I was born on the western edge of Nebraska’s Sandhills and am a descendant of homesteaders, farmers, and ranchers. If you believed the presettlement maps, the Sandhills was considered the “great American desert.” It was and still is an arid place, where grasses stabilize sand dunes. Aside from some hay fields, my ancestors learned the region was best for raising cattle—too dry to farm.
Surprisingly, numerous wetlands and lakes lie in the valleys and flats between those grassy sand dunes. We had a lake on our place. It was a great spot for paddling a homemade kayak, hunting ducks and geese, or skating in the winter. I enjoyed those activities, but fish run in my blood. I was always more interested in what was swimming beneath the surface of our Sandhills lake.
I have been peering into the water trying to make contact with what swims in those Sandhills waters ever since. Oh, what treasures I have found.
Nebraska is a place where north meets south and east meets west. The state lies in the middle of not only a country but a continent, with great diversity in geography and climate from one corner of Nebraska to the other. Some would argue that Nebraska is nothing but a transitional zone between varieties of landscapes. Except for the Sandhills; they are uniquely Nebraska.
The most well-known standing waters in Nebraska are human-made reservoirs, whereas almost all the state’s natural lakes are in the Sandhills. Especially in the western Sandhills, the lakes are either too shallow or contain too many minerals to support fish. Fortunately, others are fed by the abundant groundwater that percolates through and beneath the sandy soils. What the cowboys called “sweet water” lakes are some of the most productive fisheries in the Great Plains.
Sandhills lakes contain fish more commonly found in places to the north, south, east, and west. These fish likely found their way to the region during periods when the climate was much different than today’s. Even now during wet years, lakes can become connected as water fills the valleys and low spots. Although records are sparse back in time, no doubt human activities have moved and stocked many fish throughout the Sandhills.
Flowing Waters
The headwaters of Sandhills streams and rivers start in marshy, wet meadows. In places groundwater can be seen percolating up through the sand. Some of the state’s rarest and prettiest fish can be found in those pure headwater streams. A variety of dace, pearl, finescale, and northern redbelly are found nowhere else in Nebraska; in fact, they are commonly found in places far north of Nebraska. The disjunct populations here are testament to a time when the climate was much colder. These fish persist in Sandhills headwaters only because they found refuges of clean, cool spring water.
Plains topminnows can be found in rivers and streams throughout Nebraska but are particularly abundant in slow-flowing Sandhills streams. These colorful fish, usually found hovering near the surface, are probably more abundant there than anywhere in the world.
If you look closely, down on the gravel where you might expect a fish without a swim-bladder, colorful Iowa, and in some cases, orangethroat darters can be found zipping about.
Flowing downstream, streams become rivers; habitat and fish communities change. In most cases Sandhills rivers possess species that are common in flowing waters throughout Nebraska. A variety of minnows that thrive in sandy, prairie streams are typical. Red, sand, and bigmouth shiners are common, as are central stonerollers and longnose dace. Flathead and creek chubs are prevalent, as well as western silvery and plains minnows. The diversity of relatively small minnows may not seem like much to anglers, but they are important to the ecosystem and provide tasty meals for a variety of mammals, reptiles, and birds.
Indeed, Sandhills streams and rivers are brimming with fish, but recreational fishing on those waters is limited. Stretches that support introduced brown or rainbow trout are of special importance to Nebraska anglers.
Unfortunately, barriers, some natural but mostly human-made dams, prevent upstream migration of channel catfish and other species that could provide additional recreational fishing opportunity on Sandhills rivers. As a result, large fish found in many stretches of Sandhills rivers are limited to white and other suckers and carp. Gar can be found in the lower reaches of rivers, such as the Loup.
Standing Waters
Wet meadows can be found throughout the Sandhills. During wet periods those meadows expand by acres and acres. A variety of pioneer fish species can be found in the wet meadows, marshes, and even flooded road ditches. Fathead minnows, green sunfish, black bullheads, and grass pickerel are quick to take advantage of newly flooded habitats.
Larger lakes and more perennial standing waters commonly have those same species of fish present and are home to many others. Sandhills lakes with enough depth to support fish year-round and with relatively low alkalinities are incredibly productive. These lakes are shallow, twenty feet or less, and are essentially food shelves. They support a diversity of aquatic vegetation and an incredible number of aquatic insects, amphibians, crustaceans, aquatic worms and leeches, snails, and a variety of other small creatures that provide an abundant buffet of fish food.
Some of the fish species that thrive in the Sandhills lake habitats include northern pike, which are believed to be a native species; the Sandhills appear to be the northern pike’s southernmost range. Yellow perch are another cool-water species that reach their peak abundance in Sandhills lakes.
Sandhills lakes produce some of the fastest growing and largest bluegills and black crappies in the Great Plains. Largemouth bass also thrive in the expanses of aquatic vegetation. Walleye and even hybrid saugeye (sauger × walleye) have been introduced to some Sandhills lakes; they are most successful in lakes with less submerged aquatic vegetation and harder sand substrates.
Research shows Sandhills lakes are so productive that fish communities function differently in them. Unlike other standing waters, interspecific competition is seldom a limiting factor because there is enough food for all. Environmental factors, weather, and amount of precipitation are more likely to limit reproduction and numbers of fish. When present, northern pike are the apex predator and influence the size distribution of panfish populations. Other animals, such as turtles, mammals, fish-eating birds, and waterfowl, thrive in the Sandhills because of the productivity of the waters and the fish they produce.
In the Great Plains, where water is limited, every waterbody can be an important fishery. This has been especially true for generations of Nebraska anglers who have fished the Sandhills lakes. Historical black-and-white photos of homesteaders show smiling faces and stringers of fish. Maybe somewhat surprisingly, with the abundance of aquatic vegetation in the summer, ice fishing has been particularly popular on Sandhills lakes.
Fortunately, the Sandhills are made of sand. Farming and irrigation have made minimal marks on the Sandhills and its waters. While human presence can be seen in the barbed wire fences and windmills, for the most part, the Sandhills are relatively untouched. As long as grass holds the dunes and water percolates through the sand, the waters will flow and supply productive habitats for an abundance of fish—treasures waiting to be discovered by future generations of Nebraskans.