Days 10, 11 & 12-June 8-10


Alkali Fish Camp is the closest campground to the Valentine Wildlife Reserve which is where we want to try our luck at catching a Northern Pike.  Unfortunately their electric sites are full so we either have to camp without power or move to another campground.  The weather has finally cooled off so we decide we can function without air conditioning.  The price is right (no charge) and it is not like we are actually roughing it.  We can still cook, some lights work and our water tank is full. Jess says we are "Roughing it Smoothly".  The guy that runs the campground offered us some valuable advice about where we may be able to catch some fish. The wind blows in Nebraska, and blows, and blows.  When it does calm down it is just teasing you because it is just taking a big breath in order to blow even harder.  This makes it rather difficult to maneuver a canoe around and still manage to cast a fishing line.  Thanks to the advice we were given we found an area at the end of Dewey Lake that was protected slightly from the wind.  We each caught a few Pike and were really pleased with our first day of fishing.  After working our way around some weed beds into some quieter water I had a pretty large fish hit my spinner bait and then roll away.  I thought that was my big chance and I had missed it.  Not so, I didn't realize how determined these Northern Pike can be.  They don't just hit and leave, they keep coming back to eat whatever you are offering.  Sure enough he hit my lure again and I got him this time.  With quite a bit of coaching from Jess, after about 10 minutes I actually landed him and we were able to get a picture.  What a thrill! Even if I had not caught another fish the cost of my out of state 3 day license would have been worth every penny.  We did try two other lakes with some results but nothing to compare to our first day.  Friday we started catching some nice Bluegill so we kept just enough for our supper.  The fishing was great and we learned that we can survive quite well without power.  Another sideline to our 3 days at Alkali were the trips back and forth to the lakes.  We never made a trip that we didn't see wildlife.  There were countless varieties of birds, Trumpeter Swans, the most brilliantly colored pheasant, turkeys, deer, a raccoon, a turtle and even a few small snakes.  This area of Nebraska is amazing with its sand dunes, wildlife and beautiful lakes.

Nice Northern Pike!

Much nicer Northern Pike!

Blue Gill for supper.