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A GUIDE TO FISHING NEBRASKA IN 2017 By Daryl Bauer, Nebraska Game WALLEYE Nebraska's largest reservoirs are the state's best walleye habitats and consistently provide the best walleye fishing. Minatare, Winters Creek and Box Butte – all in the Panhandle – will be particularly good for numbers of eating- size walleyes in 2017. Calamus, Harlan and Maloney also will offer anglers good numbers, while Merritt, McConaughy, Elwood and Sherman will offer an opportunity to catch a big walleye, along with good quantities. Smaller reservoirs in eastern Nebraska are less ideal as walleye habitats, but anglers will have some opportunities to catch walleyes from those waters, including a shot at some big fish. Stagecoach, Czechland, Wagon Train, Yankee Hill and Wanahoo will be the best waters to catch a walleye in eastern Nebraska. Lots of walleyes, mostly 10-15 inches long, were sampled at Big Alkali and Lawrence Youngman last fall. WHITE BASS White bass also are open-water predator fish that thrive in Nebraska's largest reservoirs. The best white bass fisheries will be found at Swanson and Harlan, while Sherman, Maloney, McConaughy and Calamus will also be good. Typically, the largest white bass are found in waters that have lower densities; look to Minatare, Elwood, and Lewis & Clark for some white bass larger than 15 inches. Calamus and Harlan will offer a few big white bass, along with good numbers of fish. WIPER Wipers are white bass/striped bass hybrids, and like their parent species, they also are most successful in open-water habitats – Nebraska's largest reservoirs. Waters that offer good white bass fishing can be some of the state's best wiper fisheries, too. Calamus, Elwood, Minatare and Swanson will be the best reservoirs for 20-plus-inch wipers. Sampling catch rates of wipers in the fall of 2016 were very high at Maloney and Davis Creek, but most of those fish were less than 20 inches long. An even greater abundance of wipers was collected at Branched Oak in the fall, but those fish were less than 15 inches long, and all wipers there must be released. Smaller waters are less ideal wiper habitats, but Stagecoach and Wagon Train reservoirs in southeast Nebraska support some wipers in excess of 20 inches. BLUEGILL Bluegills can be found in a variety of waters across Nebraska. Anglers can take their kids out to catch some on just about any small body of water, but if 8-inch-plus bluegills are the target, there will be several candidate waters in 2017. Small- to medium-sized reservoirs will offer some of the best bluegill fishing again this year. Maple Creek, Iron Horse Trail and Czechland head the list. Summit, Maskenthine, Walnut Creek and Pibel will also be very good for 8-inch and larger bluegills. Sandhills lakes offer lower densities of bluegills, but can produce some trophies, with the biggest fish in excess of one pound. Anglers should remember that bluegills that big are rare fish and worthy of having a picture taken and then returned to the water. The best Sandhills lakes will be West Long on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, as well as Frye and Smith Wildlife Management Area lakes. Sandpits and interstate lakes can also offer some excellent chances for quality bluegills, including several pits on Fort Kearny State Recreation Area and East Odessa interstate lake. CRAPPIE Crappies can be found in abundance throughout Nebraska, but anglers are always on the look for waters that will produce fish larger than 10 inches. There will be numerous places in 2017 that will offer some very good crappie fishing, with Blue Lake and Whitney and Sherman reservoirs heading the list. Small to medium- sized reservoirs tend to be excellent crappie