A good place to take the family - perch, gills and crappie?

[wkirklandco]

Hello Nebraska Ice Shanty Members!

I'm a Colorado Ice Shanty member, but I'd like to take my wife and kids ice fishing in western Nebraska.

Are there any lakes someone could recommend for a weekend trip? I'd like to go to a smaller body of water because I don't have a snow machine or ATV.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My plan was to come out on Hwy34 to McCook, then head north to North Platte and head back to Colorado on 76.

I've researched the Nebraska game and parks fishing map, but can't tell how hard it is to access some waters.

[Bergy1]

First off, I have not fished that far west. Nebraska game and Parks has a ling on the where to fish section that gives a good bit of info on the I-80 corridor lakes. Has lake maps and fishing info on them.

Second, might be bad timing for this trip. I'm going to bet there will be open water near the McCook area. Would definitely not go on the ice in that area. Has been very warm and no cold in the forecast. Not sure what the ice would be like near North Platte, but probably much of the same.

Good luck if you do the trip and be very careful with the ice in Nebraska right now.

[jhankla]

Bergy1 is right.  I'm from North Platte and I don't think I'd make the trip to this area to get on the ice.  I haven't been out around here since Sunday, but there was only 6-7 inches of very poor ice then.  It has been warm and windy every day since.  I would recommend heading to the northern part of the state if you want to fish Nebraska.  Merritt or the refuge still has good ice from what I've read on here. 

[whitetips]

Hello Nebraska Ice Shanty Members!

I'm a Colorado Ice Shanty member, but I'd like to take my wife and kids ice fishing in western Nebraska.

Are there any lakes someone could recommend for a weekend trip? I'd like to go to a smaller body of water because I don't have a snow machine or ATV.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My plan was to come out on Hwy34 to McCook, then head north to North Platte and head back to Colorado on 76.

I've researched the Nebraska game and parks fishing map, but can't tell how hard it is to access some waters.

Start here, http://outdoornebraska.org/Fishing/pdfs/FishForecast.pdf.

Then keep in mind that all public waters are listed in the back of the Fishing Guide, http://outdoornebraska.org/fishing/guides/fishguide/pdf/FishGuide.pdf.  That will give you an idea of directions to each body of water, what species are present and then how large the water body is.  Almost all of them you can fish just fine WITHOUT a snow mobile or ATV.

Ice conditions in southwest Nebraska might be marginal, the farther north you can go the better.  If you can head up into the sandhills, Valentine National Wildlife Refuge is one of the best ice fishing spots in Nebraska and has been for a long, long time, http://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Hunting%20and%20Fishing%20brochure.pdf, Merritt Reservoir is also nearby, https://www.facebook.com/MTPResort, lodging and restaurants in Valentine, http://visitvalentine.org/business-directory/.

The Nebraska panhandle would also offer some good options, Smith Lake south of Rushville would be a good one, clear to the northwest corner of Nebraska Box Butte Reservoir would be another good choice.

Hope that gives you some ideas.  Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with,

Daryl B.

[wkirklandco]

Thank you all!

I did research the Nebraska Game and Fish website. The only problem I had was that the lake conditions map didn't have any up-to-date information. All the southern and western lakes I was looking at had reports dated from last year.

I think I'm going to take an initial scouting trip to some of the lakes you guys mention. I'll go out in one day and see what the ice is like and bring my family out the next weekend.

Thank you all again! We've always enjoyed our summer family trips to Nebraska, but this will be our first winter trip.