May 29, 2009 - TOP STORIES
St. Louis River begins attracting walleye hunters
Survey finds sturgeon healthy in northern Minn.
Red Wing lock and dam to get $70 million upgrade
Man arrested for drunken canoeing in New Ulm
Manure spill closes beach at SW Minn. park
Minnesota Students Win 2009 State-Fish Art Contest
DNR’s FiN program makes fishing easy
Fishing revenues at work in the Ortonville area
St. Louis River begins attracting walleye hunters
By SAM COOK
Duluth News Tribune
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) _ The dark shape of three human forms loomed in the blackness at Boy Scout Landing shortly after 4 a.m. The temperature was 41. A steady drizzle fell from unseen skies.
``Call us crazy,’’ said Duluth’s Marty Durfee, one of the shadowy forms, ``but here we are.’’
Durfee, who has been fishing the river since his childhood, doesn’t like opening-day crowds at boat landings, and this was opening day of Minnesota’s 2009 fishing season.
In minutes, his 18-foot Alumacraft was in the water, and four of us followed a flashlight beam upstream to an island near the Minnesota Highway 23 bridge.
Todd Maas of Duluth dropped anchor. Ryan Durfee, Marty’s son, readied the minnows.
``I wouldn’t miss this day,’’ Ryan, 21, had said earlier.
He had arrived home from the University of North Dakota just the night before to fish with his dad.
When the jigs and minnows went plip, plip, plip over the gunwale, fishing season officially opened for three of Minnesota’s estimated 1.5 million anglers. For nearly 20 years, Durfee and his friends have spent the opener on the St. Louis, one of the most productive walleye fisheries in the state.
We had the upper river almost to ourselves at that early hour.
Only four other boats, lit bow and stern with running lights, had arrived before us.
Soon we moved up even closer to the bridge, where we idled up next Charlie Nelson, Jon and Kyle Langlee and Phil Rust, all of Duluth. They’re friends of Durfee and Maas. We fished less than a cast apart, exchanging conversation in the charcoal dawn.
The Nelson party had been on the water since about 3 a.m., and Durfee made no apology for his 4 a.m. start. They all take their fishing seriously.
``This is what it’s like when you’re us,’’ said Durfee, 50.
And then an odd thing happened. No walleyes bit.
Well, Maas had one on but lost it. And Nelson netted a small one next door. But in more than an hour, that was it for our little clan.
As dawn came grudgingly with the drizzle, more boats arrived.
Only a couple caught fish with any consistency.
Understand, few people know the river better than the Durfee-Maas-Nelson clans. They fish it all spring, summer and fall.
And something else unusual happened. Only about a dozen boats came to fish near the Highway 23 bridge, usually a magnet for Lunds and Alumacrafts and Sylvans on the opener.
Pretty soon, Nelson and his bunch pulled out to move downstream.
Later, so did Durfee and Co. We moved a half-mile downriver and began dragging bottom-bouncer weights, spinner rigs and night crawlers.
Ryan immediately connected with a handsome 19-inch walleye. His dad made him toss it back. Too small to enter in the opening-day contest at Moldeez Bar in Gary. Too big to eat for shore lunch.
But the bouncers kept working. Soon, we had a few eaters in the live well, and Maas’ drove a chartreuse hook through the upper jaw of a walleye that turned out to be 26 inches long. He had his contest fish, and it went into the live well.
He also released a 231/2-incher.
Every time a fish came aboard, Marty Durfee punched his little silver fish counter. He keeps a running tally for the entire summer.
A good year?
``Three hundred to 500,’’ he said.
Around us, other anglers began to catch fish, too, many of them trolling Rapala minnow-imitations. Nobody seemed to be catching tons of fish, but most were getting something.
The cell phones sang from jacket pockets, and word came back from Nelson and from Maas’ dad, Rob Maas, downriver. They were getting fish on bottom bouncers and crawler rigs, too.
Not only were people finding fish, but lots of them were big.
Twenty-fives, sixes and sevens. It seemed to us that anglers were catching a much higher proportion of big fish than on most openers.
When anglers weren’t catching fish, they had plenty to watch.
The pewter sky was alive with Canada geese, ducks and one swan.
Pelicans bobbed above the Highway 23 bridge. The new green of willows and aspen gave the shoreline a watercolor wash.
The morning was cool enough that bare hands sought jacket pockets. It was wet enough, off and on, that hoods were handy.
