• January 4 & 5 - Todd and Rhett fished Lil Emerson Bay for bluegills. We caught some nice gills and saw bass & pike. Rhett did get a bass or two. I had the best luck on a glow pink & white rat finkee and a wax worm or Gulp! We just couldn't get on them as good as some of the real experts that fish that.
• Jan 6 - fished a local sandpit. I didn't catch many fish but did get two crappie's over 15" and four bluegill's over 10" along with some monster bass. They were in 12' just off a weedline falling into the basin. All the fish came on a pink and white rat finkee and maggots.
• Jan 12 - Fished Summit and did really well on Bluegills. The fish have moved deeper as the year has went on which is good, they're harder to find! We are also getting some bass and an occasional crappie. I punched about 30 holes trying to find walleyes with no success. Fished a local small lake in the evening and caught 75 bluegills and some nice bass. Great fishing, small diamond jigs were the best.
• Jan 13 - fished a small local lake, great bluegill and bass but the fish are slowing up. They are on the 8-10' dropoffs at sunset and seem to suspend at that depth over the basin. Some fish were hitting only 3' down.
• Jan 19 - fished a Columbus sandpit with Tim Starostka. The fish were tight-lipped, did end up with one monster gill. We could watch 10 fish at times on the camera and they just wouldn't go. Mainly they were sniffers. Nothing is as fun as fishing with a camera though.
• Jan 20 - fished a local lake and caught a 10# cat with my daughter Logan. It was a great battle on 1# test. I think this speaks well of Crystal Fireline.
• January 25 - Took the afternoon off and went to a family sandpit. I wanted to scout the lake with a camera and try to catch fish a little better. I spent a lot of time drilling, looking and fish without success. At about 4:30 the fishing took off but nothing spectacular. Did lose one 7-8# bass at the hole which got my blood pumping, I couldn't get her to come up right. I watched her steam in from 20' away in 12' of water and inhale a #12 Clown Diamond Jig and waxworm. It's hard to keep jigging the same when you see that. The jig just popped out as I went to grab her.
• January 26- spent some more time at the Sandpit moving around and using the camera. The fish are just really hard to find mid-day. I spent a lot of time in the basin and off of small points dropping down. I did have a couple of fish on 20' down over 38' but didn't get them up to the hole. Bluegill or Crappie I'm sure. I couldn't find them with the camera though that deep with all the snow cover. Did do well from about 415-445 in 10'. Got some nice gills, a 5# bass, and a drum on a Chubby Darter. I saw crappie but they wouldn't bite jigs, chubby's or minnows.
• January 27 - Spent an hour at a small lake. Vince Maly stopped by and iced a 6-7# cat, it was an epic battle. Caught some gills and bass but the fishing has really slowed. Fish seemed to like a glow white Fat Boy best.
• John and I hit an area lake and found the bass and gills on the chew. John caught a pile of largemouths with minnows in 12' and I targeted gills in 18'. One heckuva day. Be aware this time of year that literally moving your hole 5-10' can be the difference between a great bite and no fish, especially in lakes with lots of options for the fish - don't give up.
• Last Weekend of Feb - hit a nice panfish lake with Mike Wanser. Mike and I met on RyanHale.com. Mike is a hardcore ice fisherman and a great guy. Fish are getting tougher but the ice is still 25" and wonderful to be out on. Fish seem to be in a mode where they want spikes, then waxies, then spikes. As Mike I think pointed out, changing a color now and then seems to get a few bonus fish when it slows in a hole.
• Fished Okoboji area Feb 29-March 2. The fishing was slow but we had a great time. Ryan Hale worked hard for us and shout of thanks to Rick Dicus. That sight fishing is just a whole new ballgame.
• 3-18-08 this report comes from our buddy in Mitchell, South Dakota....

