Minnesota Steelheader

    Most of the heavy-duty analysis has been completed with respect to the 2014 Spring run data collected, and a tremendous Thank You to all who submitted information again this year. Without your help, none of this is possible. Just a quick note, there's just so much information to present that we are trying to figure out the best way to do so without it becoming overwhelming. There's simply too much to show all in one or a couple blog posts; so while we figure that out, here's some interesting information which came out of the analysis.     MS talks quite a bit about initiation temps and how that appears to affect initial upstream movement of adult steelhead on the North Shore. There are many ways to illustrate it, but we thought we would take it one step further. Previously we have focused on illustrating the daily creel numbers against temperatures and flow, and while this does a good job of showing you the granular interactions an...

    A number of people have asked me, "Why do you guys include coasters in your creel project?" In the beginning, and we are talking pre-Creel Project, super data-junkie days, I was collecting everything and anything I could get my hands on; if it was data, I had to have it. By the way, never ask me about my photoperiod matrix unless you want to see paint get confused and then bored right off the walls....     At any rate, it was "Just 'Cause". I love coasters and brookies in general, and they were how I was introduced to trout fishing in the first place, so I have a bit of a soft spot.     Funny thing was that after we captured a number of years-worth of spring steelhead data, something jumped out at us. We didn't have enough of a coaster sample size prior to spring 2014 to even really speculate, but I think we're there now and you may find the results interesting.     What you are looking at are the last 5 years of...

    We finally found a little time to do some analysis, but there's much more to be done and much more to come, so bear with us...     Short of getting some late additions to the Creel Project, the numbers are pretty much in and there are some very interesting items to note. 2014 is shaping up to be one of the more unusual runs I can remember. Everyone is scratching their heads over the weather, the late ice, the sustained high flows, and the apparent mystery of the disappearing year classes of adults, both Steelhead and Kamloops all across the Big Lake; it is just plain strange.     I guess I don't want to do too much speculation on the mystery of the missing year-classes because I'm thinking that we just won't know if they are truly missing until we see some reports on trap efficiency. With the sustained high flows, it's entirely possible that quite a few fish simply bypassed the traps, so we'll just have to wait and see what ...

    Just some preliminary trap information. One of the things I discovered early on in my quest to better understand North Shore fishing was that simply plotting trends just wasn't well, understandable....     It's not that it doesn't provide good information, in fact trends are where you see those granular details and interactions between temperature, flow and fish movement. However it's not quite as intuitive as the weekly analysis format I finally put together; so here's the combined Knife/French trap numbers in that format:       Overall there are a couple things to note: Once again you can see that things really don't get rolling until after the upstream temperature intitiation thresholds are met. Flow averages this spring were crazy-high throughout the run, and most definately had an effect on fish movement throughout. But again, the weekly format filters out the granular so that you can see the big picture bette...

    Couple quick notes: Still ok numbers of fish being caught on the Lower Shore. Mid Shore numbers are very good still; all information based on combined DNR/Minnesota Steelheader creel. Many thanks and keep 'em coming, we are getting great data this year. Last daily of the year for Upper Shore. Temps didn't bounce around as much as I thought they might, but flows are another story. Don't let the low posted creel trend numbers fool you, but for the crazy flows, fishing would be getting very good. Look for decent numbers for at least the next ten days, and fishing to continue right into June. Regards- NMF

Over the weekend along the Lower Shore, rivers were holding stable flows with morning water temperatures in the mid-40s and afternoon water temperatures in the low 50s. Angling pressure was moderate and anglers reported slow to fair fishing. Interviewed anglers caught 20 Kamloops, 16 steelhead, 1 coho salmon and 10 suckers. Along the Middle Shore conditions were good, as river levels continued to slowly fall and were flowing at normal to slightly high levels. Water temperatures were 40-43 degrees in the mornings and 49-52 degrees in the afternoons. Fishing pressure was fairly light and interviewed anglers also reported rather slow fishing, landing 10 steelhead and 1 sucker. Along the Upper Shore, water conditions continued to improve. The larger rivers were still running high, but the moderate to smaller rivers were in excellent condition for angling. Morning water temperatures were 40-43 degrees and rose to 46-49 degrees in the afternoons. Angling pressure was light, and int...

Kamloop or Steelhead? Did you know three DNR creel census clerks conduct angler interviews from April through late-May along the North Shore?  Here is a list of rivers along Lake Superiors North Shore they survey: • Lower Shore: Lester, McQuade Harbor/Talmadge River, French, Sucker, and Knife • Middle Shore: Stewart, Silver, Gooseberry, Split Rock, Beaver, and Baptism • Upper Shore: Cross, Temperance, Poplar, Cascade, Devil Track, Kadunce, and Brule If one of these clerks approaches you for an interview, don't panic, he is just out gather fish catching information.  Please be courteous to these clerks and take a moment out of your day to assist, even if you have not caught any fish - yet. Your cooperation is very helpful and is greatly appreciated. The above photo is a north shore catch.  Sometimes initial appearances might be confusing, and a bit of a challenge for some to identify the difference between a kamloop's rainbow trout and a steelhead.  T...