Fishing

Our Take ‘Em Fishing challenge is back for another year! Win adventure in 2022 Take ’em Fishing challenge Take ’em Fishing is all about sharing the experience of the sport. It’s about the excitement of feeling the tug of the line in your fingers for the first time. About the sound of someone’s first catch — big or small. It’s about the memories made. And the adventures to come. Participants in the 2022 Nebraska Game and Parks fishing challenge will …

By Daryl Bauer There is no doubt the fish species that can send the largest number of anglers to the banks during the spring outbreak of fishing fever is crappies. Everyone loves to sit on a shoreline on a warm afternoon and experience a good crappie bite. On the other hand, with schizophrenic weather changes, no other species of fish can be more frustrating than spring crappies. Consistently successful anglers always are adapting. What can an angler do to maximize the …

Conestoga Lake is a peaceful retreat. But it’s not as quiet as it used to be. That’s what happens whenever improvements are made to a fishery near Nebraska’s capital city. And the improvements made to Conestoga were many. Located south of Emerald, Conestoga State Recreation Area is one of 11 Salt Valley Lakes built around Lincoln in the 1960s and 1970s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The dam on Holmes Creek that created the reservoir was completed in …

I spent a few days out of the office recently; might as well tell you about it. . . . Spring is a busy time for fisheries workers.  Once the ice is gone, one species after another starts spawning.  We have a variety of crews busy collecting eggs for producing fish to stock, then there is sampling that needs to be done, some tagging projects, etc., etc.  In the spring it is “all hands on deck”. Pretty much every year …

Take ’em Fishing is all about sharing the experience of the sport. It’s about the excitement of feeling the tug of the line in your fingers for the first time. About the sound of someone’s first catch — big or small. It’s about the memories made. And the adventures to come. Participants in the 2022 Nebraska Game and Parks fishing challenge will have a chance to win adventure through this year’s four grand prizes: three Stay and Play fishing adventures, …

A brief news item in my blog today.  Not a big deal, not going to affect a lot of people, but some of you will want to know: Grove Trout Rearing Station temporarily closing for maintenance The Grove Trout Rearing Station near Royal, Nebraska, in Antelope County, will close to visitors April 11-15 for maintenance and inspection on the diversion pond. “While the maintenance takes place, staff will be using heavy equipment, and public safety is taken into consideration for …

I think this is a relatively new song, at least it is new to me.  I love it! That should be the theme song for our Take ‘Em Fishing promotion this year! It is the weekend, GO FISH!  Then, show me!

I have a couple, three state record applications on my desk.  Time to give an update. . . . We usually do not have a lot of state record fish caught ice-fishing, but it is not unusual to have one or two.  I say it often, again, you just never know what might bite on the end of your line, even when you are ice-fishing!  In the order that they were caught: Yellow bass The first one was caught on …

The Grove Trout Rearing Station near Royal, Nebraska, in Antelope County, will close to visitors April 11-15 for maintenance and inspection on the diversion pond. “While the maintenance takes place, staff will be using heavy equipment, and public safety is taken into consideration for this closure,” Fish Production Manager Joe Cassidy said. “While this is a necessary part of the operation of the facility, we want this to be brief and resume public visitation. We thank visitors and anglers for …

Another news item today.  This news release went out late last week, but again I want to spread the word: Walleye egg collections begins; dam, breakwater to close at rec areas Fisheries staff at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission again will capture spawning walleyes at Sherman Reservoir, Merritt Reservoir and Lake McConaughy to collect eggs to meet stocking requests. As of April 1, a designated area along the dam at Sherman is closed to bank anglers and boats following …