Tag Archives: shortnose gar

Time for my “annual report” on state record fish in the past year.  As with most years there was some state record activity and there were some surprises! Surface Spearfishing  There were no fish entered for surface spearfishing records in 2017. Underwater Spearfishing We had four fish certified as new underwater spearfishing state records in the past year.  The smallest of those was a whopping 1 ounce alewife taken from Lake McConaughy. In September, a 10 ounce shortnose gar was …

At the end of each year I like to look back at the state record fish that were certified; kind of a “state record annual report”.  It is time to do that again. . . . We had 13 different fish certified as state records in 2016. Surface Spear-fishing No fish taken by surface spear-fishing were submitted for state records in 2016. Bow-Fishing The bow-fishing state record category was busy in 2016; six bow-fishing records were awarded.  In chronological order, …

I have been hearing some “chatter” recently on the ole inter-webby about Gar.  Gar tend to have the reputation as being an ugly, toothy, vicious, despised predator.  There are a lot of misconceptions about Gar; let me talk about a few. . . . Alligator Gar Most of the current talk about Gar comes from some news stories that have circulated recently about Alligator Gar.  Even though all Gar have a relatively narrow snout full of sharp teeth, NOT ALL …

It has been a few months since I have given a state record update and there are a few applications sitting on my desk. . . . Most of the activity in the state record program over the past few months has been in the bowfishing section, but I have one fish caught on rod & reel that I need to tell you about. Rod & Reel Yellow Bullhead We have had a run on state record Yellow Bullheads in …

I am often asked how much we communicate with pointy-headed fisheries biologists in other states.  Come to think of it, sometimes I am not asked that question so much as am told that “you guys need to do what they do in _________________________ (fill in blank with your favorite non-Nebraska state).  Actually we are very aware of what fisheries biologists in other states are doing, communicate with them frequently, and by they way, they know very much what we are …

We are half way through 2013 already.  I have a few state record applications that have accumulated on my desk, time to tell you about them. Let me start with a couple of European rudd caught from Box Butte Reservoir.  Rudd are an exotic species that are closely related to our native golden shiners.  Rudd were spread across the country a few years back as many bait shops sold them.  We have a healthy population of those baitfish in Box …

You know from the title of this blog that it’s gonna be CRAAA-ZY  BA-BY! But then, you know me, and you know it will be crazy! Yesterday was a wild day for me an a buddy to catch-and-release fish the Elkhorn River northwest of Gretna (my hometown) in Sarpy County, NE. It started out to be a decent day for wettin’ lines – warm, humid, barometric pressure droppin’,  partly to mostly  cloudy. A pretty morning early morning period. And yes, …

One of my favorite things I get to do in my present position here at the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission is keep track of our state record fish.  I will periodically give updates and show a few pictures here on my blog; at this time let me summarize the state record activity for 2012. We had 14 fish certified as state records in 2012.  We recognize state record fish in four categories, hook & line (or rod & reel), …