We moved farther downstream and figured out why so few boats populated the Highway 23 bridge area. All of them were jammed up at navigational buoys 77, 78, 79 and 80.
Thirty-five boats were clustered at buoy 80. We counted more than 100 from buoy 79 to Boy Scout Landing, a distance of less than a mile. In many places, anglers trolled past each other close enough for conversation, and not a harsh word was spoken.
It was enough, it seemed, just to be fishing for walleyes again.
Survey finds sturgeon healthy in northern Minn.
INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. (AP) -A continuing study has found the lake sturgeon population in the Namakan Reservoir in far northern Minnesota and Ontario is fairly healthy.
Voyageurs National Park ecologist Steve Windels says that’s probably because the system is relatively pristine compared to other systems inhabited by lake sturgeon.
About 20 people representing six agencies and two countries captured 99 lake sturgeon in the border waters of the Namakan Reservoir system earlier this month.
On the Minnesota side, the system includes Namakan Lake, Sand Point Lake, Little Vermillion Lake and Crane Lake.
This year’s catch was way up from the 52 sturgeon caught in 2008, and 45 in 2007.
Each fish is weighted, measured and tagged. In 2008, some were fitted with transmitters. It turns out the fish move frequently between the waters in Canada and Minnesota.
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Red Wing lock and dam to get $70 million upgrade
RED WING, Minn. (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it plans to spend $70 million over two years to improve the lock and dam on the Mississippi River near Red Wing.
Funding will come from federal stimulus money. However, the project faces a long-standing conflict with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The Star Tribune reports that the Wisconsin DNR objects because there’s no fish passage, which would let sturgeon, paddlefish and other species easily get by the dams.
Nonetheless, the Corps wants to go forward with the safety improvements because the lock has been the site of more than 100 barge accidents.
The project will create about 500 jobs. Most of the work will be done in the winter to avoid the shipping season.
The two sides will meet this week to discuss the project.
Man arrested for drunken canoeing in New Ulm
NEW ULM, Minn. (AP) - A New Ulm man was arrested on suspicion of drunken boating after his motorized canoe capsized on the Minnesota River near New Ulm. Two men were rescued.
About 8 p.m. Monday, two New Ulm men in the 50s were in a 1993 Alumacraft canoe with a gas motor near Minnecon Park when the boat flipped.
Neither man was wearing a life jacket, but both men were rescued by the New Ulm Fire Department.
The boat driver was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated, but he has not been formally charged.
Manure spill closes beach at SW Minn. park
PIPESTONE, Minn. (AP) - No swimming in Split Rock Lake over Memorial Day weekend. A manure spill from a dairy farm has closed the beach at Split Rock Creek State Park.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says visitors to the park in southwestern Minnesota still will be able to camp, hike, geocache and boat.
The decision to close the beach came after test results showed elevated fecal coliform counts following the spill on May 4.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says the spill totaled 250,000 to 300,000 gallons and originated from a dairy farm about six to seven miles upstream from the park.
The state will retest Split Rock Lake water quality this week.
Minnesota Students Win 2009 State-Fish Art Contest
BROOKLYN CENTER, MN – Wildlife Forever is proud to announce the winners of the 2009 State-Fish Art Contest. A distinguished panel of wildlife artists and honorary judges selected the following winners for their outstanding artwork:
Grades 4-6, Ryan Lacher – Wells
Grades 7-9, Riley Nelson – Excelsior
Grades 10-12, Vanessa Gindele – St. Michael
“Wildlife Forever is pleased to honor the talented young artists, educators and parents who make the State-Fish Art Contest such a successful program,” said Douglas H. Grann, President & CEO of Wildlife Forever.
“Together, we are using art to empower a new generation of conservationists. By sharing their fish art with family, friends and the general public, our young people are becoming ambassadors for good stewardship of fish and wildlife habitat.”
Winning entries from each state were selected by a prestigious panel of judges in three grade categories, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. Judges for the 2009 State-Fish Art Contest included Mike Weimer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Michelle Kelly from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Joe Hautman, Federal Duck Stamp Winner, Phil Reiland of Outdoors Weekly, Kurt Beckstrom of North American Fishing Club, and Scott Grieve Chairman of Wildlife Forever.
Recognition and Prizes
In addition to having their artwork displayed at www.statefishart.com, these winners will have the opportunity to join talented young artists from across the country at the State-Fish Art Expo August 1st and 2nd at Mall of America’s Best Buy Rotunda. All winning artwork will be on display and an awards ceremony will recognize the winners before a large Mall crowd.
