Iowa's free fishing weekend for 2010 is June 4 - 6th.
Unlike Nebraska's, it is for residents only. Sorry!
May 26, 2010
May 21, 2010
Fishing Report: Northern Pike fishing near Valentine, NE - May 2010
For the fifth year in a row, I fished the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge lakes near Valentine, NE, for northern pike during the middle of May (13th - 15th to be exact). The fishing was pretty good this year.
Dewey, on the other hand, was pretty good fishing. The lake was full, and the water was the clearest I remember. Past years found us fishing mostly the east end along the reeds, and the middle of the lake. This year, we fished mostly the west end of the lake. We put in on the western most ramp (there are now 4 ramps on Dewey). We caught a lot of fish, northern and a couple perch, about 50-100 yards straight south of the ramp. We repeatedly passed through that general area and caught fish nearly every time.
We threw mostly brightly colored spoons (I am a fan of Little Cleo's) and retrieved pretty slowly to get them nearer the bottom (it's only about 6 foot deep there). 
The refuge boasts some of the best northern fishing in Nebraska, but due to these lakes be shallow, sandy bottom lakes, they get pretty mossy and weedy come mid-summer which makes them hard to fish.
On the refuge we fished mostly on Dewey, though we tried Clear Lake as well. We didn't catch anything on Clear - the lake was a good foot or foot and a half higher than previous years, but it was extremely murky.
Dewey, on the other hand, was pretty good fishing. The lake was full, and the water was the clearest I remember. Past years found us fishing mostly the east end along the reeds, and the middle of the lake. This year, we fished mostly the west end of the lake. We put in on the western most ramp (there are now 4 ramps on Dewey). We caught a lot of fish, northern and a couple perch, about 50-100 yards straight south of the ramp. We repeatedly passed through that general area and caught fish nearly every time. We threw mostly brightly colored spoons (I am a fan of Little Cleo's) and retrieved pretty slowly to get them nearer the bottom (it's only about 6 foot deep there). Most of the northern we caught were in the 21 - 26 inch range, with one 30 incher in the 2.5 days of fishing.
The refuge boasts some of the best northern fishing in Nebraska, but due to these lakes be shallow, sandy bottom lakes, they get pretty mossy and weedy come mid-summer which makes them hard to fish. Now is a great time to get to Valentine NWR and catch some northern! My 6 year old had a blast catching this 25.5 inch northern all by himself!
May 19, 2010
Nebraska Free Fishing & Park Entry Day - May 22, 2010
Nebraska holds a free fishing and park entry day each year in May on the Saturday prior to Memorial Day weekend. This year that day falls on Saturday, May 22nd.
This Saturday, residents and non-residents, can fish without a license and enter state parks for free. This is a great opportunity to either give fishing a try, get back into fishing, or for checking out a state park for free. Also a great, cheap, family outing option. (We can all use those!)
In addition, several state parks have "family fishing clinics" - click here to download the poster with the full list.
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