2004 FISHING CALENDAR The calendar is in PDF format. The Adobe Reader can be downloaded for free here.

By Walt Tegtmeier

Winter, spring, summer, fall -- there's simply no way to tackle it all. Another year of tough decisions awaits anglers across the Great Plains. The rest of the country may be oblivious to the quantity and quality of fishing opportunities in these parts, but that's fine with most of us. Fishing in the Great Plains is arguably better than ever. There's no shortage of opportunity - only of time.

From frozen water to the spring bonanza to the dog days of summer and autumn's grand finale, there's a can't-miss bite going on somewhere in the region. Whether you're bound to one state or able to travel across the Great Plains, one thing's for certain: You don't have to leave the heartland to find outstanding angling throughout 2004. Here's a sample.

The colder the weather, the hotter the fishing for wipers, stripers and white bass is apt to get. Photo courtesy of Walt Tegtmeier

This 5,090-acre gem east of Burlington is one of the state's finest temperate bass fisheries; it's also one of its most difficult to fish. Fortunately, the lake fishes much smaller in winter. Most of the action takes place in the northern end near the one and only boat ramp. A quick, careful ride to the hot-water discharge canal will put you at the center of the action. Once there, casting or trolling lipless rattle baits is the surest way to entice aggressively feeding white bass and wipers, which may school together or separately. Jigs dressed with soft-plastic shad bodies draw strikes between feeding binges.

Coffey's white bass are some of the largest specimens in the state, and though the lake's wipers aren't the biggest, they are quite numerous. For anglers who can stay on fish throughout the day, 100-fish mixed bags are fairly common.

Anglers can expect to tangle with good numbers of northerns in the 3-pound range at Dry Lake, though plenty of 7- to 12-pounders pop their heads through the ice in February, too. Standard operating procedure for Dry Lake pike is dead smelt or packaged herring on tip-ups. Look for fish as shallow as 3 feet or as deep as 18. Four tip-ups are allowed per angler, so set up perpendicular to the shore and stagger the tip-ups at four separate depths until the right depth zone is established. Some anglers opt for the two tip-up, two-rod approach, using live or dead bait under a slip-bobber.

The same pattern can be applied to any of the smaller glacial lakes around Devils Lake such as Sweetwater and Morrisson lakes, just two of many that offer great pike action through the ice.

By early March, water temperatures at most lakes in the Sunflower State are in the low 50s, and bass are on the move, searching out suitable spawning grounds. A couple of warm, sunny days will be all it takes to get these fish to ascend from their deep wintering holes and move toward gravel banks, creek arms and protected coves. Pre-spawn hunger is unleashed on mature shad that have struggled through winter and may not live to see spring before falling prey to the gorging largemouths. A delicately twitched, neutrally buoyant jerkbait worked near likely spawning grounds is just the ticket for big March bass, regardless of the Kansas waterway they inhabit.

Since the state's small reservoirs are first to hit the magic 50-degree mark, lakes like Bone Creek, Leavenworth State Fishing Lake, Banner Creek and Lake Shawnee in the east are the best bets early on. All can produce 50-bass days or better. But for great numbers action and the chance for a 6-pounder or better, try Cedar Bluff Reservoir south of Hays.

As soon as the ice clears and early spring rains warm reservoir coves and bays, channel cats start making a move toward shallow water. They won't be spawning for a couple of months, but they'll be making up for lost time at the dinner table. Winterkilled or wounded shad will be the featured entrée, the powerful Nebraska winds delivering the meals to hungry cats in the shallows.

Typically, the west end of Lake McConaughy is the place to be for ice-out channel cats. But owing to the low water and access to only one boat ramp at Big Mac, Harlan County Reservoir should be the best thing going for 2004. Harlan's coves and creek arms are perfect for drifting with cut shad, but don't rule out any stretch of shoreline that's getting pounded by wind. Anglers can expect scores of eating-sized fish and the occasional 10- to 20-pound brute.

Over the past decade, three reservoirs in the eastern half of the state have emerged as outstanding smallmouth fisheries. Melvern Lake, Milford and Coffey County comprise what's becoming known as the Kansas "smallmouth triangle." All support burgeoning smallmouth populations. Coffey is the numbers king; Milford has big smallies; Melvern gets the nod for its combination of both.

Starting as early as late April, Melvern bronzebacks begin showing up in large numbers along the rocky shallows of the lake's southern shores. Small bass jigs teamed with pork or soft-plastic trailers are deadly when worked along rock and gravel shorelines and points. As spring temperatures warm, try jig-and-grub combinations or tube baits. Although 2003 was less stellar than previous years have been, this lake still has the bruiser smallies that it's known for, and an excellent population of maturing fish.

To make the most of this magical month, it just makes good sense to be where the most walleyes are. South Dakota's Missouri River reservoirs have some of the largest fish-per-acre ratios in the world. And lately, low flows at Lake Oahe and other reservoirs in the system have all those fish concentrated in a lot less water.

