Tag Archives: Northern pike

I have posted a series of blogs on hybrid fish.  Hopefully, those have increased awareness of these fish in our waters and provided some tips on fish identification.  Want to return to that series today. . . . First, let me define some terms.  If you looked at the title, I used a pointy-headed term, the family name for the pike family, esocids.  Members of the pike family found in Nebraska would be grass pickerel (specifically a subspecies of redfin …

As you know we have open water early this year.  Yes, fish are being caught already.  I am also hearing questions about early open water and spawning seasons.  This discussion comes up every spring.  I have and will give the same answers every spring:  Weather will modify spawning activities a bit, but you can count on spawning occurring pretty much the same time every year.  The amount of daylight or photoperiod is the primary driver of spawning activity on most …

Have only fished the relatively new Flanagan Reservoir in NW Omaha a couple of times.  Have caught a grand total of four northern pike there so far. Two of them were tagged. Previously mentioned some details about the first of those tagged pike, On Ice, On Air.  Let me return to that subject today, tell you about the other tagged Flanagan pike, and explain a little more about the fisheries work going on there. Let me start all the way …

Last Friday I blogged about it being time to walk on water.  I have been trying to practice that as much as possible.  Who knows how long our ice season is going to last? So far I have been able to practice a little heavy lifting too.  Oh sure, I have caught the customary complement of panfish, bluegills and crappies, even a redear, but have also showed a number of predator fish the top side of the ice. None of …

The story of this weekend adventure actually started a year ago.  Late spring 2022 my wife and my cousin’s wife decided that they had never been to see the prairie grouse dance.  Each spring prairie chickens and sharptail grouse have a mating display where the males “dance” to attract females.  It is a spectacle.  I had seen prairie grouse performing their spring mating rituals in many of my travels and adventures in Nebraska, but I told the girls to make …

If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that my first day on the ice each year is a day to be celebrated!  In fact, I proclaim that day each year as “New Year’s Day”.  It is the first day of the new ice season, first day of the next year’s season. I celebrated New Year’s Day 2023 on “black Friday”. Yes, I know that was a couple of weeks ago.  I did not blog about it …

Last time I blogged about my recent ice fishing adventures (Been Around Some More), I mentioned that in spite of deteriorating ice conditions, I was not sure I was done, yet.  I was not.  I slipped another afternoon in on the ice a week ago.  By the way, the ONLY way I push it as early and late as I do is by religiously following ice safety protocols (Annual Ice Safety Reminder).  If you are not able to do that, …

Several weeks ago I blogged about “Scary Stuff” and how a little thrill now and then keeps us alive.  In our outdoor pursuits, knowing there are big, bad predators out there is what makes the “wild”, well, wild.  It is what makes it worth the time spent there. I get the same feeling on the water.  There are monsters there too and most of the time we cannot see them.  When I finally make contact, my eyes get wide, I …

The last day I walk off the ice every winter is a bad day.  I hate that day.  Oh sure, I am on the water or in the field somewhere in Nebraska twelve months of the year, but I really love ice-fishing. So I kind of ease into spring.  You know what it is like in early spring. . . well, more like winter many days.  Sure, we will get a day or two of beautiful, warm, sunny weather, but …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Anglers must be aware of fishing regulation changes that take effect Jan. 1, 2021, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The changes are: Smallmouth Bass – Big Elk Lake (WP 7) and Portal Lake (WP 6), Sarpy County reservoirs under construction in 2020, each will have a smallmouth bass daily bag limit of two fish and 12-inch maximum length limit to protect larger smallmouths and allow harvest of smaller ones. Yellow Perch – Big Elk …