Each winning artist who attends the Expo will receive great prizes, goodie bags, and fishing supplies from Rapala.
National awards to be announced at the State-Fish Art Expo include ‘Best of Show’ honors for the top three pieces of artwork in each grade category from across the United States. The national “Best of Show” winner in grades 10-12 will receive a $2,500 scholarship to The Art Institutes International Minnesota. The first runner-up in grades 10-12 will also receive a $1,000 scholarship to the college.
One outstanding piece of artwork will win the ‘Art of Conservation’ Stamp Award and be reproduced as a conservation stamp. Proceeds from the stamp will be used to fund conservation education and aquatic restoration projects across America.
Following the awards ceremony, expo participants will enjoy a Saturday afternoon fishing event at Minnesota National Wildlife Refuge. The winning artists and their families will also receive complimentary tickets to the August 2nd Minnesota Twins baseball game where they will square off with the Anaheim Angels.
About the State-Fish Art Contest
To enter the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest, young artists create an illustration of any official state-fish and a written composition on its behavior, habitat, and efforts to conserve it. Entries are categorized in three grade levels: 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Educators nationwide have utilized the full-color State-Fish Art Contest Lesson Plan, an interdisciplinary educational supplement specific to aquatic natural resources that includes fishery lessons and activities, a species identification section profiling each state-fish, a glossary, and student worksheets. Entry forms and the lesson plan can be downloaded FREE from the State-Fish Art website, www.statefishart.com.
About Wildlife Forever
Located in Brooklyn Center, MN, Wildlife Forever is a non-profit multi-species conservation organization dedicated to conserving America’s wildlife heritage. Working at the grassroots level, Wildlife Forever has funded conservation projects in all 50 states, committing millions of dollars to “on the ground” efforts. Wildlife Forever supports habitat restoration and enhancement, land acquisition, research, and management of fish and wildlife populations.
Sponsors for the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest include The Art Institutes International Minnesota, Mall of America, Minnesota Twins, North American Fishing Club, Rapala, Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service Eastern Region,
For information on the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest, visit www.statefishart.com.
DNR’s FiN program makes fishing easy
Remember those glory days when you were a kid with a bike, a cheap Zebco and a can of nightcrawlers, and the world was your adventure – somewhere back between the ages of innocence and responsibility?
DNR’s Fishing in the Neighborhood (FiN) program wants to foster memories like that in today’s youth, by providing quality angling opportunities for kids and their families throughout the metro region. In the process, the program is keeping Minnesota’s traditions of fishing and resource stewardship alive and healthy.
Don’t have a boat to take the kids fishing? No problem. Don’t want to drive far? Don’t worry. This program is bringing the fishing to the people, by providing close-to-home shorefishing opportunities throughout the metro region.
FiN works with local parks departments and others to maintain a network of more than 60 public shore and pier fishing opportunities strategically scattered around the St. Paul/Minneapolis metroplex. They stock fish – bluegills, walleye, pike, bass and channel cats. They work on shoreline restorations. They help kids learn to fish, and teach them about aquatic biology. Sometimes the kids even leave with their own rod and reel, thanks to the efforts of generous partners.
“The metro region is home to more than half the state’s population,” said Ron Payer, who as head of DNR’s fisheries section helped launched FiN in 2001. “If we want to sustain public support for quality fisheries and healthy waters, we need to make sure there’s good fishing close to where those people live, and easy access to it.”
FiN also makes sure people know about the metro’s many nearby angling opportunities. The program just published a new booklet with maps and directions to its 62 FiN ponds, details on what people can catch where, and some basic fishing tips to help get the less-experienced started. A Spanish-language version is in the works as an effort to get the area’s growing Latino community more involved in fishing. The booklet and further information also is available online at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/fin/index.html.
“I want people to know that fishing is easy, and it’s really fun,” said Rick Walsh, one of FiN’s program coordinators, and a father of four. “I can’t think of many activities that offer more opportunity for quality family time than fishing with your kids. If every family subtracted a few hours from their screen time to go fishing together, we’d all be a lot happier and healthier.”
Minnesota state parks offer Kids Fishing Clinics and loan out free equipment to hook the next generation of anglers
From the walleye havens in northern Minnesota to the blue ribbon trout streams in the southeast, outstanding fishing opportunities lure anglers of all ages to Minnesota state parks every year.
