How To

Spring has sprung! The amount daylight is increasing. The weather will be warming. In Nebraska, there are a multitude of activities that you can do in early spring. Here are eight to encourage you to step outside. (1) View Early Spring Birds. A wide variety of opportunities await Nebraska bird watchers in early spring. The migration of wild fowl is truly something to behold! The spring spectacle of the sandhill crane migration along the Platte River in south-central Nebraska should …

Nebraska’s weather has done its usual March, Nebraska thing this week.  I say it is erratic.  That, and the cold water, makes this one of the toughest times of year to catch fish from open water.  On the other hand, if you can still get on the ice, late ice can be some of the best fishing of the year.  That is exactly why I hope every year for the ice to last as long as possible. But, assuming that …

March can be a bit of a “‘tweener time”.  You know, the ice is too thin to walk on, but too thick to cast into.  The water may be liquid, but the weather is bad.  As a result, some of us sit and stare at our tackle boxes.  Or, we make a trip to our favorite tackle shop, walk the aisles and drop some $$$$$.  While doing that, I know what goes through your mind, “Wow, that looks like a …

Monday blog post and I usually try to highlight some news item.  Many of you may have already heard about this, but I am going to spread the word anyhow: Join Game and Parks in virtual discussion on fisheries in March Join the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in a virtual discussion on fisheries management during meetings March 20-23. These four regional public informational sessions – one for each Game and Parks district – will provide local updates on the …

By Brian Peterson and Greg Wagner. Brian Peterson is a wildlife biologist at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and coordinates the M.S Biology Online Program. His research focus is white-tailed deer antler metrics.  He is also an avid hunter and outdoor enthusiast. In the outdoor space, there is a lot of information about deer shed or cast antlers. Knowing the science of them instead of the myths or misconceptions about them can increase your knowledge which may boost your …

Some of you will remember the old Rapala X-Rap commercials, the ones where an extreme net man was sold with the X-Rap.  In keeping with the season, like this one: I recently discovered a video that proves that extreme net men do exist!  This net man should win some kind of award! “Are you wet?”  Ha! Might want to consider wearing that PFD! Now, all of you reading this, you owe it to your fishing partners to be a competent …

According to many experts on the interwebs, Nebraska’s ice-fishing season has been DONE for a couple of weeks now. BALONEY. Nebraska is a big state.  You have probably heard me say before that the state’s geography and climate changes A LOT from one end of the state to the other.  You may live in the southeast part of Nebraska, where much of our human population does live, and you may think the ice fishing season is over.  It ain’t, not …

Spreading the word.  This news release went out last week: Two Rivers Trout Lake to open March 11; statewide stockings to follow Another spring of trout fishing fun is on tap in Nebraska. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is scheduling the release of rainbow trout in waters across the state. This will give anglers and families, especially at city ponds and lakes, additional angling opportunities for this popular species. It starts March 11, opening day of the Trout Lake …

Spring, open-water fishing is upon us in Nebraska and anglers are organizing their tackle boxes. Chances are they have an assortment of different colored artificial fishing lures in the trays of that tackle box; probably more than they’ll ever use. But if you want to get a good discussion going about fishing lures, start one on colors. WOW!  Anyone who fishes has an opinion about the color of the lures they cast for success. So, what about fishing lure colors? …

I am not done ice fishing, yet.  Oh sure, I know parts of Nebraska have open water now.  I also know that other parts of Nebraska still have plenty of ice.  As long as I can find ice, I am going to take advantage of it.  “Stay tuned”. But, yes, this is definitely “tweener” time, in many places the ice is too thin to walk on, but too thick to cast through.  What do I blog about at a time …