July 2023 • Nebraskaland 41
bank, while the remainder of the dam — a 3,200-foot-long,
26-foot-tall earthen bank — spanned the valley bottom.
As the swift-fl owing Niobrara pooled behind the dam, sand
settled out of its slowed waters and over time formed a huge
delta. Meanwhile, the clear, sand-free water exiting the dam
was highly erosive and scoured deep channels and holes in
the river downstream, including Allen's stretch. In addition,
the dam blocked the migration of catfi sh moving out of the
Missouri and up the Niobrara during their late-spring and
early-summer spawning run, and they stockpiled below the
dam. In a nutshell, Spencer Dam gifted Allen with deep,
stable waters teeming with hungry cats.
Over the decades, Allen fi shed these waters almost
exclusively during the cool evening when catfi sh most
actively feed. "I start fi shing after supper, usually about 6
o'clock, and leave the river before midnight," he said. "The
peak bite is usually about 10 o'clock and trails off after that.
In early spring, you can get by fi shing during the day, but
not during the heat of summer. On a summer day, you might
catch a cat or two from a hole, but that's about it."
His best fi shing has always been during the spawning run
when catfi sh are on the move and hungry. During the heat of
late summer, the fi sh become less active, and the bite slows.
Allen suspects that many fi sh move down into the deeper
and cooler Missouri River during this period. As temperatures
drop in September, fi sh move back up the Niobrara and the
A bundle of Allen's old setlines, rigged with hooks and cast cement weights, age in a corner of his shop. GERRY STEINAUER, NEBRASKALAND
Allen's mother, Gertrude, holds a stringer of three nice
catfi sh and a sucker Allen and his brother, Max, caught on
setlines in the mid-1950s. PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL ALLEN
