Minnesota Steelheader

We finally have our Shirts completed! Made from 100" pre-shrunk cotton and screenprinted right here in Minnesota. These steelhead T-shirts are one-of-a-kind originals designed by Ninemile fishing Co. We have a limited first run now available online at our secure e-store. http://www.minnesotasteelheader.com/MINNESOTASTEELHEADER/Estore.html All shirts are printed dark blue on a washed out blue shirt. Available sizes are Large and X-Large. Note: The shirts run a bit on the large size. Show your support for this great fishery with a T-Shirt today - while supplies last.

If you are like us, you are chomping at the bit to get on the water! This "pre season" time is a great opportunity to go through your gear one more time to make sure everything is in order. Have you restocked your fly box, yarn supply, hooks and line? One often overlooked task on the steelheaders check list every spring is to check and clean one's reel. If you did not loosen your drag at the end of last use, you will definitely want to check to make sure it is working properly. Check for any sand or debris that may have found it's way into your reel's mechanics too. A poor or faulty drag is on the top of a trophy steelhead's wish list. Two often overlooked items on a steelheader's spring fishing list are GOOD polarized sunglasses and sun screen. We can't encourage GOOD polarized sunglasses enough! We recommend taking your glasses into your eye doctor and having them tested. Most of the cheap glasses do not have 100% UV-light blockage. Most clinics wil...

Steelie Stikes : Now you can make your own. We have uploaded our detailed instructions, including photos, on our website http://www.minnesotasteelheader.com/ . Our Steelie Strikes are the originals made from 2mm foam, a bit of thread and a rubber O-ring. Pretty simple stuff here. We created the Steelie Strikes after several years of using various strike indicators. The foam version evolved a couple years ago after frustrations of using yarn indicators. Don't get us wrong, the yarn indicators worked ok , we just got sick of adding floatant to the yarn to keep it floating high. What we really like about the foam is the the ability to adjust on the water. If the situation requires a smaller indicator, just a simple trim does the job. The fact that the foam will never absorb water is a big plus too. Check us out and tie one on...... http://www.minnesotasteelheader.com/MINNESOTASTEELHEADER/strike_indicator.html

Do you know your Steelhead Tags? Individual numbered tags are inserted at the base of the dorsal fin on hatchery (clipped) and wild steelhead that are caught at the Knife and French river fish traps. Grey numbered tags are used on steelhead that return to the Knife River and yellow numbered tags are used at the French River trap. Individual numbered tags are used to gather information on steelhead movement patterns within Lake Superior, occurrence of repeat spawning, age and growth, and trap efficiency. If you catch a tagged steelhead, leave the tag in the fish and record the number. Report the tag number, along with the date, location, and if the fish was harvested or released to Lake Superior Fisheries. We can provide you with information on when and where the fish was tagged and also the age of the fish. Information from: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us

A study began in spring 2006 to determine the habitat used by Kamloops and steelhead in Lake Superior. Information about habitat preferences will reveal how similar or different the requirements of these fish are and aid management decisions. The archival (data storage) tags record date, time, temperature, and depth. When a tag is recovered, data can be downloaded onto a computer. The tags do not transmit a signal, so we rely on angler and trap returns of the fish to recapture the tags. Each fish was also marked externally with yellow tags printed with “$50 reward for return, MNDNR Duluth, call 218-525-0853 x223”. We hope to get most of the fish back during the late winter, and early spring spawning run in 2007. If you catch a tagged fish, please return the whole fish, without freezing, so that we can obtain growth and diet information along with the tags. Do your part to spread the word so more can be learned about this important fishery.

With the end of the steelhead season comes work. Here is a picture of one of our staff and a hunting buddy after a hard day working. The objective: to find a supplier of pheasant tails for a winter tying weekend. Not a bad days work! In the off season most of us here are spending our free time getting plenty of Pheasant hunting in. However, even though we are not on the water, our minds are. Most of the travel time on these late fall, early winter trips, are spent dreaming and planning our next steelhead adventure. T&K - Sunny December day in Iowa '06

No question in our minds that the Brook Trout is the most beautiful of all of our Trout! Here is a great close-up shot from our buddy Jesse. He caught this while Salmon fishing this fall on a mid-shore river. Do you have any pictures to share?