Last Updated: Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Welcome to our website’s news page!
1/25/08
Happy Holidays from the management and staff at Merritt Trading Post & Resort! We
hope 2007 saw all of your outdoor plans, goals and aspirations realized. The chilly
nights have put plenty ice cover on the lake. If hard water fishing is your thing,
now is the time to get your gear together and head our way. Boardman Creek near
Beed’s Landing has around 16” of ice as of today although warming temperatures towards
the weekend could thin the ice. I just talked to my friend Kent who has made several
trips! The bite has been good for crappie from first ice to date. The Corky Thornton
Memorial Ice Tournament was held last weekend during extremely cold, snowy & windy
conditions. Forty-four teams participated with thirty-one teams weighing fish. Three
teams put more than twenty pounds on the scales. Kent & Danny Priel of North Platte
& Gothenburg placed first with a 50 fish limit weighing 24.50#. Big Crappie was
1.81 pounds, big perch was 1.40 pounds. Considering the weather conditions, I thought
the tournament results were good. I’m predicting a good result on crappie the balance
of the hard water season with a really strong late ice bite before the lake thaws.
We have a few cabins available for winter sports so call us for a reservation.
Fall Deer camp was lots of fun and very productive for most of our hunters. White
tail numbers are way up and Mule deer are also doing well. The average size of bucks
taken all fall was very impressive. We will soon be updating our photo gallery so
be sure to check out the pictures. The muzzle loader hunters reported there were
still plenty of nice bucks. Sharp-tail Grouse numbers are way up as well. So far
the grouse have wintered well. A good spring hatch could translate into a fantastic
fall grouse hunting in 2008. To round out our hunting report, consider booking a
cabin for spring turkey. Fall hunters had great success the first 2 ½ weeks of the
season and we look for lots of birds around the lake in the spring. Coyote numbers
are down and this has really helped bird populations.
Winters chill makes spring seem far away but it will be here before we know it.
2007 was a great year to be fishing at Merritt and far exceeded 2006 in both size
and numbers. The bite stayed strong most days spring, summer, and fall, despite
often unsettled or windy weather. The “average” winter we finally got in ‘06/’07
(with ice cover on the lake December through most of March) thinned out the forage
base of alewives. This did not occur in the previous couple of years. With a little
less forage in the lake, the fish woke up in the spring with an appetite that stayed
strong through July then picked up again in September with great action on walleye
well into October. This winter the ice cover is even better so I’m predicting yet
another season of great fishing at Merritt. The Game & Parks fall reservoir survey
has once again put Merritt at the head of the class for both size and numbers of
Walleye in 2008. The fall net survey indicated our population was the states best
by a wide margin so make plans now to come get your share. Our late summer(August
& September) pan fish bite was good with lots of nice stringers of quality perch.
Largemouth and smallmouth bass along with northern pike have provided consistent
action during the spring and summer months. Although the pike fishing slowed during
late summer our bass continued to bite well until water temps fell below 50 degrees.
Along with the typical productive patterns at Merritt (slip bobbers, bottom bouncer/spinner
rigs, Lindy rigs and later on crank baits) the surprise lure for 2007 was spinner
baits. These lures have always been good bass and pike baits. This year they also
produced some great stringers of walleyes with a few big white bass and crappies
mixed in. The spinner bait bite stayed strong on all these species as long as there
was good weed cover to throw them in. This year also showed us the best Muskie action
we have seen so far. I’m now comfortable saying that Merritt has a very fishable
muskie population with good numbers of fish exceeding 40”. Maybe in 2008 someone
will finally land that new state record we know is swimming out there. Channel Cat
fishing was great all spring and summer. We filled out dozens of Master Angler applications
for 12 to 29 pound cats. With the early ice cover, I am predicting another excellent
spring, summer and fall for fishing at Merritt.
So work those new fishing and hunting goodies you found under the tree into your
boats, tackle boxes and gear bags and get ready to come to the sandhills for more
fun and adventures. See you at Merritt!
Your Friends, The Bauers
Merritt University Angler of the Year Award
Congratulations to Teresa Lewis whom we are awarding the “Angler of the Year” honors
for 2007. Teresa, who is a summer employee of the Nebraska Game & Parks Merritt
maintenance staff, became interested in fishing during her off hours in 2006. We
lightheartedly referred to her as “The Rookie” because she often stopped by the
store on her way fishing for advice on knots, rigging, lures, baits, and locations.
She asked us all the questions any beginning angler might and we helped her as we
do many of our customers by teaching a few basic knots & rigging techniques. She
proved to be an apt student and went after Merritt’s many species with great determination
and enthusiasm. She often went fishing in less than comfortable wind and weather
conditions but whenever her time permitted a couple of hours to be near the water.
Not having a boat did not prove to be a great handicap as she found several good
spots to fish from the shoreline.
2007 was a breakthrough year for Teresa as you can see from the accompanying pictures.
Highlights of her 2007 fishing season include a 22# channel catfish, a 13.5# Northern
Pike and a 7.5# walleye along with some nice sized largemouth and smallmouth bass
and numerous pan fish.
When we asked Teresa what advice she had for anglers new to Merritt she said “The
fish are out there so stay after them. You don’t have to have a boat to catch fish.”
We are awarding Teresa a nice tackle assortment and a copy of “Water Proof Book
of Basic Fishing Knots” by Geoff Wilson. This water proof, tackle box sized guide
to knots is the best one we have found and available at the Trading Post for $8.95.
Please join us in congratulating Teresa Lewis for being named the “Merritt University”
Angler of The Year.
John Bauer & the Trading Post Crew