MINNESOTA RIVER

Mississippi River excursion signs are a hit for paddlers

Leo Pomerenke — Tue, 20 May 2025 13:00:00 GMT

For paddlers looking for routes along the Mississippi River, the Mississippi Headwaters Board now has them covered.

The board is putting up signs guiding paddlers on routes along the Mississippi River across eight counties in northern Minnesota. The excursion signs are put on river accesses and detail where the route leads to, the history of the area around the river, safety reminders and more. Paddlers can see where the routes are by visiting mississippiheadwaters.org/scenicRecreation.

“I noticed there's a lot of kayaking going on (the Mississippi River),” said Executive Director Tim Terrill. “So I was like, well, how can we get something useful and promote something useful that people could use?”

That’s where the signs come in, which were first put up in 2019. There are 15 routes along the river that are currently mapped out by excursion signs. The board is planning to add three more this year: near Crosby, Brainerd and Cohasset.

“I really wanted to connect and make something that the people could enjoy,” Terrill said. “It really exceeded my expectations.”

The signs guide paddlers on routes that range from around three to five hours long. For those who don’t know the area, there’s a QR code that visitors can scan that will bring up a map on their phone that they can follow paddlers as they go downstream.

“Once you scan that QR code, it will follow you down the river like Google Maps,” he said. “And you don't need cell phone service.”

The board estimates that the paddling routes generated $61,000 to local economies in 2024, using estimates from QR code data, doubling the total in 2022 and 2023. The board assumed each person who scanned the QR code spent $40 on gas, food or other essentials to come up with their estimate.

The board also runs events called “resourcetainment,” in which participants paddle down the river and have a social hour afterward.

Three scheduled events are planned for this summer:

Aitkin Paddle Your Glass Off: Set for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 14 in Aitkin, paddlers will take a route down the river and enjoy music, craft beer and games afterward. Paddle & Pint: Set for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 12, in Cohasset, paddlers will park at the end of the route, and a party bus will shuttle them to the beginning of the route. Afterward, folks will eat at Bear Ridge Pizza in Cohasset. Mississippi History Paddling Excursion: Paddlers will stop at certain historical areas along the river in Brainerd from 2:30 to 5 p.m. on Aug. 9.

“People are really liking the events,” Terrill said. “When you give it a snappy name like ‘resourcetainment,’ everybody’s like, 'Oh that’s such a cool idea.’”

The Mississippi Headwaters Board is an organization put together by eight northern Minnesota counties to limit land use along the Mississippi River and to maintain the river’s health and ecosystem, according to their website. Those counties include Beltrami, Hubbard, Cass, Itasca, Clearwater, Aitkin, Crow Wing and Morrison.

Another part of their mission is to promote recreation on the river, which Terrill is very passionate about. With the excursion signs project, he’s excited to see its popularity so far.

“These signs help bring about awareness, education, but they just take away all the unknown factors,” he said. “It gets people on the river, and once you're on the river, you wanna protect it.”

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CWD-infected deer harvested in west-central Minnesota

Staff reports — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 21:26:36 GMT

ST. PAUL — A buck harvested near Wheaton in western Minnesota during the opening weekend of firearms season has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported on Thursday, Dec. 12.

The adult male deer was harvested within Deer Permit Area 271 along the Minnesota-South Dakota border. To date, no wild deer with CWD had been previously detected in that area, nearby permit areas or near the Minnesota border in eastern South Dakota.

“This discovery in western Minnesota, while unwelcome news, highlights the importance and necessity of our disease surveillance efforts and allowing hunters to test deer harvested anywhere in the state if they would like to,” said Erik Hildebrand, wildlife health supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Deer Permit Area 271 includes all of Traverse County and small portions of northern Big Stone and Wilkin counties. It is located north of Big Stone Lake and the Minnesota River Valley habitat corridor. The permit area is heavily farmed with limited public lands and habitat.

So far this year, the total deer harvest in that permit area totals 397, with 303 of the total being adult males, according to the DNR website.

