Minnesota Steelheader

DATE: 05/20/2017 Lower Shore Species Brook Trout Steelhead Kamloops #Reported Since 5/09 3 3 9 Total Reported 31 194 176 DATE: 05/20/2017 Mid Shore Species Brook Trout Steelhead Kamloops #Reported Since 5/09 4 21 0 Total Reported 54 340 18 DATE: 05/20/2017 Upper Shore Species Brook Trout Steelhead Kamloops #Reported Since 5/09 3 18 1 Total Reported 42 76 5 DATE: 05/20/2017 Shore-Wide Totals Species Brook Trout Steelhead Kamloops #Reported Since 5/09 10 42 10 Total Reported 127 610 199 As many of you know, the MS C reel Project reporting page and form was not cooperating for a period of time. Once that was corrected, it turns out that there was a secondary issue with the back-end related to mail. We send the submissions to a mailbox, but that mailbox wasn't getting submissions.  Long sad technical story .... It looks like w e are gettin g everything now, but we are missing quite a bit of data from prior submissions. We're not quite sure how t...

DATE: 05/19/2017 Knife River Flow: 461 CFS French River Steelhead Kamloops Total Number Captured TRAP CLOSED 0 Total Captured 142 1562 1704 DATE: 05/19/2017 Index River Avg Temp: °F Knife River Steelhead Kamloops Total Number Captured 11 0 11 Total Captured 761 39 800 DATE: 05/15/2017 Knife River Flow: 45 CFS French River Steelhead Kamloops Total Number Captured TRAP CLOSED 0 Total Captured 142 1562 1704 DATE: 05/15/2017 Index River Avg Temp: 50.41°F Knife River Steelhead Kamloops Total Number Captured 24 0 24 Total Captured 750 39 789 DATE: 05/12/2017 Knife River Flow: 51 CFS French River Steelhead Kamloops Total Number Captured TRAP CLOSED 0 Total Captured 142 1562 1704 DATE: 05/12/2017 Index River Avg Temp: 54.02°F Knife River Steelhead Kamloops Total Number Captured 15 2 17 Total Captured 726 39 765 DATE: 05/09/2017 Knife River Flow: 68 CFS French River Steelhead Kamloops Total Number Captured 4 28 32 Total Captured 142 1562 1...

New SGP Collection Box Location Attention all Steelhead Genetics Program Volunteers! A number of you, particularly volunteers who live on or primarily fish the Upper North Shore, had previously requested a more convenient way to submit scale samples. The Minnesota DNR and Minnesota Steelheader are pleased to announce the addition of a second sample collection box at the Poplar River. Lutsen Resort was kind enough to allow installation of the second collection box on the side of the boathouse. This is located just upstream from the covered foot-bridge which crosses the Polar River. When you drive in, simply follow Resort Road around the Lodge until you see the boathouse, it will be on your left - Location circled in red. This second location is just off of Steelhead 61, approximately 20 miles south of the Gunflint Trail and Grand Marais. The new location should make it much easier and more convenient for Upper Shore Anglers to drop off SGP samples. DNR Creel Clerks will be c...

Sucker River Access is in Jeopardy! Are you aware that the access paths from the parking lot at Scenic Highway 61 to the downstream portion below the culvert to the mouth of the Sucker River lies within private property?    If not, you should be: The paths, the wooded area on both sides of the path, the stream bank and the water to the  center-line  of the river is private property; you read that right, private property on both sides to the center of the river bed. Though there is an angler easement on upper stretches of the Sucker River, there is no angler easement from scenic HWY 61 downstream to the lake. On April 19th, 2017, the Board of Directors of Minnesota Steelheader received a call from DNR Fisheries Area Supervisor Cory Goldsworthy informing us that the landowners along left-hand side of the Sucker River looking downstream had stopped by the Fisheries Office with a message: Access to all foot traffic will be legally closed.  Knowing that Min...

Year one of the Steelhead Genetics Project - 2016, was a year of trial and error for the DNA sample collection program. Fortunately all of those cut fingers, dropped gear and lost knives paid off with some very helpful collection tips. So here they are, straight from the pros: Have packets in your vest and accessible :   Before you hit the water, make sure you have a knife and collection packets in an easily accessible outside pocket. Many times anglers found themselves thinking "oh this is just a small exploration run" and they ended up hooking piles of fish without the materials to collect data.  It helps to keep your knife and envelopes in a convenient place (front pocket in fly vest, jacket pocket, etc). Use a net :   Many anglers said that a net is almost mandatory in order to keep the fish in the water as long as possible.   A net also ensures that the angler doesn’t lose their fish at the river’s edge, and allows them to keep the fish in shallow...

Hello again! The 2017 spring steelhead season will be here soon! We will again be looking for avid anglers to help collect scale samples from steelhead for the second year of the Steelhead Genetics Project .  I would really appreciate your help in collecting scale samples from adult steelhead you catch this spring. If you would be interested in helping out again (or for the first time!), please let me know as soon as possible so I can get you a new permit and more scale envelopes, if needed.  A few notes for those who want to participate in 2017: All anglers need an updated permit. I have permits ready to go and can email or mail them to anglers who participated last season. Please let me know what delivery method would work the best for you. Anglers who did not participate last year will need to contact me or another Lake Superior Area Fisheries staff to receive a permit and training on how to collect scales. Goal for 2017: Collect more scales...

    For those of you not aware,   the Steelhead Genetics Project (SGP) is a cooperative research project between anglers and the Department of Natural Resources. This project relies in great part on volunteer angler participation to facilitate DNA sample collections. Through a special collection permit granted by the DNR, trained anglers carefully remove scales from presumed wild steelhead, and these samples are then submitted for genetic analysis. The hope for SGP is that it will provide critical information needs to advance rehabilitation efforts for Steelhead in the Minnesota waters of Lake Superior.     This project is evolving, but initial objectives were as follows: Evaluate hybridization between hatchery-raised Kamloops Rainbow Trout and naturalized (wild) Steelhead Examine the utility of genetics to identify adult Steelhead that were stocked as fry and determine their contributions to the adult catch in the North Shore spring fi...