Nebraska multi-species report

I treated myself to a few days fishing this past Monday and Tuesday. Even though the conditions were windy, which made boat control a real pain, it was still good to get out.

On Monday, I hit the canal in search of some walleyes. I utilized live bait tactics in hopes of getting them to cooperate. Between the wind and Central pounding the water through the canal on Monday, I did manage to get some walleyes in the boat, including these two decent keepers. I tried backtrolling into a couple points, thinking that might really work, but it sure didn’t. Thank goodness for my WhiteCap splashguards; I stayed dry the entire time going into some nice waves. The tactics that did put the fish in the boat this day were Slow Death Mustad hooks and pulling spinners, both in 20 FOW. A channel cat, some short eyes, and of course some drum were also pulled in. I also tossed a jig for a short time in some slack water, which was hard to find with the extreme current, and had a real nice smallie come off at the boat. So it goes.

The nice thing about the canal is that you can fish miles and miles of it. When I say canal, there is no set spot. I can be, and usually am, about anywhere.

On Tuesday, Sara and I hit the water at Johnson Lake to see what we could get done. Another windy day made things difficult again, but we kept at it. Again, we found fish out in 20 FOW. People are catching fish up in 5-10 FOW, but I do believe a lot of the better, quality fish are out in deeper water off the breaks. That’s where we found a couple nice keepers- an ‘eye and a sauger that were after crawlers. The best tactic for us was pulling spinners, and color did seem to matter. Afterwards, we went for some smallie action (hey, they ARE a ton of fun!), and we managed to get about 5-6 in the boat. For the second day in a row, I had the nicest one of the day get close to the boat and throw the hook right at me. There are quite a few places that offer smallie fishing in the canal, and this area is just one of them, which is well known. With 5 bonus crappies that I wasn’t targeting, and a sunfish (how he got Sara’s jig/power grub in his mouth I have no idea), it turned out to be a good day. The crappies were all turning dark, so the spawn is on. 5-6 smallies and 5 crappies all on one Gulp minnow grub. What a deal!

All in all, not a bad couple of days. Heck, even Hunter the boat pooch had a good time! With the water hanging around 60, things will only improve in the coming weeks. Get ready.