Minnesota Steelheader

MN DNR News Release 2020 egg take operations suspended canceled due to COVID-19 social distancing protocols April 14, 2020 The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will cancel its 2020 egg take operations for walleye, northern pike, muskellunge and steelhead because the work cannot be done safely under COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.  Collecting eggs and sperm from spawning fish in the wild is a labor intensive effort that requires teams of 6-8 people working in close proximity. After a careful examination of whether the egg take process could be re-engineered, the DNR determined that is was not possible to safely handle fish during the egg take and practice appropriate social distancing to protect staff from COVID-19. The DNR collects eggs each spring to hatch, raise and then release either as fry or fingerlings to stock Minnesota waters that have low or no natural reproduction of these fish species. While this stocking is important to maintain fi...

Moving through troubled times When this organization was started nearly 20 years ago, we set out with the mission to Inform, Inspire and Educate any and all who had an interest in this great fishery we call the North Shore. Since that time, Minnesota Steelheader has written hundreds of articles, started many projects and programs, adopted a river, provided numerous free clinics and seminars covering the full range of Steelheading opportunities in Minnesota, and participated in State Advisory Groups and scientific studies. Our visitors and followers have grown from just a handful in the US to now hosting tens of thousands of friends from Canada, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. We are constantly humbled and greatly appreciate you all. You see, Steelheading is our passion. Minnesota Steelheader is made up of a group of incredible people. We are all volunteers from many walks of life who live and work along the North Shore as well as in other...

Lower Sucker River access update: The 2020 North Shore spring steelhead season is sure to be an interesting one.  As we post this update, some of the rivers have opened up though still too high to fish.  For those anglers who have enjoyed fishing the Sucker River over the years, we are happy to report another year of privileged access is available to us.  If you are not aware of the closure issue downstream-left at the scenic 61 access, please stop here and READ THIS .  After that, READ THIS .    For the 2020 spring season, the land owner is allowing angler access across his property from April 10 th – May 26 th .  This is always pending treatment of property by anglers. Signs are posted at the access point. Fishing before the 10 th is being monitored by conservation officers.  As you likely recall, access at this location was closed a few years ago due to the disrespect to property, property damage, and the level of annual litter....

As we shelter in place, we thought we would do a deep-dive into the DNR and MNST data and try to explain how you can use the information to be a more successful steelheader. And perhaps, just perhaps, give your brain a little mental break from all the uncertainty and dread surrounding coronavirus...     As we've said before, the MNST Creel Project really grew out of a desire to understand what makes North Shore steelhead tick and by way of understanding, help us all to become more successful steelhead anglers. Conventional wisdom at the time was that stream flows were/are THE primary influence on steelhead migration movement during the runs. What we noted back then was that this held true on North Shore streams except for when it didn't; and those "When it didn't" years generated some spectacular early-season skunks along with a pathological compulsion to do the research and figure it out. Hey, we nerds like to catch fish too....     What we event...