Trout fishing starts Saturday!

Minnesota’s popular stream trout season opens Saturday, April 13, with quality fishing opportunities in every region of the state. Brook trout and splake fishing also open April 13 on Lake Superior and its tributary streams.

Trout anglers can find information on Minnesota’s trout streams and lakes on Minnesota DNR’s website. Anglers will find helpful learning guides and fishing tips tailored to each of Minnesota’s six trout fishing regions. Anglers can also access StreamFinder, which provides anglers with a description, species list, regulations and access information for trout streams throughout Minnesota, and is modeled after the DNR’s popular LakeFinder tool.

Minnesota has roughly 3,800 miles of designated trout streams. Anglers 18-64 years old fishing on designated trout waters must have a trout stamp validation in addition to an angling license, and a trout stamp is required for anglers 18-64 years old to possess trout they catch on any Minnesota water. Find full regulation details on the DNR website.

Share your feedback on muskie

Interested in muskellunge? We want your feedback! We’re working on updating the state’s long-range muskie plan and are seeking input from anglers and others interested in these large, popular predator fish that are native to Minnesota waters.

As part of the plan update, the Minnesota DNR is considering ways to enhance muskie stocking in lakes that already have muskies, how to ensure that hatcheries can produce enough quality-sized muskies to meet stocking needs in current muskie lakes, and options for improving public education surrounding muskie biology, ecology, and management. Check out the current plan and share your thoughts through the DNR website.

“Off the dock” photo courtesy of Sean Drotts

Renew watercraft registration early

Boat owners, remember to renew expired watercraft registrations before this year’s boating season.

The best ways to renew registrations are renewing online or at a local deputy registrar’s office rather than by mail. People can also renew in person at the DNR Central Office, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul. When renewing online, people can print out the confirmation page to use as their temporary permit. Boaters also may write down their temporary authorization number from the confirmation page. The registration card and expiration decals will then be mailed to the boat owner.

The Minnesota Legislature approved a watercraft license fee increase in May 2023. Watercraft registrations had not increased since 2006. Watercraft registrations are good for three years and the resulting revenue is used exclusively for boating and lake or river related expenditures such as boating enforcement, search and rescue, maintaining public water access sites, monitoring of water quality and stream-flow data, and acting on public water work permit applications.

Minnesota fishing facts

Ever wonder how many anglers there are in Minnesota, who goes fishing or how much anglers contribute to the state economy? Here are some Minnesota fishing facts gathered from the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and others.

• 1.7 million anglers fished in Minnesota in 2022. Of these, 1.2 million were Minnesota residents while 508,000 were nonresidents.
• An estimated 26% of Minnesota residents aged 16 and older went fishing in 2022. A closer look at participation by race and ethnicity found that 21% of Black, 26% of Hispanic, and 27% of white Minnesotans aged 16 and older fished in 2022.
• An estimated 38% of male and 14% of female Minnesota residents fished in 2022.
• The most frequently reported barrier to fishing — for Minnesotans interested in fishing — is lacking friends and family to fish with.
• Minnesota anglers spent $5.9 billion dollars on angling related expenses (for example, angling trips, equipment and licenses) in 2022.

The USFWS report is available on the Minnesota DNR license dollars at work webpage.

“Look what Mom caught, Gabbro Lake BWCAW, 2019” photo courtesy of Chaz Gallet  

Get your fishing questions answered on DNR fishing webpage

The Minnesota DNR has a fishing page to help answer angler questions. The page answers questions like: What species can I fish for? What kind of bait is legal? What kind of fish can I keep?

The page is a mobile-friendly destination for information on when, where and how to fish. Users will find links to LakeFinder, which provides maps and detailed information on lakes throughout the state, and the new StreamFinder tool that provides a description, species list, regulations, and access information for trout streams throughout Minnesota.

“First brown trout!” photo courtesy of Shelley Rudy Johnson

Webinar to cover brook trout

Interested in brook trout? Check out the Minnesota DNR webinar at noon Wednesday, April 17. Melissa Wagner, Lanesboro DNR fisheries supervisor, will discuss the MN Driftless strain of brook trout that the Minnesota DNR is using to reintroduce brook trout to streams where they are no longer found, enhance streams lacking brook trout reproduction and increase fishing opportunities to catch brook trout.

Brook trout conservation is important, as they are the only species of trout native to southeastern Minnesota. Wagner will share the history of this conservation project and what it means for future stream management and anglers.

The webinar is part of the Minnesota Outdoor Skills and Stewardship Series and is free, though registration is required. And the searchable archive includes recorded webinars on trout topics such as DNR trout hatcheries, how to find trout and ways to use easements to access trout streams.

Minnesota Twins offer special edition hats and discounted tickets

Anyone with a 2024 Minnesota fishing or hunting license can access a special ticket package with the Minnesota Twins this season that includes a special edition blaze orange wool-blend Twins cap with ticket purchase.

The Minnesota DNR Days partnership includes seven games this year with the next one coming up 1:10 p.m. Sunday, April 21 vs. the Detroit Tigers. Find more game times and instructions for purchasing tickets on the Minnesota DNR Days webpage.

Fish highlight: banded killifish

Here’s a common little fish in Minnesota: the banded killifish! These small fish are very important food source to many different game fishes including largemouth bass, northern pike and trout.

Banded killifish form schools, making them a popular target for fish-eating birds and even mudpuppies. Killifish eat a wide variety of foods, including aquatic insects, flying insects, plant seeds and small crustaceans. Measuring no larger than 2-3 inches, these fish have a fast lifespan. Very few live longer than three years.

Photo courtesy of Matthew Kvam, iNaturalist