I’ve finally found a little time to put a report together, although it is well overdue. That being said, I do believe these fish are still out there to be caught! The past week and a half sure has been a good one here in central Nebraska. I’ve spent some time on the canal, as well as a few other bodies of water, and the fishing has been good, but the catching has been better!
My dad and I have been hitting quite a bit of water lately, and you might remember that he got the first Master Angler sauger (21″ for release, 3lbs for keeps) into the boat in late June. We’ve been trying for more, and last week was a real pay off. My buddy Jay had his brother’s family up from Atlanta for the July 4th weekend, so Doug and his daughter headed out with me for a little fishing. After quite a while with no results, we decided to make one last pass. I sure am glad we did. We ended up boating the biggest sauger I’ve ever seen, and maybe I will ever see, in this state. This hawg went 22″ and weighed in at a hefty 3lbs 11oz! I just couldn’t believe the size of this healthy fish. After all of that excitement, we headed to another spot for some crappies, and we sure found them. Quite a few small ones, but some nice ones were in the mix. The real surprise was Doug’s 19.5″ sauger that hit a crappie jig. I’ve never seen one that nice casting, so it was a great treat for their trip back home.
While the fishing during the day was great, we found it to be pretty decent at night as well. We tried a tactic that I’ve never really put a lot of time into, but probably will in the future after the results we had. A couple nights were better than others, and we managed to get some real nice fish. My dad ended up with a near MA wiper that went 23 3/4″, and I boated one shortly after that went 23″. These fish were great fighters and a welcome surprise. When the wipers left, the walleyes moved in. We caught several fish in the 18-23″ range, and they looked real healthy.
On one particular night, my friend Grant and his two boys came out for some fishing, and it turned out to be a good night. The boys were tired from catching fish, and I think it’ll be a night they’ll remember for a while. Another night filled with wipers, walleyes and nice white bass. Grant noticed when we brought one walleye in, you could not even see the bait in his mouth. After we removed it, it looked like someone dumped a blender full of shad into his mouth. These fish are seriously on the hunt for food right now, and I’m happy to help them out with some that have hooks. After Grant left, my friend and fellow IDOer Chad Mayer joined me for some more action, and we got even more fish in the boat. It was a great night of fishing….maybe it was the mellow mushroom shirt. 
It was such a flurry of activity of fishing on my days off, I can’t keep the days straight, but it sure was a good time. I’m glad my friends were able to make it out with me fishing during the holiday weekend, and I hope to get more pictures like this in the future. Let’s hope the weather stays stable and the fish cooperate, because we’ll be out there getting after them.
I almost forgot to mention; if one more MA sauger wasn’t good enough, we did manage to get ANOTHER one into the boat later on! This one went 21 1/4″, big enough. We also got another nice 17″ sauger and 19″ walleye in, and as dad is holding up the fish (and having a My Name Is Earl moment with the camera) you can really see the difference in these great fish. All fish pictured, plus more, were released nicely to swim again and hopefully be caught again. If you are as lucky as I have been lately to get into these nice wipers, saugers and walleyes, I hope you’ll consider doing the same after some great pictures.
Pictured are some of the other great fish, including the other MA sauger, another look at the 22 incher, our wipers, Chad’s wiper, the 23″ walleye, and a nice double when I caught the 21 1/4″ sauger. While we were getting him out of the net, another rod went down, and my dad reeled in a nice 5lb flathead. Looked like a fun fight!
Man, the new boat must be the ticket!!
You’ve got the fishing dialed in. Happy for you but jealous that I don’t get my line wet often enough! Congrats on the sauger, that is truly a pig! Gotta love the wiper!!
Jealous as usual, thanks for the report Brian.
You mention that you tried a tactic you’ve never put much time into while night fishing- can you share what that tactic was? One of our good local lakes for walleyes, whites and cats gets no pressure at night and the lake usually calms to the point that it is much more fishable. I’d like to try and get in on a night bit there on our next trip.
BTW, congrats on all of the nice fish!
Great report Brian! It’s always a great time when we go fishing. I had a blast. Last saturday, Corey reeled in his biggest Sauger using what you showed me. He really appreciates it! Thanks again.
Thanks guys! Sure was a good week, and it’ll be hard to duplicate it this week and next but I’m still going to give it a try.
PM sent, Zug.
Nice fish!!!! One day I will do some more fishing! Damn JOB!
I’m finally getting caught up on some IDO reading this week B. Congrats on some dandy fish and thanks for the great report. We need to get together for some fishing soon, Brian!! I’ll be in touch.
Sounds good, BG. We’ll go out and catch em up!