Walleye fishing on Lake Mille Lacs at Father Hennepin State Park, the heritage fishery at Glendalough State Park, and the fly-fishing at Whitewater and Forestville/Mystery Cave state parks are well worth the drive. And two state parks in the Twin Cities metro area - Fort Snelling and William O’Brien state parks - provide especially good opportunities for urban residents to wet a line close to home.
In addition to offering programs that teach kids and other beginners the fundamentals of fishing, these two hotspots even loan out free fishing poles to anyone who doesn’t have their own.
Fort Snelling State Park, conveniently located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers near Highway 5 and Post Road in St. Paul, offers shore fishing along the riverbanks of scenic Pike Island. It also has an accessible fishing pier on Snelling Lake, where there are plenty of panfish and a good number of northerns.
William O’Brien State Park, just north of Stillwater in Marine on St. Croix, offers a choice of fishing for the bluegills and sunfish that are plentiful in Alice Lake, or plying the channels of the St. Croix River for northerns, walleye, bass and trout.
Both Fort Snelling and William O’Brien state parks have wheelchair-accessible fishing piers, canoe rental, and full-time interpreters who specialize in showing park visitors how to have fun outdoors.
Upcoming fishing programs include:
Saturday, June 6, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., a fly fishing workshop offered in partnership with the Fly Fishing Federation, Trout Unlimited, and the St. Paul Fly Tiers at William O’Brien State Park
Saturday, June 20, 1 p.m., a kids fishing clinic at William O’Brien State Park
Saturday, July 25, noon, “River Fishing for Fun” at Fort Snelling State Park (space is limited; call 612-725-2724 to register).
There is no charge to participate in these programs, but a vehicle permit ($5 daily/$25 annual) is needed to enter the park. Fishing poles and other equipment will be provided courtesy of the Fishing in the Neighborhood program, which was launched by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in 2001 in an effort to expand urban fishing opportunities. When the equipment is not being used for special programs, it is loaned out to visitors on a first-come, first-served basis.
Additional family-oriented fishing programs - some of which are presented by MinnAqua, a statewide angling education program - are listed in the Minnesota State Parks 2009 spring/summer Programs & Special Events catalog, a free publication available at Minnesota state parks and recreation areas, at REI stores, or by calling the DNR Information Center at 651-296-6157 or 1-888-MINNDNR (888-646-6367).
Event information is also posted online at mnstateparks.info.
Fishing revenues at work in the Ortonville area
“What exactly do you guys do all year?” he asked.
His tone left me unsure about the intent of his question. Was this an honest question? Or a slightly sarcastic “jab,” as siblings enjoy giving one another on occasion?
As a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Fisheries biologist at the Ortonville DNR Fisheries Office, he was helping fund my work. He had bought a fishing license and paid federal taxes on his fishing equipment, two primary sources of our funding. He wanted to know how we are spending his money.
As I answered his question, he pulled the first eleven-inch black crappie through thirty inches of Lac qui Parle ice. It was late March of this year and word had spread that the crappies were really biting on Lac qui Parle Lake. Would tonight be one of those memorable trips?
Thinking back over the past year, my first recollection was how often the phone rang last April with concerned anglers wanting to know if the ice would be out on Big Stone Lake by the fishing opener. The usual answer was, “We sure hope so.” We were as anxious as anyone to wet a line.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and many anglers spent opening weekend stranded on shore staring at a sheet of ice. The late ice-out was followed by a cold, forgettable spring. The fishing was always good, but the catching wasn’t.
We began April field work by harvesting walleye from rearing ponds for several weeks until the water became too warm. We resumed harvest in September when the ponds had cooled down again. We produced 19,000 pounds of walleye for the year. The majority of these fish were fingerlings but some harvested adults weighed as much as five pounds.
We stocked some five thousand pounds of walleye into local waters that needed a boost, including the Minnesota River and Artichoke, Botkers, Hendricks, Oliver, and Long Tom lakes. The remaining 14,000 pounds were stocked into numerous other lakes throughout the state.
During May we stocked twenty million walleye fry into Artichoke, John, Long, Marsh, Oliver, Perch, and Steep Bank lakes in addition to thirty walleye rearing ponds. The fry were produced at Walker Lake and New London State fish hatcheries. Eleven million of those fry received oxytetracycline marks to allow future identification of them as originating from stocking.
