I'm happy to hear the progess made healing the environment - not only from a fisherman/naturalist standpoint but also as a parent. We're making some signficant strides in the Midwest learning how to convert the cellulose instead of the corn to a sort of natural gas [my crude analysis] - not ethanol, and it's exciting stuff. It's a renewable, domestic, cleaner burning fuel alternative that's got a lot of us hopeful. As my kids age [5-7 yrs] I look at this world I'm leaving them and feel the urge to continue to work hard to be a responsible steward of the planet. One of the primary reasons I started my Eco company. One blade at a time!!!

Nebraska has a blue ribbon piece of water way West - the Snake River. Also the Niobrara holds some trout and some Western streams are stocked - but most of the good water is privately owned and guarded closely - which is understandable considering its such a rare commodity.

I travel every Summer to the Boulder and Yellowstone river drainage in Montana [Big Timber and Livingston ares] for my trout fix. Catching native Cutts on dries is the only healthy addiction I have!

My ponds are hopefully doing well - just dug last Spring. Under the generous guidance of Dr. Bruce I have a 3.5 acre pond with YP, BG, and HSB stocked. This spring I am adding RES, SMB and perhaps some Female LMB. My three other ponds are really tabla rosa. They are small .2, .25 and .35 acres - I was thinking of raising SMB in one, BG/RES hybrids in another and getting them feed trained to help local Pondmeisters as our local supply is not always reliable and to my knowledge the fish aren't pellet trained. Taking the top 5% and stocking back into my main pond -and keeping them for reproduction - selling the rest. We shall see - it all sounds simple enough - but who knows how much effort the plans will demand!?

I've entertained having my last pond spot dedicated to Rainbows as a gift to my father who introduced me to fishing. However, the resources demanded by a trout pond in NE are significant [according to the esteemed Mr Baird 45 GPM well water during warm months]and I'm not sure I am prepared to dedicate at this time.

I'm literally chomping at the bit to get my feeders, aeration systems and waterfalls in place this Summer. Never has a Winter passed so slowly since I had my own water to manage. I imagine many of you can sympathize with that feeling of your "Rookie Winter".

I am definitely going to be at the conference, it's just a stone's throw from Lincoln, actually. How is your pond - what do you have going on?

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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