Following the detection near Wheaton, the Minnesota DNR will implement measures outlined in its CWD response plan, which calls for three consecutive years of testing to help determine the potential prevalence of the disease in Deer Permit Area 271 and surrounding permit areas.

The Minnesota DNR also will work with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department to coordinate surveillance of chronic wasting disease and management activities in the vicinity.

Within deer permit areas where CWD has been detected and confirmed, the Minnesota DNR uses multiple management actions designed to help mitigate disease spread, including carcass movement restrictions, a deer feeding and attractants ban, and, sometimes, increased hunting opportunities with increased bag limits.

In 2024, Deer Permit Area 271 will not be included in the CWD late-season management hunt that takes place Dec. 20-22. The adult male deer in that permit area that tested positive for CWD was harvested during the breeding season when deer are known to travel longer distances.

Before deciding whether to remove additional deer in a CWD management hunt, the DNR will conduct surveillance in the fall of 2025 to better understand disease prevalence in the permit area.

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Anglers will have the option of setting two lines when fishing the Minnesota River starting July 1

Tom Cherveny — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 20:14:00 GMT

WILLMAR — Come July 1, anglers can legally use two lines during the open water season while fishing the Minnesota River downstream of the Granite Falls dam to Pool 2 on the Mississippi River.

Governor Tim Walz signed into law the legislation that opens roughly 250 river miles of the Minnesota River for two-line fishing. Anglers are restricted to one line while fishing all other inland waters except during the ice fishing season, when two lines are allowed.

“I am in celebratory mode since the governor signed it,” said Darren Troseth, of Jordan. He guides on the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers as 3 Rivers Fishing Adventures, and is an avid angler with catch-and-release trophies for flathead catfish and sturgeon to his name.

Troseth is a long-time advocate for two-line fishing. He had also been a member of the catfish working group, a citizens committee of stakeholders appointed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The catfish working group championed two-line fishing on the Minnesota River “since day one,” said Jack Lauer, DNR southern region fisheries director in New Ulm. The working group sent a formal proposal for two-line fishing to the DNR in 2018. It is the basis for the new law.

Lauer said the proposal reached the Legislature with support from the DNR. The Minnesota River is an under-utilized fishery, and anglers are well dispersed along its length. The DNR believes the new rule will likely have a negligible impact on fish populations, he explained.

Two lines or more are allowed in all of the states bordering Minnesota, Troseth pointed out.

The use of two lines can make a world of difference for anglers seeking catfish, especially trophy flathead catfish, according to Troseth. “You can have a live bait out and not get a hit, and you’re thinking to yourself: What if I would have had a cutbait out?” he said. With the new rule, an angler can put out one of each to improve their odds.

An angler can put out a live bait such as a bullhead while hoping to catch a trophy flathead catfish. With the second line, the angler can cast for other species, such as white bass or walleye, or work a cutbait for channel catfish. It will increase the opportunities to catch fish and have fun, Troseth pointed out.

Few believe the rule will adversely affect flathead catfish. There is already a strong ethic in place among most of those seeking trophy flathead catfish. Most practice catch-and-release, Troseth and Lauer agree.

Lauer also pointed out that catch-and-release is the law for other trophy species in the Minnesota River, such as sturgeon.

Pool 2 in the Mississippi River is open year ‘round for angling, but it is a catch-and-release fishing opportunity only for walleye, sauger and largemouth and smallmouth bass.

The DNR does not believe the two-line rule will adversely impact walleye and other gamefish in the Minnesota River, either. Tom Kalahar, of Olivia, is an avid angler and promoter of fishing the Minnesota River. He concurs that two-line fishing is unlikely to impact the harvest of walleye, sauger or other game fish on the river.

For starters, fishing the river is much different than fishing a lake. Anglers aren’t going to be trolling the river with artificial baits in tow. Fishing walleye on the river means dropping a bait to the bottom and keeping it out of snags, he pointed out.