We also stocked the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge and the Clinton kids’ fishing ponds during May with adult bluegill, northern pike, walleye, and yellow perch. Several northern pike weighing 10 pounds were stocked, making for some very happy and excited kids (with the exception of one boy who had the pole yanked from his hands by a large northern, never to be seen again).
During mid-summer we experimented with harvesting young-of-year, one-inch long walleye known as frylings. Although we expected them to be fragile and difficult to harvest during the summer heat, they proved to be quite hardy and survived very well. We stocked 63,000 of them into Lac qui Parle Lake.
Raising walleye fingerlings is an important component of our work and we typically stock between twenty and thirty natural ponds for this purpose. These natural ponds have many important ecological functions that could potentially be affected by walleye rearing. To evaluate the affects, our walleye crew spent much of July and August monitoring the ponds for changes in water chemistry, vegetation, invertebrates, fish abundances and diseases. Fish from six lakes were sent to our pathology lab in St. Paul to be tested for viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) disease. Thankfully, all fish tested negative.
Our assessment crew also spent much the summer evaluating fish populations in Artichoke, Big Stone Refuge, Big Stone, Hendricks, John, Lac qui Parle, Long Tom, Steep Bank, and Traverse lakes, as well as the Pomme de Terre, West Branch Lac qui Parle, and Minnesota rivers. Data collected included the abundances, sizes, ages, and stomach contents of numerous fish species.
In August we assisted with construction of an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible shore fishing station at Boyd’s Access on Lac qui Parle Lake. The Lac qui Parle Lake Association proposed the project and contributed $7,000. The station provides a badly needed quality shore angling destination and helps relieve congestion on the boat docks. The Lake Association also contributed $20,000 for future shore angling improvements to be constructed at West Twin Bridge.
The Traverse County Sportsmen’s Club also partnered with us in August by providing funds and labor to help construct a shore angling station along the Mustinka River. Together, we also restored a wetland that now provides diverse fish and wildlife benefits.
We were also fortunate to receive assistance from the Upper Minnesota River Watershed District and the Citizens for Big Stone Lake during the summer. They provided maintenance and safety gear for a shore fishing station below Big Stone dam along the Minnesota River.
September brought the usual night electrofishing sampling for young-of-year walleye. Young walleye move into one to two feet of water after dark and are easily sampled with our electrofishing boat. Decent numbers of young walleye were found in the majority of our lakes. Until ice cover began to cover the water, the remainder of the fall was spent in walleye ponds harvesting and stocking Minnesota’s favorite fish.
Although equipment care and maintenance is a year-round job, December is the time when even greater focus is placed on making sure all equipment is in safe working order. Boats, motors, and trailers are cleaned and winterized and hundreds of nets are inspected and patched.
By early January the potential for winterkill of fish began to increase and until mid-March we monitored dissolved oxygen levels in lakes and ponds. Oxygen levels in Steep Bank Lake dropped very quickly and we opened the lake to liberalized fishing so anglers could attempt to harvest the fish before they died. Steep Bank will be re-stocked with game fish this spring.
Local clubs operate lake aeration systems on Artichoke, East Toqua, Hendricks, and Long Tom lakes and we routinely inspect those systems to ensure proper signage is maintained for public safety.
Potential winterkill conditions in the Aitkin Area benefited us in January when northern pike rescued from lakes in that area became available for stocking. We made several trips to Aitkin and stocked 3,000 northern pike into Artichoke, Long Tom, and East Toqua lakes.
During February, in conjunction with the Hutchinson Fisheries Office, we managed to do some underwater filming in the Minnesota River and the Hutchinson staff obtained some very interesting flathead catfish footage. We hope to pursue this work more in depth next winter as we strive to increase management of the Minnesota River fishery.
Much of the winter was spent in the lab examining samples collected during the field season. There were fish scales to be aged, otoliths (“ear stones”) to be examined for oxytetracyline marks, and invertebrate samples to be sorted through. This was followed by the more mundane task of collating the information into reports for use by stakeholders.
Lastly, there were numerous meetings related to water quality, flooding, budgets, projects, and safety.
“Hey Dad, that’s thirty!” my son exclaimed, bringing me back to reality. The crappies had been “on fire” during the past two hours on this memorable March day. I never did get around to explaining to my brother what we do during the course of a year but I’m sure he would agree that on this day he definitely got his money’s worth.
© 2009 Outdoors Weekly