Omaha area fishing

My son starts as a Freshman at Univ Nebraska-Omaha today. I’ll be down there again this Fall and a couple more times in the Spring. I have never fished that area before but would be willing to tow my boat and try it out. Anyone know what the fishing is like and any lakes/rivers to recommend? I’m open to bass, wipers, pike, etc…

Start here, 2015 Fishing Forecast, and for the Omaha area, make sure to check this out too, 2015 Omaha Area Fishing Forecast.

Feel free to get back to me with any questions you might have.

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
[email protected]

Thanks Daryl, good information. I think Wanahoo sounds like a good place to try. Where exactly is Two Rivers 5 and are the smallmouth in any abundance? Also a little further drive to reservoirs might be fun for wipers, would really like to try that sometime as well…

whitetips2 wrote:

Start here, 2015 Fishing Forecast, and for the Omaha area, make sure to check this out too, 2015 Omaha Area Fishing Forecast.

Feel free to get back to me with any questions you might have.

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
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Thanks Daryl, good information. I think Wanahoo sounds like a good place to try. Where exactly is Two Rivers 5 and are the smallmouth in any abundance? Also a little further drive to reservoirs might be fun for wipers, would really like to try that sometime as well…

FryDog62 wrote:

Thanks Daryl, good information. I think Wanahoo sounds like a good place to try. Where exactly is Two Rivers 5 and are the smallmouth in any abundance? Also a little further drive to reservoirs might be fun for wipers, would really like to try that sometime as well…

Two Rivers State Recreation Area is just west of Omaha. There are a series of sandpit lakes on that area and one of them, pit #5 is managed as a put & take trout fishery. Unfortunately, stinkin’ bucket biologists have illegally released fathead minnows and goldfish in “the trout lake”. So, we stocked some smallmouth bass there to take advantage of the minnows and goldfish without eating all of the trout. I will not tell you that there are a lot of smallmouth bass in that lake, but you can look at the fish population sampling summaries and see there are enough to fish for and there are some big fish present. All of those smallies would have to be released, or pretty much all, there is a 21-inch minimum length limit on all black bass on the entire Two Rivers SRA.

Yes, definitely plan to fish Wanahoo!

We have some wipers in the Salt Valley reservoirs around Lincoln, a hour or so drive west of Omaha. Branched Oak, Stagecoach and Wagon Train would be worth a try, but wipers are large open-water predators and our best wiper fisheries are on our larger reservoirs out west–Elwood, Red Willow, McConaughy, Calamus would be some of our best.

Daryl B.

Thanks Daryl, can’t wait to try out some of the areas you suggested. What size wipers are people catching in the reservoirs? Its new territory for me but I heard it can be spectacular… And do you fish for them similar to white bass (spinners, small crank baits, etc)?

I live by Omaha and after living in MN and WI for about 7 years I don’t even bother fishing here. If I were going to fish I’d be fishing the bigger reserviors that he mentioned above. I did some fishing around Lincoln when I was in college and there is some decent bass fishing on several of those smaller lakes(Wagon Train, Stagecoach, etc. from what I recall). I’m not a fan of Branched Oak at all and it gets pretty busy at times. Wannahoo also gets pretty busy and it’s got a 5 mph speed limit I think.

Just be aware that most lakes will require a park sticker to get into and most have gravel so if you’re particular about your boat not having chips that’s something to think about.

Growing up around here I took advantage more of the flathead and channel cat fishing on creeks and rivers.

If it were me I’d take the extra time to go west but I’m pretty picky about where I fish and the number of people I want to have to fish around.

FryDog62 wrote:

Thanks Daryl, can’t wait to try out some of the areas you suggested. What size wipers are people catching in the reservoirs? Its new territory for me but I heard it can be spectacular… And do you fish for them similar to white bass (spinners, small crank baits, etc)?

The wipers from the Salt Valley reservoirs can range from a couple of pounds all the way up to 10 and maybe more. Yes, they are half white bass, so white bass tactics work. Wipers are large, open-water predators that spend most of their time roaming open water feeding on open-water baitfish, especially gizzards shad in those waters. Find the shad, match the shad. Spinners, spoons, crankbaits, swim-baits, jigs can all work well. Top-water baits can be unbelievable when you get into a surface feeding frenzy and as the water cools vertical presentations with jigging spoons, blade baits and tail-spinners work well.

As I mentioned the smaller reservoirs we have in eastern Nebraska are not as favorable of wiper habitats as some of our larger reservoirs out west. I will tell you to expect to work for wipers anywhere you fish for them just because they school and they are on the move a lot. Locate a school and the fishing can be unbelievable. On the other hand you might cover a lot of water and fish a long time to find a school.

Oh, by the way, tackle up from your usual white bass gear. A big wiper will bust that stuff up in a hurry. Do not even think about using the jigs you typically buy in tackle shops, a wiper will straighten the hooks on those things on the first run. I have a bunch of jigs, some of them salt water jigs, with forged or heavy duty hooks that I use for wipers.

If you have any other questions, just ask, anytime!

Daryl B.