Nebraskans love fishing – maybe even more so than hunting. With literally hundreds of lakes and river spots to fish at, there are unlimited opportunities to catch a huge variety of fish. While it would be impossible to name all of them, these are some of the fishing spots that Nebraskans love the most.
Box Butte Reservoir, Near Hemingford
Journey to Western Nebraska At this 1600-acre western Nebraska lake and recreation area on the Niobrara, you’ll find walleye, crappie, trout, and several types of bass.
Branched Oak Lake, Malcolm
Wikimedia/Ammodramus This Lancaster County beauty in the Salt Valley lakes district has anglers flocking to it for excellent catfish. The channel cats can reach up to 20 pounds, while the flathead catfish can reach an impressive 40 pounds each year. If catfish aren’t your thing, the lake also features plenty of other types of fish.
Burchard Lake, Pawnee County
Nebraska Game and Parks Several improvements have recently been made to Burchard Lake, and its new boat ramp just opened for use in June 2015. It’s always been a favored spot for excellent fishing of bass, trout, crappie, catfish, and walleye.
Calamus Reservoir, Near Burwell
Nebraska Game and Parks Calamus is the perfect spot for anglers who are looking for a wide variety of fish. You’ll find bream, perch, bluegill, catfish, walleye, carp, northern pike, and four types of bass in these waters.
Elwood Reservoir, Elwood
Nebraska Game and Parks The water level at Elwood has suffered in recent years, but the NE Game and Parks Commission reports that levels are healthy for the 2015 season. Expect to find white bass, channel catfish, walleye, and maybe muskellunge here.
Enders Reservoir State Recreation Area, Enders
Wikimedia/Ammodramus Your best bet here is walleye, which have shown healthy numbers for several years. You’ll also find white bass and channel catfish.
Gavin’s Point Dam/Lewis and Clark Lake
US Army Corps of Engineers This area spans the South Dakota/Nebraska border, and it’s known among anglers as an outstanding spot for catching saugeye, a walleye and sauger hybrid.
Harlan County Lake, Republican City
Phelps County Visitors Committee Nebraska’s second largest lake offers a good selection of fish including a huge walleye population, wipers, crappie, catfish, and bass.
Lake Maloney, North Platte
Visit North Platte Several varieties of bass grace these waters, along with trout, catfish, walleye, and crappie.
Lake McConaughy, Near Ogallala
flickr/Mike This perennial favorite is great for catching walleye, northern pike, channel catfish, and wiper.
Lake Minatare, Minatare
Visit Scotts Bluff This popular panhandle fishing spot is great for launching the boat and dropping a line. Wipers, yellow perch, white bass, and wipers are among the fish you’ll find here. Nearby fish-cleaning stations will give you a place to clean the day’s catch before heading home.
Medicine Creek State Recreation Area, Cambridge
Visit Nebraska This scenic recreation area has recreation options for just about anyone, but anglers will especially appreciate the crappie and walleye fishing.
Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area, Valentine
Visit Nebraska This beautiful spot in the Sandhills is a great place for snagging a variety of bass species along with crappie, walleye, catfish, and trout.
Oliver Reservoir State Recreation Area, Kimball
Visit Nebraska Make sure to get up early to nab a prime fishing spot on the lake! You can expect to find musky, bass, and walleye.
Red Willow Reservoir State Recreation Area, McCook
Visit Nebraska A large and relaxing getaway for the whole family, Red Willow is home to walleye, crappie, catfish, trout, and several types of bass.
Sandhills Lakes, Sandhills Region
The Nebraska Sandhills You might not think of fishing when you think of this unique region of Nebraska, but there are actually thousands of small lakes and larger bodies of water here, many of them with great fishing.
Sherman Reservoir State Recreation Area, Loup City
Loup City Besides being a really beautiful place to spend a day or a weekend, Sherman Reservoir has great walleye, northern pike, crappie, catfish, and white bass fishing.
Sutherland Reservoir State Recreation Area, Sutherland
Village of Sutherland Bass, bass, and more bass abound at this picturesque lake, but you’ll also find trout, crappie, and walleye.
