It has been a wild 5 weeks or so in Nebraska. I only worked 10 days in June (hey, that vacation time ain’t gonna use itself!), and was gone putting a lot of hours in on lakes from McConaughy to Sherman. Most days have been good, while other presented more of a challenge. But all in all, it’s been an excellent June and July so far in Nebraska.
Back in mid-June my friends Chad, his FIL Tom and his son Corey and I made a 3-4 day trip out west to McConaughy. The idea was to go hawg hunting and set some personal bests. Mission accomplished. The fish of the trip was this walleye that Tom caught with me one night. It went 29 3/4", 10lb 1oz and smoked a Flicker Shad. The next time we see her will be in a glass case, and I can’t wait. Earlier that day, Tom also bagged this wiper that went 8lbs 9oz and screamed out some line before finally being wrangled in. Not to be outdone, Chad reeled in one that went 9lbs 1oz…or as Chad said, "a 10 pounder". Don’t let him do your taxes.
The trip to Mac was a good one. The two wipers were great, and for walleyes, we ended with a 5, 6, 7, 7, and a 10. When you get a walleye that’s just a shade over 22" and he goes 4lb 15oz, you know you’ve got good fish.
Before we went to Mac, we fished another area lake for wipers. What a success it was, too. We struggled for a while, but once we rigged up some freshly acquired bait, it was game on. Between Chad, Corey and I, we reeled in 17 Master Anglers. All of them wipers, except for one monster white bass from Corey. I’d say we caught upwards of 40 fish that night, including walleyes, wipers, and white bass. May have had a northern in the mix as well. All the damage was done in about 2 1/2 hours, and it was a pure fury of action.
This night bite died very quick this year, sooner than I’d seen it in the past. As a result, we tried a few other ideas and areas, and they paid off as well. We did some trolling at Sherman with my buddy and fellow IDOer Ben Garver and had a great day. My friend Dustin brought his two boys out and we were able to keep them busy with lots of crappies and 7 walleyes up to 24 1/4". We then shot over to Davis for 90 minutes or so and caught another 6 eyes and some whites and crappies. A long day of 10-11 hrs of fishing, but the boys did great and we all slept well that night.
The patterns have changed as we’re experiencing extreme heat this very moment, but fish are still being caught. We’ve been catching a variety of fish in the canal, including channel and flathead catfish, crappies, northerns, walleyes and big saugers. The shad will be running very soon, and we hope to bring more walleyes into the boat. Try to stay cool out there, but don’t forget the fish are feeding heavily. Get out and enjoy it while you can. The snow will be flying before we know it.
Two of the same picture? Nope….just two doubles while wiper fishing back in June. We also had a couple of triples. When the wipers move in, it’s absolutely nuts.
Took my friend Kyle out trolling one day, and we managed to get him his biggest fish…ever! I was very happy about that, and it was quite a fight too. This 14 1/2 lb flathead smoked a Rapala crank and we thought the rod was going to break in half.
Another hot bite right now in this heat has been LMB on cranks in sandpits. These two are 20″ and just a shade over 19″, and they have been hammering typical bass cranks. Lots of fun when you get half a dozen in an hour’s time.
And of course the saugers. My Mom’s was less than a half inch from MA status, but the other 3 did make it. Mine was 21″, while both of Dad’s went 21 3/4″, and they were both caught the same day. Never had a day like that before. All 5 saugers in the boat that day his HIS side of the boat, even when we turned around. Now that’s a beating!
The kids kept us busy at Sherman and Davis catching lots of fish, and I’d say they learned quite a bit too.
Love to see your getting the youngsters involved them 8 and 9lb wipers got me envious. We catch alot of whitebass up here in NE sodak and the 2lbers smash a crank hard I can only imagine something 4 times that size and up. Cool to hear about the nice eyes on Mac, it is a bucket list fishery for me right now. Keep it up, – QB
Geesh Brain, the boy and his friend and I still want to make the trip, probably this fall. Is the bite a good one in the fall when its cooler.
Thanks guys. Yup, the kids like to fish, and Mom has caught on real quick to trolling, which has been great.
White bass are only an annoyance to me anymore, I could care less if I ever catch one again. That’s what wiper fishing does to you….you get addicted!
McConaughy definitely should be on your list. It’s an excellent fishery with some very good quality fish. There are quality wipers and walleyes there, and I’m led to believe that not many people fish out there for another quality fish: channel cats. There are some monsters in that lake.
As for fall fishing….I’m still working on getting my fall fishing up to par. I’m not much good at slabbing, but am trying to learn. I will be trying a few new things this year for wipers in the fall, and walleyes as well. I’d love to get back out to Mac this fall as well; there are some piggies to be caught.