Oahe currently has an overabundance of walleyes - so much so that the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks has increased the limit and lowered license rates to reduce walleye numbers. Still, 50- to 100-fish days are the rule in June.

Bottom-bouncers and Lindy rigs tipped with crawlers and leeches take the majority of Oahe's post-spawn walleyes. Spinner harnesses, floating jigheads or plain hooks with beads work best behind the bouncer or rig. Look for fish on both main-lake and secondary points, typically in the 15- to 30-foot depth zone. Once your limit is filled, try trolling crankbaits along shoreline contours for a shot at a real Oahe bruiser.

Aside from private sandpits and farm ponds, the natural Sandhills lakes in north-central Nebraska offer the finest bass action in the state. For most Great Plains bass anglers, it's a long trip to Cherry County, Neb. Though a late-May or early-June trip there may yield better odds at a 6-pounder, frequent cold fronts can easily induce a weekend skunking. That's why July's stable weather makes for more-reliable action. These shallow waterways are thick with vegetation at this time of year, which makes topwater and surface fly presentations the rule.

Many solid bass lakes dot the 20,000-square mile Sandhills region, but those on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge are perennial producers. Duck, Clear, Hackberry, Rice and Pelican lakes are all good bets, though Watts Lake has the reputation for truly big bass.

During August, the Red is down to its normal size after heavy spring flows, and the river's legendary catfish populations have long since completed their spawn. Up there, where summer is short, the fish seem to know that cold weather is never far behind and they do a lot of eating when food is most plentiful. Anglers can catch gobs of cats on night crawlers and dough bait, but most of the Red River giants are taken on fresh goldeye (a.k.a. "skipjack"), the dominant forage in the river's dingy water.

Whether you chase cats from a boat or the bank, you can't go wrong targeting the many lowhead dams found along this north-flowing river. Most fish run between 2 and 7 pounds, and the farther north you go, the better the average size. A good day on the Red typically includes at least one big cat over 10 pounds, maybe even a 20.

A trip to Lake Sharpe in September can put the Great Plains angler into smallmouth nirvana. There are untold numbers of bronzebacks swimming about its 63,000 acres (it's more like 50,000 at recent levels), but locating their deepwater haunts can be tricky in July and August. Now, as water temperatures cool, the fish return to shallow, rocky structures in less than 15 feet and are much easier to find and catch. The action is especially good from West Bend to Big Bend Dam in the Fort Thompson area, where anglers enjoy exceptional catch-and-release fishing for 12- to 16-inch fish. Tube jigs and crankbaits get the nod more often than not, though hair jigs with plastic or pork trailers account for some of the larger 18-inch-plus smallies in Sharpe.

Note that a 12- to 18-inch slot limit was imposed on Lake Sharpe in 2003, and that only one fish over 18 inches may be kept. The new regulations promise to make this smallmouth goldmine even better in 2004.

Nestled in the state wildlife management area east of Chadron is Big Bordeaux Creek. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission manages the stream for trophy trout (catch-and-release, artificial lures only, barbless hooks). Hefty 2- to 3-pound browns are getting more and more common. The upper end's complement of fish consists mostly of small stream brookies perfect for a 3-weight fly rod and small dry flies and nymphs. Soldier Creek west of Fort Robinson State Park is another place to spend a day battling cooperative brook trout.

Whichever stream you choose in the Pine Ridge, be prepared to hoof it a ways to get there. Fortunately, there's plenty of good walk-in access; the trees are beautiful, weeds are down, bugs are gone. And scrappy trout await your arrival.

Unlike most of the state's flatland and hill-land impoundments, Elwood's terrain is more canyon-like, which gives it more shelter from the bitter winds and lots of deep-water structure for anglers to target. Walleyes congregate on deep points and humps in the main lake and some of the deeper creek arms, where they lurk under large schools of alewives. Look for both structure and baitfish on your graph and go to work.

With water temperatures in the low 40s and the walleyes in 30 to 40 feet of water, it's time to start thinking vertical. By slowly jigging slab spoons and blade baits, anglers can lock up with several good walleyes per day at Elwood. An angler can't expect the fast pace of May or June in November, but many of the bites will be big fish.

Hillsdale Lake, southwest of Kansas City, ranks high among a strong field of winter crappie contenders in Kansas. At Hillsdale - and other Kansas crappie lakes - the fish can take some finding, but once located they're generally in a compliant mode. Look for fish to congregate in deep water around river channel swings in the main lake, especially where deep timber or sunken brush is present along the channel. Depths can reach 35 feet or more, but the crappie will almost always suspend somewhere between 10 feet and the bottom.

Although the word is out on this hot winter bite, January and February take the brunt of the fishing pressure. For those who can break away from the deer woods or the shopping mall, 100-fish days await at Hillsdale and other Kansas crappie lakes.