Fins and Fur Outdoor Adventure Guide - Guided Fishing and Hunting Trips
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Trolling with Crankbaits at Merritt Reservoir

7/30/2020

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Fishing with a friend - We caught 4 smaller Smallmouth Bass and a ½ doz. Bluegill using this technique, no keeper walleye. We then tested the trolling rods as we hooked on a couple crankbaits, a # 7 Flicker shads and a #11 Flicker minnow.  We spooled out 125’ of line on the line counter reels and pulled them in the 2.5- 2.7 mph range.  Trolled the 11-13’ depths, couldn’t buy a bite on the cranks after covering a couple miles of shoreline while often banking the bottom! We searched numerous locations and found some fish so we anchored up and jig fished over 10-12’ depth.  Caught small walleye, a nice yellow perch and always fun on ultralight large Channel catfish on #4 test line.  Yep, 2 trips around the boat with that cat but kept him out of the troller and the anchor rope.
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Nice smallmouth bass
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Back at Merritt to Fish All Day

7/29/2020

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Again on this day I went fishing at Merritt with friends both in the morning and evening! We started by anchoring up in 5ft of water and cast 1/32 oz. jigs with ½ crawlers and leeches. Both morning and evening fishing worked well catching numerous small Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill and Yellow Perch. Rigged up a dead rod/dead stick to dangle live bait just off the bottom. We caught some nice and some smaller Smallmouth and a nice mess of Bluegill using this technique, no keeper Walleye but we had fun. Never got the Walleye chop winds but a nice morning of fishing. Evening trip was cut short by rains and lots of lightning and of course, a good Walleye chop during the storm!
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We caught A LOT of big fish at Merritt Reservoir!

7/28/2020

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Nice Channel Catfish caught on a small jig and crawler.
Nice Smallmouth Bass caught by Mom, she can still catch fish at 86 yrs. young!
Big C. Catfish caught on a small jig and crawler.
Big smallmouth taking a leech in 3’ of water at Merritt.
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Merritt Reservoir Morning and Evening Trips

7/27/2020

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Very nice morning and evening trips with friends! We started by anchoring up in 5’ of water and casted 1/32 oz. jigs with ½ crawlers and leeches.  Both morning and evening fishing catching numerous small Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Drum, Bluegill and Yellow Perch. We casted jigs into shallow waters<5’ depths and jigged them back to the boat. Also placed a dead rod/dead stick in a rod holder to dangle live bait just off the bottom for the followers. We caught some nice Smallmouth Bass and a nice mess of Bluegill using this technique, no keeper size Walleye but we had fun. Never got the Walleye Chop winds but a nice morning of fishing at Merritt reservoir. Evening trip had some winds but not a good Walleye Chop, picked up one keeper Walleye to stink the skillet!
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Big Channel Catfish caught on light tackle.
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Big Alkali Lake near Valentine, NE

7/26/2020

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​Cloudy then sunny day trip with relatives to Big Alkali Lake fishing from the boat! My sister, brother-in-law, and I rolled crankbaits covering miles of shoreline, catching only 1 Saugeye trolling. We then moved to drifting Lindy rigs with crawlers and leeches which landed us  a 14” Channel Catfish drifting into 3 ft of water. Last method, most productive catching fish we anchored up in 8’ of water and casted lindy rigs and we vertically jigged over the side of the boat.  Catfish bite was good as we caught 20+ fish while fishing for the Saugeye. We picked up 3 Saugeye 13-17” on the live bait, leeches and Euro. and Can. crawlers. We cleaned the one legal Saugeye and 2 fiddler Catfish that were hooked deep while jigging. Overall a fun trip to Big Alkali lake SW of Valentine.
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Adventures at Merritt Reservoir

7/25/2020

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Cloudy and light rain evening trip to Merritt fishing from the boat! Trolled crankbaits exclusively covering miles of shoreline while contour trolling. Worked the 10-13’ contours as cloudy expecting the wally to be in shallow with the cloudy weather and wind chop! Caught 1 -17” Walleye on a drop-off while pulling a fire tiger shad rap.
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Walleye and Bass at Lake Wanahoo