Swanson Reservoir State Recreation Area, Trenton
Visit Nebraska Also known as Trenton Dam, this big reservoir is perfect for finding all kinds of panfish, or get into a boat and go after those big deep-water bass!
Two Rivers State Recreation Area, Waterloo
flickr/zuwapa Most people know Two Rivers for the 10 cabooses that have been turned into sleeping cabins for up to six people each. But there’s also a great trout fishing lake as well as the Platte and Elkhorn rivers.
Wehrspann Lake, Chalco Hills Recreation Area, Sarpy County
Wikimedia/MONGO This lake on the grounds of Chalco Hills is stocked with carp, walleye, bluegill, crappie, largemouth bass, and channel and flathead catfish.
We couldn’t fit all of Nebraska’s great fishing spots into one list, so let us know: what are some of your favorite places to fish?
Journey to Western Nebraska
At this 1600-acre western Nebraska lake and recreation area on the Niobrara, you’ll find walleye, crappie, trout, and several types of bass.
Wikimedia/Ammodramus
This Lancaster County beauty in the Salt Valley lakes district has anglers flocking to it for excellent catfish. The channel cats can reach up to 20 pounds, while the flathead catfish can reach an impressive 40 pounds each year. If catfish aren’t your thing, the lake also features plenty of other types of fish.
Nebraska Game and Parks
Several improvements have recently been made to Burchard Lake, and its new boat ramp just opened for use in June 2015. It’s always been a favored spot for excellent fishing of bass, trout, crappie, catfish, and walleye.
Calamus is the perfect spot for anglers who are looking for a wide variety of fish. You’ll find bream, perch, bluegill, catfish, walleye, carp, northern pike, and four types of bass in these waters.
The water level at Elwood has suffered in recent years, but the NE Game and Parks Commission reports that levels are healthy for the 2015 season. Expect to find white bass, channel catfish, walleye, and maybe muskellunge here.
Your best bet here is walleye, which have shown healthy numbers for several years. You’ll also find white bass and channel catfish.
US Army Corps of Engineers
This area spans the South Dakota/Nebraska border, and it’s known among anglers as an outstanding spot for catching saugeye, a walleye and sauger hybrid.
Phelps County Visitors Committee
Nebraska’s second largest lake offers a good selection of fish including a huge walleye population, wipers, crappie, catfish, and bass.
Visit North Platte
Several varieties of bass grace these waters, along with trout, catfish, walleye, and crappie.
flickr/Mike
This perennial favorite is great for catching walleye, northern pike, channel catfish, and wiper.
Visit Scotts Bluff
This popular panhandle fishing spot is great for launching the boat and dropping a line. Wipers, yellow perch, white bass, and wipers are among the fish you’ll find here. Nearby fish-cleaning stations will give you a place to clean the day’s catch before heading home.
Visit Nebraska
This scenic recreation area has recreation options for just about anyone, but anglers will especially appreciate the crappie and walleye fishing.
This beautiful spot in the Sandhills is a great place for snagging a variety of bass species along with crappie, walleye, catfish, and trout.
Make sure to get up early to nab a prime fishing spot on the lake! You can expect to find musky, bass, and walleye.
A large and relaxing getaway for the whole family, Red Willow is home to walleye, crappie, catfish, trout, and several types of bass.
The Nebraska Sandhills
You might not think of fishing when you think of this unique region of Nebraska, but there are actually thousands of small lakes and larger bodies of water here, many of them with great fishing.
Loup City
Besides being a really beautiful place to spend a day or a weekend, Sherman Reservoir has great walleye, northern pike, crappie, catfish, and white bass fishing.
Village of Sutherland
Bass, bass, and more bass abound at this picturesque lake, but you’ll also find trout, crappie, and walleye.
Also known as Trenton Dam, this big reservoir is perfect for finding all kinds of panfish, or get into a boat and go after those big deep-water bass!
flickr/zuwapa
Most people know Two Rivers for the 10 cabooses that have been turned into sleeping cabins for up to six people each. But there’s also a great trout fishing lake as well as the Platte and Elkhorn rivers.
Wikimedia/MONGO
This lake on the grounds of Chalco Hills is stocked with carp, walleye, bluegill, crappie, largemouth bass, and channel and flathead catfish.
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