures of the fish we were sampling, flathead catfish at Branched Oak Reservoir.  However, I realize there might be some who read this and want more information, so let me recommend a previous blog if you want to know why we were doing this sampling:  Branched Oak Flatheads. Once again …

Gonna start this blog with a news release, like I often do, but then there is more to the story. . . . Major fish die-off investigated at Olive Creek Lake August 17, 2018 LINCOLN, Neb. – Low oxygen levels have caused a major die-off of fish at Olive Creek Lake, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The remaining fish population is suspected to be small. The die-off was reported by the public and investigated by Game and …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Award-winning blogger Hank Shaw will visit Lincoln on Oct. 4 for a seminar on how hunters can get more out of their wild game and fish through new cooking tips and techniques, with a focus on upland birds. The free, two-hour seminar will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Game and Parks Outdoor Education Center, 4703 N. 44th St. Shaw also will offer signed copies of his latest cookbook, “Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail,” at a discount, and …

I got outta the office this week to help stock some fish.  Stocking fish is nothing unusual, we will stock over 30 million fish in over 250 Nebraska waterbodies again this year, and once in a while I lend a hand. The species of fish I helped stock was nothing unusual either, channel catfish.  We will stock over 200 thousand channel catfish in over 160 different Nebraska waterbodies just this year.  No, what made this unusual was the size of …

We live in a land that has been greatly altered by man.  You can see that in most every habitat in the state.  Many of our rivers and streams have been very much altered.  In fact, I would bet that if you could jump in a time machine and travel back a couple of hundred years, you would not even recognize some Nebraska rivers and streams. Naturally, a pointy-headed fisheries biologist could recite a long list of changes that have …

I was surfin’ around the interwebs about a year ago and saw a headline that caught my eye: Thunder Bay lawyer says FOI request for fishing spot is without merit I will not copy and paste the story, but if you want to read it all you can HERE. What it said was there was a guy that paddled into some provincial park up in Canada and did a story on the big brook trout he caught there.  After seeing …

It is a season that opens at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, August 15th. It is an unusual season, but one that just reeks of adventure, challenge and tremendous entertainment value. And, trust me, this is season that will create memories and stories like no other! No, it is not a hunting season. IT is Nebraska’s bullfrog season. Look at the size of this adult North American Bullfrog being held by your blogger. Photo by Jo Momsen/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. “Bullfrog season,” you’re saying, “really?” Yep. I know …

I have often said that a person can catch any fish that swims on a jig.  Now that is not a brilliant comment by any means because jigs come in an infinite variety of shapes, sizes, styles, colors, bodies, etc.  They are a very versatile fishing tool and can be used for a variety of species in a variety of fishing situations.  You should have pounds of them riding in your tackle box. The fact that they are so versatile …

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook blogger Hank Shaw will visit Nebraska on this latest book tour. By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley Award-winning Hunter Angler Gardener Cook blogger Hank Shaw will visit the Nebraska Game and Parks Outdoor Education Center in Lincoln to talk about wild game on Oct. 4, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The seminar will show hunters how to get more out of their wild game and fish through new cooking tips and techniques, with a focus on upland birds. Shaw will …

Just about a month ago I blogged about suspect zebra mussel larvae being found at Cunningham Reservoir in north Omaha, Meanwhile on the Invasive Species Front. . . .  At that time I held out hope that the larvae that had been sampled was some other species of mussels.  Nope, the news has gone from bad to worse, Adult zebra mussels confirmed in Cunningham Lake August 3, 2018 LINCOLN, Neb. – The presence of adult zebra mussels in Omaha’s Cunningham Lake …