7/22/2020

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Very nice evening trip Wednesday to Wanahoo with my lovely daughter Shanna Rose and the boat! We tested the trolling rods first as we hooked on a couple crankbaits, a # 5 Flicker shad and a #5 Rapala X-Rap. We spooled out 125’ of line on the line counter reels and pulled them in the 2.5- 2.7 mph range. We first hooked up with a small “hammer handle” northern pike right out of the gate! Poorly hooked as I lost him right at the boat which was great, I didn't have to handle that slimmy little guy! Next fish caught, Shanna hooked into a good fish, ended up being a big largemouth bass, she had fun tightening the drag as it made numerous head shakes. It stayed deep to the very end when eventually she got him to the boat. Very nice Wanahoo Bass measuring 19½”, great body condition likely scaled at 5 lbs, good looking bass. We finished up trolling the crankbaits with a 16.5” walleye, an eater, caught on the colorful flicker shad. Relaxed fishing- trolling crankbaits at Wanahoo!

Sun was dropping so we changed tactics and anchored up off a few trees, we finesse fished with the light, 5- 8 mph SE winds fishing with Satra special rigs tipped with Euro Nightcrawlers and used jigs tipped with leeches. Dipped in amongst the trees and off the points near deep water drop offs. Of course we used the ultralight rods and light line, we had some luck catching Bluegill to 8” and a few ugly Bullheads in mostly 10-12’ depths. Sun started to set so we packed up, we had fun catching fish at Lake Wanahoo.

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Yankee Hill Fishing With Crank-baits

7/17/2020

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Nice Friday morning trip to Yankee Hill Lake with the boat.  Busy place with boats and yakkers out enjoying fishing! Good morning to test out the trolling rods, research different crank-bait depths with #10/4 diameter braided Fireline at various boat speeds. Short stay trip - I trolled crank-baits extensively covering a lot of the lake pulling various sizes of crank-baits checking running depths, picked up one 14” Bass, no Wally.  Switched to anchoring a top the rock shoals and fished slip bobbers, jigs, Satra special rig and leeches & Euro nightcrawlers. I fished 4’ to 7’ depths using ultralights, and I had luck catching Bluegill to 8.5” on the edges of the large rock and drop offs. I caught 14 nice Bluegill and kept 9 fish which I gave to a yak angler at the boat ramp. He didn't have any luck fishing and was looking forward to a few fresh fish to eat, I helped him out! Had fun catching the Bluegill on light tackle at Yankee Hill Lake.
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Sunday Morning at Wildwood

7/12/2020

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Nice cool Sunday morning trip to Wildwood.  Busy place with lots of bank anglers, boats, and yakers out enjoying fishing! Short trip but I fished 3 locations extensively with jigs and leeches, slip bobbers, Satra special rig and leeches - Euro nightcrawlers, fished 4’ to 11’ depths. A good catch of bluegill to 9” on the edges of the vegetation next to drop offs. I didn’t catch a single Crappie or a Bass.  Saw a couple big Channel Catfish caught and released in shallow water by an angler fishing for them. Total catch and release regulation for catfish in Wildwood, why they get a chance to get big in this small flood control lake!

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Flanagan Lake Fishing

7/10/2020

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A morning recon trip to Flanagan Lake seeking out active fish.  Flanagan is a new lake in northwest Omaha, basically located at 168th & Fort Street. Time to fish it since last visiting it on the hard water in February!  Flanagan is a total catch and release lake with a no wake boating regulation. A great place to fish with a small boat, canoe or kayaks.  The lake does not have an accessible fishing pier but numerous breakwaters to fish from if you are a shoreline angler.

How was fishing?   Non-stop catching fish!  I fished a variety of techniques to target all the species stocked in this lake with abundant aquatic habitats and structure. Scaled down on the sizes of bait, jigs and plastics!
Surface water temps were 78-80F not uncommon to early July in Nebraska reservoirs.  Hummingbirds sonars/fish finders had fish all over the board but I focused on 8-9’ depths as I patterned the numbers!  Tough to get a hook down to 9’ at times because of bites or bait thieves - that's a good thing!  I caught mainly Bluegill ranging from 4” to 7.5” with a few fish in very good condition to 8”, numerous crappie were caught in the 7-8” range, fun on ultralight rods and reels and light terminal tackle.  Did not target the bass but saw plenty of them “cruising” looking for a meal.  Caught ​Bass measuring up to 16” among the plentiful structure.

