Zorinsky is where Omaha goes fishing without leaving Omaha. This 255-acre lake in a 770-acre west-Omaha park is the metro’s most serious fishery: walleye are the main draw, biting best mid-April through May and again September through October along the old creek channel that cuts 30-plus feet through the middle of the lake.
The lake has a comeback story. A zebra mussel outbreak shut it down in fall 2010; it was drained, treated, restocked, and reopened in April 2012, and the fishery has been rebuilding into something genuinely good ever since. Northern pike run 18 to 26 inches, channel cats go 2 to 8 pounds, and there’s a solid crappie and bluegill bite — plus ice fishing in winter.
Special regs apply: largemouth bass have a 21-inch minimum, crappie a 10-inch minimum (except in April), and wipers are total catch-and-release. Boats are no-wake, and the lake is open 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Clean, drain, and dry — this lake has been through the mussel wars once already.