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/977334
48 NEBRASKAland • MAY 2018 the southeast. We have many reservoirs that we stock every year or every three years, but our river systems are really productive. They're self-sustaining populations that naturally reproduce," Barada said. Although there is potential for larger catfish (including large flathead and blue catfish) to migrate up the Nemahas from the Missouri River, Barada observed that these smaller river systems are producing higher densities of "eater-size fish" in the 8- to 14-inch range. And for the most part, sampling showed both higher densities of catfish and native fish communities in the Nemahas than the Blues. Barada speculates that this difference is due to fragmentation; migration in the Blues is much more difficult for fish due to dams, whereas the Nemahas have remained completely free flowing, aside from a few natural waterfalls. "Past studies have shown that our Nemahas act as nursing grounds for the Missouri River, and we saw evidence of this in the abundance of smaller catfish," said Barada. "The Blues, which eventually connect and flow in to Tuttle Creek Reservoir near Manhattan, Kansas, are more dissected and fragmented by low-head dams, so they've been isolated from the big river. Fish can only migrate during really high water events, so I think the populations suffer because of that." Fishing and Access A fisherman who goes out with a little bit of knowledge about river fishing should be successful. Most of the river anglers Barada has bumped into do fairly well. River fishing is different because anglers have to learn how to read the river, and the way a river looks can change depending on the season and/or year, and whether the water is high or low that given year. This can be intimidating to a novice, so Barada suggests fishing in the summer when the water is low. "Some of the most fun fishing I've had is going out to Little Blue East Wildlife Management Area in the summertime – there's a couple-mile stretch of river – and wading the river and fishing individual holes. When the river gets low, fish have to seek refuge in certain areas. Find some woody debris or snags in the river. All you need is knee- deep water, and you can flip your night crawler in there and be really successful," Barada said. But as decent as the fishing can be, public access remains a challenge. While access on the Little Blue River is satisfactory, access to the other three river systems is spotty, mostly in the form of city parks and turnoffs. Landowners may be willing to give permission to fishermen, but be sure Barada set out hoop nets baited with rotten cheese to sample fish in the Big Nemaha River by Tecumseh.