Minnesota Steelheader

The 2020 Minnesota Steelheader Creel Project - or - Covid Stinks! For those not familiar with the MNST Creel Project Each year, Minnesota Steelheader collects angler-submitted creel reports of unclipped steelhead, clipped fish and p resumed coaster brook trout through our  Creel Project Collection Page . This catch information is presented in ways we hope provides you with the most accurate picture of Minnesota's annual and long-term North Shore steelhead run behavior. While the primary focus involves fish caught in the tributaries during the Spring migration and spawning run, we appreciate and accept creel reports year-round . MNST analyzes reported catch dates, region caught, the numbers by species, measurements of daily flow, temperature, MN DNR Fisheries trap and other open-source fisheries data, the results of which are charted in Daily, Weekly and Historical formats. For comprehensive information regarding the who, what, when, where and why of the MNST Creel P...

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...