  "I have been at Fort Thompson fishing, it has slowed down some. Limits are being taken at the dam in the fast water, when they run water. At this time of year they have been running water about everyday for a while. Have been fishing with 3/8 ounce jigs and minnows with good results at times. No big fish a lot of 14 to 16 inches with some White Bass and Catfish. Water levels are good at this time some area have a lot of floating ice some just under the surface that are hard to see running at high speeds. I don't think you would have any trouble getting your fish if you did drive up to fish the chamberlain to Fort Thompson area."
• April 1st weekend - Terry H, John, Rhett, his son Thomas and myself fished Okoboji with Ryan Hale. We had a great fish and saw a ton on the cameras. We did catch a few and had a blast. The fishery is incredible.
• Did some late ice fishing around West Point. The panfish have turned on and will hit anything morning or late. The ice is still 15" on the lakes but the edges are getting soft.
• March 21 - fished the Yankton tailrace with good friend Chuck Schulz. We found ourselves in 35 mph winds with 35 degree temps, it was a little frigid. We did end up with a bunch of nice eater sauger. The fish seemed to be in 8-12' and bit better on rigs than jigs. We didn't see many fish caught but there were only a few boats. We did see two fish in the 4# range. Chuck did better Saturday in 14-20' with rigs.
• April 8- Finally got my boat in the water.  Fished the Yankton tailrace with some success.   Took a nice limit with jigs.  Fish came on the spillway side, dragging jigs cross current was the best for me.  Now if this weather would just straighten out maybe a guy could get back out for some more action. John McAllister
• 4-18-08 Was able to get out into the woods for a little turkey hunting action.   The hunt was a success, as I took a Tom with an 11 1/2 inch beard and weighed in at 24 lbs.   Really rotten weather, but it paid off to give it a try.   Now on to the 4th season to see if I can do it all over again.  John McAllister
• John and I fished the Calamus NWA. Water temps were in the upper 40's throughout the lake and the walleye didn't cooperate well. We felt the tourney, especially because of the weather, would probably be one on the points adjacent to the dam with fish occasionally feeding, if at all, against the steep breaks. We covered everything from 3-32' on each end of the lake pre-fishing but nothing went. We did see two of the six fish caught in the tourney on either side of us so we guessed right but didn't get the fish. On to Sherman. We've seen tough fishing, but this was as tough as anything I've ran across.

• 5-5-08 Fished Storm Lake with some success. Took a pretty good limit of fish (3) trolling cranks in the West End. Warmer muddy water was being blown in from Little Storm Lake and I think the fish were there enjoying the warm water feeding. Remember the new length limit for Storm, and the only usable boat ramps are on the East End. Fishing will only get better over there. The fish below really inhaled the plug. I think he was hungry. 

• May 16-18 / The fish at Sherman were definitely on the bite. We caught a lot of fish on plugs like glass shad raps, jointed raps, regular raps and similar shad shaped lures in the shallows. Fish were also going after spinners and any livebait - leeches, crawlers, shiners or minnows. This time of year usually finds concentrations of walleye in Nebraska in 10' of water of less. The weather is still a large player and the wind can be key. I think virtually every shoreline and hump or point at Sherman had some population of fish, it was a matter of finding the concentration of the right ones on the right day. We found mudlines, cut banks and areas towards, but not the extreme upper reaches of arms to be key for us. The right fish didn't go in the tournament but it was a great trip including a 30.25" fish and quite a few over 20".

• 5-19-07 Made another trip to Storm Lake this week. Took home a nice limit of 16 inchers. The west end was best for me again. Did manage one 22 incher in the deep hole on the south side. I pulled plugs with fire tiger and hot pink being the best colors. 2.4 mph was the best speed. The new 12 foot Walleye Angler trolling rod from Bass Pro really works great. John McAllister

• Ryan Hale took me (Todd) fishing on 6-5 over at Okoboji. We slammed the bass. They were making beds and relating to shallow cover. Plastics fished slowly were the hot ticket. Cole, Ryan's son, is one heckuva fisherman and they're both great guys. Look up Ryan at www.ryanhale.net for your lodging or guiding needs in the area. People sometimes don't think of the Iowa Great Lakes as a fishing destination and that's a tremendous mistake. Ryan has programs for bass, perch, huge gills, and walleye. A nice plus is even in 40 mph winds we were able to get into some peaceful areas and catch a ton of fish. The water is so clear that I can't even begin to tell you how many fish we saw too, literally thousands.

