GREG WAGNER, NG&P

The days are getting longer. Open water is now prevalent in many water bodies. The time is now to get ready for some early open-water fishing action!

Have you put new line on your reels? Have you gone through your tackle box yet? Have you sharpened any hooks? Have you purchased your 2026 Nebraska fishing permit? If there ever was a time for you to plan to get outside and do some recreational fishing, it is upon us or nearly upon us. Hungry fish await you!

That stated, time to have a conversation with Nebraska’s fish and fishing guru, Daryl Bauer. Daryl is our Fisheries Outreach Program Manager and a Fisheries Biologist for us at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission based in Lincoln, and he offers these tips to directly assist you with your open-water or early spring fishing as waters begin to heat up.

Fish for cold water fish. Yes, that means trout! Fishing for stocked trout is a great way to introduce kids to fishing because simple and inexpensive equipment may be used.

Look for spawning species. Bauer says northern pike, yellow perch, sauger and walleye spawn not long after the ice is gone.

Target channel catfish. Channel catfish are not a cold- or cool-water fish, but Nebraska has some surprisingly good fishing for channel catfish right after ice-out on many lakes, reservoirs, pits and ponds and rivers, according to Bauer.

Catch carp! Unbelievably, like many other fish, common carp go to warmer water during the early part of the spring. They are among the first fish to move into the shallows of lakes, ponds and reservoirs with black bottoms.

Think warm. Do not overlook the sunny sides of docks or boat storage sheds. Fish the afternoons on nice days, when the water has had a chance to warm for a few hours.

Fish slowly...very slowly. Keep moving. In the first half of spring, game fish can literally be at different places on different days even along the same shoreline.

There is no doubt that we will go through several wild, erratic shifts or swings in the weather in the coming weeks. Bauer reminds us that fish tend to move toward warmer water when the weather is nice, but drop back into deeper water when the weather turns cold and the north wind howls.