Sherman Reservoir Open Water 3-17-07

I think nearly all the lakes in Nebraska are now free and clear of ice and the fish are definitely biting. I had a great ice fishing season and had been looking forward to getting the boat on the water for a few weeks now. I had a nice 3 day weekend, with my wife in Minneapolis for the weekend shopping I was able to do as I pleased. Pete and I fish Branched Oak together Friday and I hit Sherman Saturday by myself then Pete and I finished a great weekend Sunday evening with a beautiful pre-spawn pig on a Lincoln area lake.

We got off to a late start Friday morning because I ran out of time on Thursday night trying to get my new Lowrance LCX 27 hooked up at the bow. We finished the installation and we were off to Branched Oak to try a little crappie fishing and some channel cat fishing. I was surprised to find the water temperature in the mid 40’s already. The lake is also up 2 ½ feet or so from last fall. Fishing was a little slow but it was a beautiful day with light winds. We caught a few crappies, and a small channel cat.

Friday evening I made a phone call to my friend at Trade Winds Marina at Sherman and found out the ice had finally disappeared in front of the boat ramp on Friday. This was all I needed to hear to decide where I would fish on Saturday. I tried to find someone to go with me but with St. Patrick’s Day everyone had plans. I left early Saturday morning and made it to the boat ramp around 9:00 AM. I headed to a couple of deep water flats where I quickly found some hungry walleye. I was vertical jigging a minnow on one rod and live bait rigging a minnow on my other rod. The first couple of walleye slammed my jig and minnow. What a great feeling to find some fish this aggressive so early in the year. The water temperature was 39° and the water clarity was exceptional for this lake. I was fishing in 34 feet of water and there was plenty of walleye to keep me busy until around 3:00 or so. Most of the fish were in the 16-18 inch range. My first keeper came around 11:00 or so and was a fat 19 ½ inches. These walleyes are only days away from spawning. I noticed several of the males were already milting and some of the females were dropping eggs in the boat. I was really expecting the spawn to be late this year with our ice lasting as long as it did, but it looks like it will be right on schedule to peak the first week in April as usual.

Sunday Pete and I had to babysit his boys while his wife hosted a scrap booking party. Pete’s boy Creighton wanted to help me clean the fish I still had in my livewell from Sherman. He was convinced he could get the fish out of the livewell himself but after he grabbed it by the tail and it splashed him a good one he thought maybe I should get it out.

After a long hard day of babysitting Pete’s boys we thought we deserved a little time on a Lincoln area lake to unwind. I picked Pete up in Lincoln and we headed out. We caught a few nice crappie while verticle jigging but wanted to find some eyes. We headed to the wind blown side of the lake and started pitching B Fish N Tackle Ringworms in the shallows. After about 20 minutes Pete hooked into the walleye in the first picture above. This fish was caught in less than 2 1/2 feet of water and completely inhaled the Ringworm. Way to go Pete!!

It sure is nice to be back in the boat on the open water. I’m expecting fishing in Nebraska to be great this year. We finally had a good winter to help keep our shad populations in check. See you on the water.