Butch Lake Fishing Guide, Morrill County, Nebraska

• Overview

  Butch Lake is set in Morrill County, Nebraska. It stands 3,898 feet above sea level. At about 32 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Compared with other Nebraska water on our list, it sits high. Start from Alliance, 16 miles down the road. The big place round here is Greeley, 150 miles distant. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Butch Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Morrill County records list brown trout, rainbow trout and longnose sucker among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Butch Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from 24°F in January up to 74°F in July. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. After mid March the shallows warm and the fish move up. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about mid March until roughly early December. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. Anyone fishing Butch Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. Mapping shows no built access close by; expect to walk in from wherever you can leave the car. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Home Lake sits 1.4 miles off and takes the overflow. None of that is settled for Butch Lake in what we hold.