The river holds abundant numbers of channel catfish and they are targeted as table fare by many anglers. Lauer said their numbers remain good and it's not likely the two-line rule will impact the population.

Kalahar is hopeful the two-line rule will help introduce more people to fishing the river. For all it offers, he remains surprised by how frequently he has the river all to himself.

“There’s not a good reason why we can’t use two lines on the Minnesota River,” said Kalahar.

Lauer said the change is not a sign that the DNR is open to expanding two-line fishing to all inland waters. That issue remains a “non starter” within the DNR.

There remain many outside the DNR who will likely continue to advocate for the expansion of two lines for all inland waters. Troseth said he is dropping out of his advocacy role now. He pointed out that he started his work seeking a two-line rule in 2008, when he sent his first email to then State Representative Al Juhnke of Willmar on the topic.

Juhnke served in the legislature from 1996 to 2010. He had advocated for a two-line rule on all inland waters. He suggested adding a $5 fee to fishing licenses for the privilege.

To be clear here: There is no increase in the license fee to use two lines on the Minnesota River. Lauer said the DNR will now likely be getting the word out about the change and the fact that it starts this July 1.

He said the decision to use the Granite Falls dam as the starting point for the new rule is for a number of reasons. It’s a significant feature or checkpoint and easy to define. Upstream areas including Lac qui Parle and Marsh Lakes have backwaters that make it more difficult to define the boundaries for the rule.

Those lakes are also managed as significant game fishing destinations.

Another consideration was the fact that flathead catfish are not found upstream of the Granite Falls dam. Since its erection at the start of the 1900s, it has been a barrier to fish migration, he explained.

The Minnesota River is considered one of the country’s destination rivers for trophy catfishing. The Minnesota River, the Mississippi River below the Coon Rapids dam, and the St. Croix River below Taylors Falls are the only waters in the state holding flathead catfish.

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Adventure starts right at home

Tom Cherveny — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 19:41:00 GMT

YORK FACTORY, Manitoba, Canada — She’ll remember the Minnesota River for the early season thunderstorms and flooding that kept her off the water for nearly as many days as she was on it.

The Red River meant long, arduous days of paddling just to reach landing spots where the mud didn’t suck you up like quicksand.

And then came Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, with waves and winds that forced her to rise at 3 a.m. to paddle in the calm waters found in the pre-dawn hours. There were 43 sets of rapids to navigate on the Hayes River, and the sluggish Echimamish River meant pulling over countless beaver dams and contending with the Mother of All Thunderstorms.

“I am not a religious person, but that storm put the fear of God in me,” said Madison (Eklund) Williams. “When it gets close enough, did you know you can smell lightning?”

She is believed to be the first woman to travel solo and by kayak the route made famous by Eric Sevareid and Walter Port.

She launched her 17-foot, 57-pound Wilderness Systems Tempest 170 kayak at Fort Snelling on the Minnesota River on May 7 and the paddler and boat reached York Factory on Hudson Bay on Aug. 25.

She arrived at the saltwater at the end of a day that started by shaking the frost off her sleeping bag and tent.

She had long thought that she’d be in tears when she reached the stairs leading from the water to the grounds of the historic site. ”Then I got there,” said Williams. There was no time for tears. The sun was setting, and she was in polar bear country. “It was go time,” she said.

Now living with her husband in their new home in California, Williams is preparing to pen a book about her adventure, just like Sevareid did when he made the route famous with “Canoeing with the Cree,” originally published in 1935.

Williams said she can confirm what Sevareid claimed all those years ago: A grand adventure can start at your back door. “Absolutely,” she said, pointing out that at one point in her adventure she was literally within walking distance of her apartment. Williams and her husband had been living in Grand Forks, North Dakota, when she began planning this adventure four years ago.

She is a native of the Adirondacks in New York state, and it’s there that her love for the outdoors was fostered. Her husband is with the U.S. Air Force. His service brought the couple to the Midwest. “The Midwest is not really known for crazy outdoor recreation,” she said, while pointing out that she found it nonetheless.