​Very nice lake to fish and it will only get better, the fish are growing fast and lots of them. Only took a few pix at the end of the trip, what happens when you leave the camera phone in the Jeep!
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Pawnee Lake Recon Trip

7/7/2020

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A morning recon trip to Pawnee Lake seeking a Saugeye or two. Long line trolled over 11’-19’’ depths with variable sizes of Rapala Shad Rap's, Walleye Divers, Flicker minnows, Thin Fins and Tail Dancers. Only caught small White perch on smaller #5 size cranks so "up-sized" to keep them off the line. Caught 8 Scourge White Perch, and 1 small Crappie after 3 hrs fishing. Slow morning of catching fish at Pawnee -- why I don’t guide clients here! 
This lake lacks anything for littoral zone habitat i.e. structure, lucky if you snag on something on the bottom of this lake, mainly open water fishing in the pelagic zone. Is and makes for a good Catfish lake. Abundant prey (small w. Perch) scattered everywhere in the water column for easy picking if you are a large predator fish like a blue or flathead catfish !   Winds never came up to the weather prediction magnitude, no Walleye chop!
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Trolling at Lake Wanahoo

7/2/2020

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An early morning recon trip to Wanahoo with a friend and his dog. Long line trolled over 14’-24’ depths with 2 sizes of SR’s with no luck, we saw abundant bait fish within the water column.  Looking for Crappie, Bass and Walleye beneath. Results slow fishing. Moved to vegetation edges and found a few nice Bluegill. Moved to the trees and picked up mostly smaller Bluegill in 6-10’ depths, fished 1 shoal and picked up numerous Bluegill 7-9” and a 16” Bass.  Slow morning of catching fish at Wanahoo while hitting traditional spots and new ones!  Abundant prey scattered everywhere for easy picking!  Kept 8 Bluegill in the 8”-9.5” range and 17” Walleye from the drop off!  Winds never came up to prediction.
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Conestoga Lake Evening Trip with Father and Son

7/2/2020

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Kodak moment, Yes- a fish will flop when it gets its picture taken!
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Father & Son had a good time fishing at Conestoga Lake near Denton.
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Nice bass caught at Conestoga Lake.
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Proper handling is important when you catch small fiddler catfish! Fun trip for this young man!
Busy night catching fish for these 2 anglers - they caught and landed 90+fish - a very good bite! We caught lots of small Bluegill 5”-6.5” in size, and Green Sunfish from 4”-7” we found in 5’-12’ of water fishing with jigs, Satra Special rigs, and slip bobbers tipped with leeches and Euro nightcrawlers. The guys caught numerous Bass of all sizes, 11-12 fiddler Channel Cats and a handful of small Black Bullheads. Father and son had a great time catching fish and learning new techniques to catch fish. Nice evening of fishing with a light breeze. The rock breakwaters and drop offs to 8’ were “hot” late as the sun was setting. They kept a handful of fiddler Channel Catfish to stink the skillet! Otherwise Catch and Release the fish! It is always fun to explore the variety of aquatic habitats and structures that Conestoga has to offer!
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Cast and Jig at Prairie Queen

7/1/2020

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An evening fishing trip to Prairie Queen with 2 friends on Wednesday night. Hot afternoon temps and hot fishing bite! We started tossing small jigs tipped with leeches against the veg line drop near one of the bigger shoals, lots of small Bluegill, Redear, and a couple hungry Bass danced for us!  Moved to 3-4 spots to deeper water 10-14’ range, small Bluegill dominated the catch with an occasional Redear!  Last hour of fishing was the boat anchored up on the Walleye hole that begins in 9’ and trails into 13’ to the west.  This spot or the timing of the sun going down is always good fishing at Prairie Queen. We caught lots of Redear to 8.5”, a handful of Crappie and 3-4 Bass up to 16”.  Two Walleye, a 13” and 17” fish.  Catch & release trip - always fun to explore the variety of aquatic habitats, shoals and drop offs that Prairie Queen has to offer.
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