2026 Galllery

May

Coop's Swimbait

10" Rock Bass

1" shy of Master Angler Award

Crappie

Many 13"-14" caught and released

Bluegill

Largemouth bass

17"-Caught on a Berkley Choppo

Garmin Live scope

Red marks from 25-35 are suspended fish which were largemouth bass. Several were caught.

Today four different species of fish were caught and released-largemouth bass, rock bass, bluegill and crappie. Overall nearly 75 fish were landed.

The water temperature was 68 degrees so topwater baits caught largemouth bass. Other baits used were Salmo crank baits, Bobby Garland plastics, maribou jigs, twisters and Coop's swim baits: https://surestriketackle.com

Today the wind settled down. 13 walleye were caught and released. All were caught on Coop's swimbaits. https://surestriketackle.com

The Nebraska Walleye Challenge App keeps track of the fish caught, length of the fish, time of catch and how long you were fishing. It also tracks you by GPS and shows where each fish was caught. This is only visible to the contestant. There is a leader board that shows how many fish each contestant has logged each month. This is the first year I have participated. Fun to see how good or bad you are amongst your peers. The leader was recently recognized by NGPC for the amount of walleyes he has caught over the past three years. Not likely anyone will beat him.

In spite of the wind, 11 walleye ranging from 11" to 21.5" were caught and released. All were caught on Coop's swimbaits. https://surestriketackle.com

The walleye bite is challenging. Four good eater size 15"-16" were caught to be cooked. Jigs with Coop's swimbaits did the trick as well as other swim baits. A suprise catch was a rock bass.

Two trips in a week to the same body of water produced two largemouth bass and one sauger for 32 manhours of fishing. That is why they call it fishing instead of catching. Air temperature was 40 degrees. Water temperature was 59 last week and only made it to 60 this week. Water was dirty. The local bait vendor suggested using night crawlers--only three missed bites. Caught one largemouth bass with a night crawler. Perhaps when the weather stabilizes the fishing will improve.

The target was walleye. The wind was a challenge so jigging was not working but drifting with Berkley Gulp was good for three keepers. Late in the day it was trolling Berkley Flicker Shad that added a keeper. Several shorts and white bass kept the day interesting. The day ended when the wind reached white cap stage.

Today was a catching day! Over 50 black and white crappie were caught and released. Most were 12" long. An occasional 12" to 15" largemouth bass was caught. Blue gills up to 9" were caught. Baits used were Salmo and square bill crank baits, Bobby Garland jigs, twisters, spinner baits and maribou jigs. Water temperature was 60 degrees. Water was clear. Visibility was 7' to 8'.

The word for today was "crappie". The fish were consistantly over 12" with an occasional 13.5". Six were kept out of the approximately 40 that were caught. Water temperature was 60-65 degrees. Fish were caught in 2'-6' of water. Water was stained and 18" lower than normal. The pattern today was "there was no pattern". Crank baits, Road Runners and jigs with Coop's swimbaits and twisters all caught fish.

Today was more of a fishing day rather than a catching day. The wind made jig fishing impossible. The water temperature was only 56 today after being in the low 60's a couple weeks ago. So plan "B" was to drift with bait (Crawlers and Berkley Gulp) Gulp caught 5 of 6 walleye. Crawlers caught 1 walleye and 2 perch.

April

Today crappie (10"-13") and largemouth bass (10"-17") were the targeted fish at a private lake. Water temperature was over 60 degrees. The baits used were crank baits and jigs with Coop's swimbaits, twisters and Bobbie Garland plastics.

Today was more of a fishing day rather than a catching day. The wind caused boat control problems so home by noon. A few smallmouth, white bass and largemouth bass were caught. No walleye caught today at either lake. Water temperature in both lakes was 56-60 degrees. The walleye need a few more days to recover from the spawn until the bite starts being consistent.

The walleye spawn is winding down. There are fewer being caught. The next bite will be on the flats. Today 15 walleye ranging from 9" to 17" were caught as well as smallmouth bass, white bass and drum. Coop's 3" swim baits caught all of the fish today.

21 of these were caught and released today. All were caught on a Coop's swimbait.

All 21 walleye were documented on the 2026 Nebraska Walleye Challenge App. This should move me close to the top of the leader board for the week. A new contest starts every month.

Today was a catching day. The fish were gathered in one area which had some access and tumble weed issues which kept other fishermen away.

4 Keepers--All were caught using a Coop's swim bait. Several others were caught and released.

This is the answer to tying your jig on when the eye is filled with paint. I found this while fishing today. There might be a Jeff Foxworthy joke here!

The walleye spawn is in progress. The weather has been a challenge but finally I was able to catch a limit. I joined the 2026 Nebraska Walleye Challenge to help support the walleye fishery. They have an app you can download that allows you to compete for weekly prizes. This is the third year for the contest.

March

I have a sponser, Coop's Sure-Strike Tackle. This is a family owned company. Troy and Travis Cooper create each bait they sell. Not only do they create the baits, they field test to make sure they work. If they can't catch it, it can't be caught. Click on the link for their online store catalog. Tell them Mark sent you. The walleye and smallmouth bass below were caught using Coop's swim baits.

https://surestriketackle.com

The weather this week created fishing opportunities. Crappie in lesser numbers are still biting. Walleye and smallmouth bass were active. Photos compliments of my fishing partner K.M......

A variety of water bodies, fishing methods and fish was the theme today. The bluegill were caught on a fly rod at interstate lakes. Trout were the intent but only the bluegill volunteered. The 22.5" walleye hit a jig in the canal. Pre-spawn walleye are staging below canal structures.

The crappie are still biting. Today several nice ones were caught about 10" long. They were biting jigs. The wind was strong and several bites were missed.

February

The ice and tumble weeds finally moved out today. The crappie are harder to find but did find three during the short time I fished. All were over 10". This will be the last February report.

The crappie are still biting. You have to fish around and through the tumble weeds. The upcoming weather will keep this fisherman inside.

The crappie have been biting. Today several nice ones were caught 10"-12" long. They were biting jigs before the wind came up.

IMG_4327.MOV

The trout were biting the first week of February at Lake Ogallala. My fishing friend Kert introduced me to different methods of catching trout with a spinning reel. Kert fishes with a flyrod as well as a spinning reel. Kert's friend Keith helped net both of the big fish.