• 6-4-07 Spent a couple of days with my girls at the Snake Creek Area on Francis Case.  Fishing was pretty enjoyable.  We pulled plugs in 25 to 55 feet of water and took some nice fish.   Leadcore and snap weights were both used along with planer boards.  If a guy can dodge the fronts I think the fish are really going in this area.  Stay mobile and move around till you find some that will bite, sitting in one spot is not necessary.   Another note the breakfast at Dock 44 is fantastic and well worth the stop, also if you get in a bind for tackle the True Value in Platte has a fantastic selection and prices that beat anyone.   Get out on the water the fish are biting.   John McAllisterhere is Katie with "her 3" walleyes she caught.

• June 21-22 Todd and John fished the NWA out of Lake McConaughy. Fishing was tough for us, with the lake up 8-10 feet the flooded vegetation really added another huge area to fish. We tried to get a trolling bite going prefishing, but couldn’t get anything to develop other than some shorts and one beautiful 5#+ fish. We spent the 21^st still trying to get the fish to go trolling, but nothing developed and we took a zero. The 22^nd had us changing tactics. We lindy rigged points close to the dam with crawlers and leeches both taking fish. The fish were anywhere from 8 feet or less of water. We scored a 3^rd place for our efforts, which helped us in the over all standings of the NWA.

• Todd - I've been really hammering the bass this year in June and July. I've spent a lot of time at area lakes and sandpits using tubes, spinnerbaits, and topwater. I can't say enough good things about the Bass Pro spiral lock heads when using their Finesse tube baits. I simply screw on the tube, slide the hook through and catch the tip in the plastic. That tube is about 95% weedless!!! Those tubes are tough, flexible and packed with salt. Bass go nuts for them, especially color #71. I'm also reel fond of the XPS Spinnerbaits. One fun lure is the Zoom Frog for topwater. I'm going to try the Bass Pro Scumfrog version and see if they work as well. Those frogs are 99.9% weedless and 100% fun and catch fish. My daughter loves everything about fishing except when the fish jump to close, she's convinced the bass are trying to eat her after a big bass darn near jumped out of the water with only a few feet of line out.

• June 30- July 3 The McAllisters spent a few days on Lake Oahe. The fishing was really good for us. We concentrated on the lower end of the lake. ½ Night Crawlers were the best bait on a plain hook and bottom bouncer. Agency , Okoboji Creek Rousseau were very good for limits. 10-20 feet seemed to be the magic depth when the wind kicked up and deeper when it died.

                      Here is Katie (above) with a nice Oahe Walleye

•  John and Todd fished the NWA at Merritt on July 12 & 13. We were 5th on Sunday with a little over 11 pounds and four fish and around 11th on Saturday with 8#+ and four fish. We found the walleye relating to weedbeds, points and inside turns - especially next to sheer drops. We pulled bait on bouncers and just grinded the fish out. We could say how many fish we caught per day but no one would believe us anyway :)  Let's just say you have to catch a lot to hit the 15-18", 18"+ and 22"+ slots at Merritt. It was challenging and our hands are beat up but it was fun. We also caught a nice bunch of fish trolling flats and breaks pre-fishing. The best lures were shad replicators occasionally banged off the bottom. Merritt should be really good for the next week or two as the water goes down and the fish come out of the weeds.  John and I should be in good shape for the Top Gun and Cabela's but we haven't seen the final tally yet for the year. We still have the championship in October also. The crappie were also hot at times - some beautiful fish.
• John had a big group of guys and Todd had a few guests for a Oahe outing. We based out of the Outpost and had a great trip. Found some nice fish trolling 400 Ripshads and CD6 Wally Divers in 35' in the Sully area. Also got nice eating fish off points and humps. Fish were found at 20-40' but it seemed 27-32' was best livebaiting. Spin N Glows and half worms were hot the last morning. Slow Death hooks worked good. Bomber 24's, Shad Raps in the Bleak color & Jointed Raps took some fish also. Trolling was a little slower than we hoped. Hard to get a good bite going, it was streaky.