She didn’t intend to make this trip solo. When she could not line up any friends able to make the trip with her, she decided to go ahead all the same.

The Red River was probably the hardest stretch for her, not only because of the mud but the loneliness of having to travel long distances between landing spots, she said.

Elsewhere, starting on the Minnesota River, Williams met up with hosts who put her up in their homes or cabins on numerous nights. She has six pages in a notebook with the names of strangers who became friends by putting her up for a night or more. She has nearly 140 thank-you cards in the mail on their way to the friends she found on the way.

She had some company on the water too. After crossing into Canada, she met up by sheer chance with six paddlers calling themselves the Vagabond Voyageurs. They are six friends who are also wilderness guides. Williams said they paddled from the Grand Portage on Lake Superior through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Voyageurs National Park, and then followed the same route as hers to York Factory.

Williams and the paddlers joined company at Princess Harbor on Lake Winnipeg and paddled together to Oxford House over the course of about two weeks. She was on her own from there.

Williams said she was impressed by the kindness of the people she met along the way. Meeting people was an intentional part of the trip for her. She had visited with Natalie Warren prior to taking this adventure on, and received a list of contacts of the people who had helped Warren and Anne Raiho when they became the first women to paddle this route in 2011.

Meeting the locals and learning the local history and culture helped make the trip special, explained Williams.

But have no doubt. She is an outdoors woman at heart, and when asked about the highlights of the trip, the first point she made was this: “I really enjoyed the peace and the wilderness and the beauty of mother nature.”

Another highlight for her was serving as a citizen scientist. On the Red River, she collected water samples for the state of North Dakota. They are being tested for the presence of PFAFs, or “per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances," also called forever chemicals for their persistence in the environment.

When she paddled the Red River, she took a break with her husband at their apartment in Grand Forks. They also took that time to close on their new home in California, where he is now stationed with the Air Force.

She has been placing photos and blogs about her trip on her social media accounts, and is working on getting that book together.

The book could be a two-part edition of before and after York Factory. Before she reached York Factory, she learned that there had been a miscommunication and the boat that she had expected to ferry her and the kayak to the Canada rail system for a return to Winnipeg would not be available.

She has a whole other adventure to tell about how she managed to get back, starting with a spendy helicopter pickup at York Factory.

To learn her story, check out her social media postings on www.expedition alpine, Expedition Alpine Facebook and @expedition_alpine on Instagram.

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Xcel Energy implodes longtime Minnesota electric plant that powered a region

Tom Cherveny — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 21:19:06 GMT

GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Nearly 94 years of history disappeared with a boom and plume of black carbon as Xcel Energy imploded its decommissioned Minnesota Valley coal-fired electric generation plant Thursday morning, Oct. 27, in Granite Falls.

“Unbelievable,” said Dallas Iverson, a former employee of that plant, as he watched it crumble onto itself in mere seconds. “I just can’t imagine that it would come down like that. All that steel."

Xcel Energy will now clean up and recycle the concrete, brick and metals from the plant’s structure, including iron, steel, copper, aluminum and brass, according to John Marshall, Xcel Energy regional vice president for Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota. Marshall said the removal will continue through the remainder of the year, and possibly into early next year.

The plant site on the east side of Granite Falls will be returned to a green site. Xcel Energy will continue to maintain and operate a large electrical substation at the site for its transmission grid.

The coal-fired plant was originally built in the late 1920s, and began producing 20 megawatts of electricity in 1930.

“It was quite a beast for its time,” Marshall said.

The plant powered rural communities and farms in southwest Minnesota all the way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The plant was expanded in 1953, and generated 70 megawatts of electricity for many of its operating years. While new and larger plants were coming online, it remained important for maintaining voltage in the transmission grid, Johnson said. It ended electric generation in 2004.

The implosion by Veit Construction of Rogers, Minnesota, followed a process that began with the plant’s official retirement in 2009. In the last decade, Xcel Energy has removed the ash from its on-site landfill. The asbestos and equipment in the plant was removed in recent years to set the stage for the carefully choreographed implosion.

