Seward angler Monte Mares awed his neighbors -- and his angling buddies -- when he caught this near-8-pounder at a Seward County farm pond. Photo courtesy of Monte Mares.

It's March, and Nebraska bass fishermen are beginning to test the waters of the state in hopes that the fishing this year will be as rewarding as it has been over the past two or three years. In 2005, 465 trophy largemouths were entered in the Nebraska Game Commission's Master Angler Award program; in 2004, 444 awards were issued, and in 2003, 530 in total.

It's long been established that, over the years, the farm ponds and sandpit lakes in the state have produced the majority of the big bass. Any doubter has only to consult the Master Angler records.

Columbus' Joe Citta Jr. is president of the Nebraska B.A.S.S. Federation, which is made up of 36 local clubs strung out from Omaha to North Platte. Citta has been a member of the state association since 1978 and president for more than 20 years.

"Nebraska doesn't have much water that can host a large bass tournament," he acknowledged. "Merritt Reservoir and the Missouri River above Lewis and Clark Lake are about the only ones that offer enough room for our state tournament. However, the individual clubs throughout the state hold club contests on the little reservoirs such as Elwood, Burchard, Stagecoach, Buckskin Hills, Summit and Walnut Creek, as well as some of the sandpit lakes along Interstate 80. The state club also works with local clubs on youth projects, building brushpiles or other structures that will add to the bass habitats."

A member of the capital city's Blade Runner Bass Club, Dave Barnholdt reported that club members fish some of the Salt Valley Lakes in the Lincoln area such as Stagecoach, Wildwood and Wagon Train. "We make a trip or two each year up to the Missouri River above Lewis and Clark, where we catch smallmouth as well as largemouth," he said. "We also hit Zorinsky and Wehrspann in the Omaha area as well as Summit and Burchard lakes. We quite often run our tournaments a little different, because of catch-and-release. We card every fish over 12 1/2 inches in length that we catch, and the angler catching the top five wins it.

"Historically, I think Wildwood is the best little lake in this area. It fell on hard times a few years back, but it has been renovated and restocked now, and should be serving up some nice bass within the next couple of years."

The Lincoln angler's favorite lures include the jig-and-pig, the Brush Hog, crankbaits and tube lures.

Rodney Brase spends quite a bit of his bass-fishing time at the sandpit lakes along the Platte Valley. "I fish the sandpit lakes at the Fremont State Recreation area once in a while and have caught a few nice ones there despite the high use these sandpit lakes get," he said. "Summit Lake is back producing a lot of bass after it was renovated two or three years ago. They aren't real big yet, but there are good numbers that are over the 15-inch size limit."

Brase, a director of the state federation and a member of the Douglas County Bass Club, reports that club members also like to fish Walnut Creek, as well as the Missouri River from Sioux City to Yankton and from Niobrara to the South Dakota Border. "My biggest bass came from a sandpit lake," said the Omaha resident. "It weighed 6.6 and I caught it on a Rat-L-trap in mid-October. I use a variety of lures, but I do prefer small (3/16-inch-head) tube lures (in black) and small crankbaits for fishing the river. I also use buzzbaits quite a bit on the sandpit lakes."