May 2024 • Nebraskaland 69
Fishing on a small irrigation canal, 1960
My father, Wilbur Simmons, caught this carp in August 1960 on a
small irrigation canal that flowed between Overton and Elm Creek
between what is now the interstate and the Platte River. Today, you
can still see the canal.
That day I was fishing a small sandpit nearby for carp with two
poles and later went to check with my dad. Unfortunately, when I
returned to the sandpit, both my poles were missing. My dad came
over to the pit and used a big treblehook to my line and pulled both
poles as a 5-pound carp had tangled both lines. I got a stern lecture
about leaving my poles unattended. Most of what I know about
fishing I learned from my father. He always took me fishing when he
went. He passed around 20 years ago, but I think of him often.
– Kim A. Simmons, Bellevue
Duck hunting at School House Lake
in Cherry County, 1981
Hunters Douglas Blaine Harris
(me), Larry Shaw, Joe Francis and
Marv Adamson. Being originally from
the Sandhills, I organized an annual
trip to Cherry County to open duck
season. The Lincoln group included
Joe Francis, Larry Shaw and the Harris
family. The Adamson Ranch was the
childhood home of my wife, Marge
Adamson Harris.
Children in the pickup: Kevin
Ravenscroft, Ryan Adamson, Natalie
Harris and Jake McDowell.
– Douglas Blaine Harris, Lincoln
Fishing bullheads near Rackett, 1957
This picture is of my grandmother, Helen Fickes, of Oshkosh in
June 1957. She's holding a stringer of bullheads after a day of fishing
with my grandfather, David Fickes, and Vern and Beth Keenan, also
from Oshkosh. I believe they were fishing north of Rackett. Vern and
Beth took me on my first bullhead fishing trip in the early 1980s to
the same area, often catching two at a time, using earthworms dug in
Grandma's backyard.
– Matt Arndt, Cheyenne, Wyoming
