On a rainy afternoon a few months ago, I stopped at a newly constructed project on my way home to see how it was reacting to the higher flows. Walking the stream, in-particular, a section where a restored riffle curved into a nice deep pool with toewood tucked into the...
Fish passage is not always just about fish passage. A culvert replacement might start as a solution to a barrier in a watershed, but when MNTU gets involved, it becomes an opportunity to address habitat beyond the ability for a trout to get from point A to point B. When...
Over the past few decades, Minnesota has made tremendous progress in restoring and enhancing its coldwater streams. Across the state, partnerships between Minnesota Trout Unlimited, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR), local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and others have brought new life to miles and miles of degraded...
https://youtu.be/rMyK2YhJgBo?si=ygo5lUwCMMap7eq6 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...
By Dr. Jennifer Biederman Walk a recently restored bend of a trout stream anywhere in Minnesota and you may notice a line of logs tucked tight to the bank, some with their rootwads still attached. That isn’t debris. It’s a feature called toewood, a design approach that uses large wood to...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=brQSuflgREs0ySwV&ct=t%28EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_13_2024_15_51_COPY_01%29&v=iBe6QJsGE10&feature=youtu.be 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...
https://youtu.be/-VuagsWHNM8?si=KpzgCgYfCFK9TXXQ 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...
