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& Development, and the Sandhills Task Force and the renovation of the lake in December 2012. The partnership also led to an agreement that opened the lake to the public. Anglers will find excellent water quality and good fish populations, with keeper-sized fish expected in 2016. A public boat ramp will be completed by summer 2016. Anglers need to follow the signs to access location. No live baitfish allowed, no camping. Willow Lake WMA 400 Acres. Brown County, 18½S, 12½W, 1N of Ainsworth. Bluegill, Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch, Walleye. Willow Lake was renovated in 2013 and has seen very high growth rates for perch and is producing quality bass and bluegill as well. Walleye were stocked in 2015. With depths of up to 10 feet, it is one of the deeper Sandhills lakes. Primitive boat ramp, primitive camping. Snowmobiles and ATVs allowed on ice. Tower Lake (Yellowthroat WMA) 75 Acres. Brown County, 12½S, 1½E of Ainsworth. Bluegill, Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch. This U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-owned lake is consistently one of the best fisheries in the region, producing some big crappies, perch and bluegills and excellent bass. The west lake is open to ice fishing only and the east is open year round. Boat access is via a primitive ramp in a ditch connecting the lakes. Access can be difficult in low water but is better since the ditch was dug out in recent years. Electric motors or non-powered boats only. Daytime access only. Cozad Lake (South Pine WMA) 80 Acres. Brown County, 11S, 2W of Long Pine. Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch. Drought and low water have hampered this lake and its normally good bluegill population in recent years, but it still holds some big largemouth bass and some perch and bluegill. Deeper water is found in the east half of the lake. The west half is private, but anglers can float across a fence line dividing the lake to fish from a boat (no bank fishing is allowed on west half) when water levels are high enough. Concrete boat ramp, primitive camping. Twin Lakes WMA North Lake: 105 Acres. South Lake: 82 Acres. Rock County, 16S, 2½E, 2S of Bassett. Bluegill, Common Carp, Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch. These lakes are hampered by abundant carp, but work to install fish barriers and renovate the watershed and lakes should be complete in 2016. Twin Lakes has provided excellent perch, crappie, bass and pike fishing in the past, and is expected to do so again when that work is done. Planning is underway to construct new boat ramps on both lakes to replace the primitive launches. Primitive camping. Overton Lake 135 Acres. Holt County, 21S, 5E of Newport. Common Carp, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch. This shallow, private lake is leased for ice-fishing and open December 1 - March 15 only. Fishing is currently poor due to carp entering the lake during high water in 2011 and winter-kill caused by low water in 2013. Biologists are considering renovating and restocking the lake, but no timetable has been set. All other access by permission only. NEBRASKAland Magazine • Fishing the Sandhills T he shallow nature of Sandhills lakes, and the variability of water levels from year to year, makes constructing boat ramps that function a challenge. Wherever possible, the Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manage the Crescent Lake and Valentine National Wildlife refuges, have built concrete ramps. These may be poured concrete, or an articulated design that links concrete blocks with cables. Where the accompanying list notes there is a primitive ramp, rock or gravel has often been added to shore up the sandy lakebed. In some cases, however, including several on the Valentine Refuge, a launch is nothing more than a gap in the cattails that is wide enough to back a boat trailer into. When water levels are high, it is possible to launch larger boats on even some of the primitive ramps. When levels are low, however, the shallow nature of the lakes make it a challenge to get even a small boat in the water on the best ramps, and four-wheel-drive vehicles are required. In these cases, smaller is better, and light boats that can be thrown in the back of a truck or winched onto a tilt trailer from a foot of water are not only your best bet, they're your only one. Many who have found themselves backing 20 yards into the lake hoping to find water deep enough to float their boat have also found themselves looking for someone with 20 yards of chain or tow rope. In some lakes, getting to the boat launch might even require four-wheel drive, or at least a vehicle with high clearance, as some lakes are at the end of a two-track trail road. Which isn't a bad thing. Boat Ramps W 400 ● 13 T 5 ● 14 C 80 ● 15 T ● 16 O 135 ● 17 PHOTO BY JUSTIN HAAG The primitive boat ramp at Shell Lake near Gordon.

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