weekend fishing

This past weekend my buddy and fellow IDOer Chad Mayer brought the kids down to the area from Omaha, so we decided to take them and his FIL Tom out for a few days of fishing. We fished the canal in numerous areas, as well as a few canal lakes. We focused on walleyes and saugers quite a bit, but came up empty. We turned to crappie fishing and were sure glad we did. After a few observations with water temps being what they were, I was sure that the crappie wouldn’t be where Chad wanted to try. I’m sure glad that he convinced me to try that pattern, as it proved successful for 3 straight days. Day one, Tom, Chad and I found quite a few crappies, and I feel comfortable saying we caught around 100 fish. Also included was this nice chunky LMB that fell for a slow dropping crappie jig. Day two, we went to another area and ended up catching more crappies while sauger fishing. We moved around the canal a bit and found two areas that held quite a few fish. I’d say we caught around 75 fish or so. The real catch of day 2 was this nice 32″ northern that went 7lbs, 10oz; I just couldn’t believe how fat she was! On 6lb test with my ultra light XML rod, I was very happy to get her in the net. A pretty rare catch for the canal that I’m sure will take years to duplicate.
On day 3, Chad, Jacob, Corey and I hit the canal to see how many crappies we could get. Our first spot produced immediately, and that was followed by two more very solid areas. I have no problem saying that the 4 of us caught over 200 crappies the final day, it was purely nuts. Lots of small fish, but quite a few keepers as well, including a nice 13 1/4 incher. In all 3 days, we only kept about 15 fish, which was fine with us. With the boys in the boat having a great time, it made for a great day.

I do know there have been some walleyes caught recently in the area, and if this weird Nebraska weather would ever stabilize, I’m sure the walleye fishing would truly explode. Some guys are doing well despite the weather. I hope I’m able to join that crowd soon.

What a fattie is right! You could have told me that pike weighed 12lbs and I would have bought it.

Thanks for the report from down that way. Won’t be long and I’ll be trading in the auger for an outboard myself.

Thanks James! I really regret not turning off the scale and re-weighing her a few times just to make sure my batteries were ok! But yes, what a chunk; you just don’t see fish like this in our canal system being caught very often. Flatheads, crappies and even some nice LMB, yes. But not pike.
Still running the auger, James? Wow….this winter was plenty long enough for us down here. I’m so glad the water is liquid again!

That is a nice gator B!

Looks like you guys had a hoot!

Jealous!! Nice fish though! That had to be a fight on a lightweight rod though

Great job B!!! I wish I could have joined you guys. I’m hoping to get in a LOT of fishing time here really soon too. In fact I might even have a nice little report to put up in the next day or two.

I hope we can share a boat soon.

Nice fish Brian!

Your walleyes and sauger are probably in the middle of spawning right now, they may be way up the canal someplace.

That pike is a surprise, but with all the water that is going to be coming down that system this year, you might see a few more surprises.

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
[email protected]
Bauer’s Barbs and Backlashes

Thanks guys! And thanks Daryl, I agree with you on the saugers and walleyes. We sure tried for them in such areas as well, but came up empty. Was actually in another spot last night casting for some, and did see a few caught, but came empty doing that as well.

I also agree, with all this water coming down, I’m sure we will see a few more surprises in the area. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that I want to try this year, so we’ll see if any of them work.

Good job buddy,but I would just as soon catch that one through the ice.

B if I am not mistaken, I do believe they stocked quite a few northern in the area you were fishing.

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B if I am not mistaken, I do believe they stocked quite a few northern in the area you were fishing.

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You are correct, there have been a few pike stocked in the canal reservoirs from time to time. There were some of those fingerling pike stocked in 2006 and 2009.

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
[email protected]
Bauer’s Barbs and Backlashes

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Thanks guys! And thanks Daryl, I agree with you on the saugers and walleyes. We sure tried for them in such areas as well, but came up empty. Was actually in another spot last night casting for some, and did see a few caught, but came empty doing that as well.

I also agree, with all this water coming down, I’m sure we will see a few more surprises in the area. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that I want to try this year, so we’ll see if any of them work.

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Brian,

Since they had been running the water at Lewis and Clark the last couple of years, we have been catching a lot more Pike. Fall of 2009, I caught more Pike in one weekend(Labor Day Weekend) then I had the entire 8 years combined. Be ready for some tight lines and a few snakes on the end of them.

Mike

That sounds fun, Mike! I was out again last week and had my rod about ripped out of my hand. 5 minutes later he came back, I set the hook, and was snapped off real quick. My fishing partner also got hit by him, but wasn’t able to hook him. The crappie stopped biting, so it’s very possible it was a pike, or maybe a big flatty.

We did manage to put together a pattern I’ve never really used before, and ended up catching around 80 crappies, some of them pretty nice, around 12″ and above. Was planning on hitting it tomorrow, but with this weather, I think it’ll be a nice day at home sittin around.