Nebraska got a taste of spring last week.

Blue skies, breezes from the south and temperatures in the 70s gave us all a much needed respite from the deep freeze.

The fortunate among us went fishing.

The rest of us dreamed about fishing.

Well, stop dreaming and get ready to wet a line.

The Journal Star’s 2009 Fishing Forecast will help you know where to go when spring rolls around for real.

Species-by-species recommendations will point you to the top public lakes in Nebraska in 2009. The rankings are based on fish sampling data compiled by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Jeff Jackson, fisheries manager for Southeast Nebraska, also offered his picks for lakes closer Lincoln. His comments follow the statewide rankings.

The recommendations are generally weighted toward lakes that contain higher densities of bigger fish. In other words, a lake with more lunkers will make the top five before one with a bunch of small fry.

And biologists can’t get to all of the 450 public water bodies in Nebraska. So if a lake does not appear in the rankings, it may not have been sampled since last fall.

For a complete report on sampling results by Game and Parks Commission, plus special regulations, bag limits and other information, go to www.OutdoorNebraska.org.

In the meantime, sharpen your hooks, air up your float tube and make sure the outboard runs.

It won’t be long now.

Reach Joe Duggan at 473-7239 or jduggan@journalstar.com.

Bluegill

Habitat: shallow weedbeds, along dams, sunken timber.

Temperature: active 64-72; spawn 67-80.

Food: insects, worms.

Lures/baits: nymphs, wet/dry flies, small jigs/spinners, crawlers, wax worms, crickets.

Top five lakes: Walnut Creek (Papillion), Louisville 1A (Louisville), Merganser (Kramer), Wildwood (Agnew), and Olive Creek (Kramer).

Best options in the Salt Valley: Olive Creek Lake near Kramer, Redtail Lake near Dwight, Burchard Lake near Burchard, Czechland Lake near Prague and Walnut Creek near Papillion offer the best chance at bluegill in the 8-inch size range, Jackson said.

For higher catch rates, he recommended Holmes and Bowling lakes in Lincoln and Wildwood Lake near Agnew. The two Lincoln lakes would be great choices for young anglers.

Channel catfish

Habitat: submerged stream channels and drop-offs in lakes; holes, drop-offs and snags in rivers.

Temperature: active 60-75; spawn 75-78.

Food: fresh and decaying fish/meat.

Lures/baits: commercial stink baits; dead shad, blood, fowl livers, frogs, minnows and crawlers.

Top five lakes: Sutherland (Sutherland), Holmes (Lincoln), Wildwood (Agnew), Calamus (Burwell) and Wagon Train (Hickman).

Best options in the Salt Valley: Practically any lake in Southeast Nebraska has channel catfish, but one of the best catfish lakes is in the region — Wagon Train near Hickman. Biologists sampled more channels more than 2 feet long in Wagon Train than any lake in the state.

Other good choices are Holmes Lake in Lincoln and Wildwood (catch-and-release only) near Agnew. Branched Oak near Malcolm is a perennial channel cat producer and it also offers blue catfish and massive flatheads.

Crappie

Habitat: weedbeds, flooded trees, rocky points, drop-offs and ledges in deep water.

Temperature: active 65-74; spawn 55-65.

Food: insects, worms, crustaceans and fish.

Lures/baits: small jigs, Beetlespins, Roadrunners, inline spinners and minnows.

Top five lakes: Stagecoach (Hickman), Wehrspann (Omaha), Louisville 1 (Louisville), Branched Oak, (Malcolm), and Whitney (Chadron).

Best options in the Salt Valley: Bigger reservoirs tend to produce bigger crappie. But Southeast Nebraska doesn’t have big reservoirs, which makes finding foot-long slabs a challenge.

Czechland Lake near Prague ranks as the top crappie lake in the region, Jackson said. Other options are Branched Oak near Malcolm, as well as Wagon Train and Stagecoach near Hickman. If you and a kid just want to catch lots of crappie, Pawnee Lake would be a good choice.

Largemouth bass

Habitat: weedbeds, submerged stumps/brush; drop-offs and ledges in deep water.

Temperature: active 60-76; spawn 62-65.

Food: fish, crayfish and insects.

Lures/baits: spinnerbaits, crankbaits, buzzbaits, plastic worms, jigs, nightcrawlers, minnows and crayfish.

Top five lakes: Kea (Kearney), Bufflehead (Kearney), Louisville 2 (Louisville), Cottonmill (Kearney) Holmes (Lincoln).

Best options in the Salt Valley: Technically, you have to venture a bit outside of the Salt Valley to get there, but Burchard Lake near Burchard is always in contention for the top largemouth lake in the state.

Jackson also likes Wildwood Lake near Agnew for bass in 2009. Other options are Holmes in Lincoln and Verdon Lake down in Richardson County. One sleeper pick: Iron Horse Trail Lake near DuBois has some bigger bass in it, but the lake is scheduled for renovation this summer, so fish it early.

Walleye

Habitat: open water; clean, hard bottoms at various depths; rivers, drop-offs below sandbars.

Temperature: active 65-74; spawn 42-50.

Food: fish.

Lures/baits: jigs, crankbaits, Lindy rigs, jigging spoons, minnows, nightcrawlers, leeches.

Top five lakes: Merritt (Valentine), McConaughy (Ogallala), Maloney (North Platte), Lewis and Clark (Crofton), and Yankee Hill (Denton).

Best options in the Salt Valley: Four of the five reservoirs in the list above are usual suspects, but Yankee Hill Lake near Denton makes it’s first appearance in the top five in many years.

The commission recently completed an aquatic habitat rehab project on Yankee Hill, and walleye have really taken off. It’s too early to be a trophy producer, but the lake has a good number of walleyes between 15 and 20 inches, Jackson said.

Other walleye options are Wagon Train and Stagecoach lakes near Hickman. Head to Branched Oak Lake near Malcolm for a chance at bigger walleyes.

White bass

Habitat: open water in reservoirs; rivers.

Temperature: active 55-80; spawn 58-70.

Food: insects and fish, especially shad.

Lures/baits: minnows, jigs, crankbaits, surface topwater plugs, Roadrunners, inline spinners.

Top five lakes: Swanson (Trenton), Harlan (Republican City), Enders (Imperial), Maloney (North Platte) and Whitney (Chadron).

Best options in the Salt Valley: Pawnee Lake near Emerald is really the only choice in eastern Nebraska. But Jackson said a few white bass have turned up in East Twin Lake north of Pleasant Dale.

Wiper (striped bass hybrid)

Habitat: open water in reservoirs.

Temperature: active 64-72 degrees.

Food: fish, especially shad and alewife.

Bait/lures: jigs in spring and fall; crankbaits and topwater plugs in summer; live shiners/shad where allowed.

Top five lakes: Calamus (Burwell), Red Willow (McCook), Minatare (Scottsbluff), Elwood (Elwood) and Stagecoach (Hickman).

Best options in the Salt Valley: Stagecoach Lake near Hickman has a strong wiper population with some fish longer than 20 inches. Branched Oak Lake near Malcolm is another good choice for wipers in the region. Wagon Train, also near Hickman, has a lower density but they seem to be doing well, Jackson said.