NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/440846
46 NEBRASKAland • JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015 northwest corners for these areas may warm up a bit quicker than the rest of the lake. Start slow and low with your presentations, whether using soft plastics, spinnerbaits or crankbaits, and make adjustments to your retrieve speed and depth as the fish dictate. Box Butte Northern Pike Numbers are the name of the game this month at this northwestern reservoir. A simple spinnerbait presentation near flooded trees will draw constant strikes from small pike, with the possibility of a big fish also mixed in. Run your lures right beneath the surface to watch the action. Whitney Lake Crappie Expect good numbers and nice- sized fish at Whitney this spring. They shouldn't be difficult to catch at this time of the year. Use a bobber and a minnow or your favorite jig and target any sort of shallow-water cover. Sleeper Papio D-4, in north Omaha, is a great largemouth bass and bluegill fishery. It's not accessible to big boats, but is a perfect place to drag your john boat, canoe, or belly boat if you don't mind the 250-yard walk. May In May, go fish somewhere. That's the most important thing to do. Where to go and what to catch is a matter of preference. Here are a few options. Lake McConaughy and Merritt Reservoir Walleye Even we couldn't decide which one would be best this month. Expect big numbers and big fish on both. At Lake Mac, troll or drift to cover water, as spinners and nightcrawlers are traditional favorites. Also try 2- to 3-ounce spinnerbaits through the flooded timber or along the face of the dam in depths of 20 feet or more. At Merritt, the water will be near full pool, creating flooded willow trees and smartweed beds. Fish with slip bobbers and leeches or crawlers, or cast traditional largemouth bass and northern pike lures that imitate alewives in these same areas. Goose Lake Northern Pike Fish for this Sandhills lake's high numbers of hammer handles and big northerns now before it becomes too weedy. Pike can be caught later in the summer, but it's much tougher to fish. Find open water pockets and you'll find fish. Elwood Reservoir Wipers Look for feeding activity on the surface early and late in the day and cast topwater chugbugs and stickbaits. If the water isn't boiling, cast jigs, swimbaits and crankbaits on windy shorelines. Ogallala native Jamie Vasa has lived in three countries in the past 10 years, but has spent most of his spring and summer in recent years patterning walleye on Lake McConaughy. PHOTO BY ERIC FOWLER