Tag Archives: Fisheries Science

I like to post a lot of fish pictures on my blog–I cannot get enough of big fish pictures and I have learned there are a lot of other folks that think the same way.  One other purpose in doing that is to again let folks know that our Nebraska fisheries workers are always busy, always doing something, and our fisheries biologists spend a lot of time in the field handling a lot of fish.  No, we do not necessarily …

Last week I teased you with a couple pictures of some pike our Game & Parks Commission fisheries biologists have had their hands on already this spring.  I promised to give you some more details; let me keep that promise. . . . This will be the sixth year we have been tagging northern pike at Lake Wanahoo.  Without boring you with all of the details about that work, please go back and read these previous blog posts, if you …

I often smart off that northern pike are called “northern” for a reason:  They are a cool-water fish who’s native range is thought to have extended only as far south as north-central Nebraska.  Many waters, especially in eastern and southern Nebraska, simply can get too warm during the summer to support northern pike. Where we do have northern pike in Nebraska, they go through their spawning rituals as soon as the ice is gone.  If we have ice longer than …

I had a busy week last week; want to give you a quick report on what I was doing.  First. . . . Many times I have been asked why Nebraska fisheries biologists are not doing what biologists in some other state are doing.  The implication behind those questions is that we do not know what biologists in other states are doing.  I suppose a pointy-headed fisheries biologist could live under some rock, but there are no good biologists who …

I have some piles of data on my messy desk right now; I am putting stuff together for the 2017 Fishing Forecast.  It should be done and available near the first of the year, just like it is every year.  I will be sure to get the word out when it is ready. . . . Until then, I know that no matter how much I say or what data I show, nothing beats some pictures!  So, to tease you …

A couple weeks ago I noted that fall is a busy time for our fisheries division field biologists (Standard Surveys).  I believe by now most of that field work has been finished, and now there will be some processing of samples and data followed by some report-writing in the coming winter months. Last week I got an e-mail from Dr. Kevin Pope at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln reminding me that some of the students there got their hands fishy while …

I try not to bore folks too much with my day-to-day job activities here on my blog.  But, I want to share with you one thing I did last week. . . . The corollary to the fishing is always better in some other state (Grass is always greener), is “Why don’t you do what the biologists in _______________ are doing?” (fill in blank with whatever state you choose where the fishing is better).  I hope folks understand that we …

Things have been a little melancholy around the Fisheries Division of the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission the past week or so.  Our Division Administrator of the past 22+ years, Don Gabelhouse, retired on July 8.  We are happy for him, he will have more time to fish, but we hate to see him go. As a state agency charged with the stewardship of our state’s fisheries resources, we hear from a lot of folks with a lot of opinions …

Admittedly I do not get out and do a whole lot of field work anymore, but once in awhile “the guys” need some help, and when they are desperate they give me a call.  A couple of weeks ago I got to slip out to Lake Wanahoo to help with the northern pike tagging again this spring. For those of you who may not be familiar with the pike tagging at Lake Wanahoo, I will not go into all the …

It is that time of year again, time for our annual review of fishing rules and regulations.  This is an ongoing process that involves many different folks on many different levels here at the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission.  Typically, the October commission meeting is the one where changes in fishing rules and regulations are discussed.  We do not have a lot of time to meet deadlines before that meeting, but we want to give our anglers and idea of …