Northern Caddisflies (Family Limnephilidae) Last month, we explored the importance of October foliage after it falls into a stream. Let’s take that further! As leaves fall into cold November water, there’s construction underway beneath the surface. Among the cobbles and leaf packs, case-building caddisfly larvae - members of the family Limnephilidae...
Over the past few decades, Minnesota has made tremendous progress in restoring and enhancing its coldwater streams.
All it takes is a little wind on the grass and you might be lucky enough to hear a little plop under the bank – maybe a beetle tumbling into the water to become a late afternoon salmonid snack. In late summer and early fall, beetles are a terrestrial staple...
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.
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.
Culvert replacements also help rebuild the larger aquatic food web.
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...
