For MNTU, the goal of using toewood is not just to “hold the bank”. It’s to restore function, including banks that resist erosion, channels that can move a little without failing, and cover habitat that supports abundant fish and invertebrates
It’s August in Minnesota. The heat has settled in, and streamside vegetation hangs thick and heavy over the banks of coldwater streams and rivers across the state. In our backyard, my daughters love to pass the time catching grasshoppers in the tall grass and tossing them into the stream, watching...
When a stream restoration project wraps up, the work on the ground is just beginning. During construction, streambanks are graded and soil is heavily disturbed throughout the project reach. In most cases, to restore the stream’s access to its floodplain we must grade back soil. This requires that most vegetation...
One of my favorite surprises of summer trout fishing in Minnesota comes after a good soaking rain. When storms sweep through the valleys, they don’t just raise the rivers a few inches. They send ants tumbling from trees and grass into the currents, and the trout are quick to notice. Ants...
July is the heart of field season when it comes to carrying out stream restoration work across the state. Tackling riparian invasives, removing barriers to fish passage, scoping future projects, maintaining tree plantings, and implementing large scale instream habitat improvements - the staff, members, volunteers, and contractors of MNTU have...
When most trout anglers think about culvert replacements, they rightly think of trout passage to critical habitat. Undersized, perched, and crumbling culverts block trout from reaching cold water refuges, spawning grounds, and more habitat. Removing those barriers is a huge benefit to trout fisheries. But often overlooked is the fact that...
If you’ve fished along a trout stream in northeast Minnesota lately, you’ve probably noticed the standing dead spruce and balsam fir, open gaps in the forest canopy, and more brush than you’d expect in what used to be shaded, coniferous woods. It’s not just about aesthetics - it’s a coldwater...
Living on a trout stream in southeastern Minnesota, it doesn’t require too much effort to keep an eye on what’s hatching and when. However, it still caught me by surprise to see two adult craneflies on my bathroom floor early one morning in the first week of May. Maybe they...
April 2025 Every spring, as snowmelt charges the streams and the days grow longer, trout anglers eagerly await one of the season’s most iconic hatches: the Dark Hendrickson. This mayfly, known to entomologists as Ephemerella subvaria, helps kick off dry fly season and can offer some great surface action during the...
If you’ve spent any time fishing the cold, clear streams of the Driftless Region, you know that matching the hatch is often the key to success. Hundreds of fly patterns exist to mimic the many species of mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies that emerge throughout the season. But in recent years,...
