Blue Stem Lake in Sheridan County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Blue Stem Lake is listed under Sheridan County, Nebraska. The surface lies 3,891 feet up. With some 111 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The full circuit measures close to 1.7 miles on foot. Compared with other Nebraska water on our list, it sits high. Alliance lies 13 miles from the water. Greeley sits 151 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Blue Stem Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Species logged across Sheridan County include white sucker, brown trout and rock bass. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. At Blue Stem Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 74°F and January reads 24°F. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around mid March. The lid tends to go about mid March and return around mid December. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. Blue Stem Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. The nearest alternative is Sturgeon Lake, 1 mile out. Where Blue Stem Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.