It required the temporary closure of U.S. Highway 212 where the plant and its twin stacks towered 280 feet over the river valley.

“Now you’ll never know you’re coming into Granite,” said Verlyn Kling, a former employee of the plant who joined Iverson in witnessing the implosion, of the loss of the longtime landmark. “You could see the stacks four to five miles down the road.”

Now, Kling opined that motorists coming through town will wonder: “What little town is this?”

“That was our life,” said Kling as he and Iverson watched as dust continued to waft from the new pile of rubble.

Iverson said he suspects that the plume of black that occurred as the plant crumbled came from the west stack erected in 1929. It emitted coal smoke nonstop until 1973, when it was replaced by the east side stack that was installed with pollution control equipment.

Iverson had worked at the plant from 1964 through 1996, and Kling from 1966 through 2000.

A part of the town’s heritage is gone with the plant’s disappearance, said Granite Falls Mayor Dave Smiglewski. Granite Falls had long called itself the “power city” and its high school teams were once known as the Kilowatts.

“It’s a loss for sure,” Smiglewski said. There were ups and downs in the city’s relationship with Xcel Energy, but the plant was always important. It was one of the town’s largest employers through most of its history, he noted.

The plant was also an important part of the city’s tax base. The mayor said the tax loss is lessened by the fact that the electrical substation remains on the site.

“It was a big part of the town’s life,” said the mayor. Now, he pointed out, all that is left is a large pile of debris for Xcel Energy to remove.

Three weeks prep, 250 pounds of explosives

It took three weeks of preparation work, 250 pounds of explosives and a push of a button to send the ignition to those explosives at a speed of 6,000 feet per second to collapse the structure, according to Jerry Carlson, project manager for Veit Construction.

The explosive charges had been placed on three of five rows of steel columns on the second floor of the structure. In a microsecond, two explosions occur. The first explosion cuts the steel columns “like a razor,” he said. Charges fastened behind the columns explode and blow or push the columns in one direction, he explained.

It worked perfectly, dropping the building on itself in a north to northeast direction and preventing harm to the electrical substation and a transmission line at the site, according to the project manager. The farthest any of the debris from the implosion traveled from the center of the building would have been 1,000 feet, and anything that went that far would have been very small in size, he said.

His crew had removed 200 tons of steel from the structure as part of the preparation for the implosion, and wrapped the columns with rubber belting once the charges were fastened to help contain the material.

The structure contained about 5,500 tons of steel total, he said.

This was the third coal-fired power plant in as many weeks that he and his crew have imploded. Overall, he said the size of this plant ranks as “average” in comparison to the power plants he has imploded.

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Paddler bound for Hudson Bay

Tom Cherveny — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 22:27:37 GMT

ORTONVILLE — Madison Eklund has the winds under her wings now.

She reached Big Stone Lake after paddling her 17-foot, 57-pound Wilderness Systems Tempest 170 kayak against the unrelenting current of the Minnesota River at flood level for over 300 miles.

She is more than ready to go with the flow now. “The Minnesota River has overstayed its welcome,” she laughed, while taking a break from her adventure to speak with a reporter. “The people have been great along the way, but the Minnesota River has overstayed its welcome.”

She has just over 1,300 miles to go to reach her destination: York Factory on Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada.

In the weeks ahead, she will follow the meandering Red River of the North before taking on the waves and open expanses of Lake Winnipeg. From there, she will navigate the Hayes River system and some 43 sets of rapids to her destination in polar bear country.

Eric Sevareid and Walter Port followed the God’s River to York Factory in 1930 and made the adventure famous in Sevareid’s book, “Canoeing with the Cree.” Sean Bloomfield and Colton Witte made the route from Fort Snelling to York Factory in record time in 2008 (49 days) and told their story in “Adventure North.” Natalie Warren and Anne Rillo were the first women to make this route in 2011, and Warren told their story in “Hudson Bay Bound.”

Eklund could be the first to do this on her own in a kayak.

“It just became a solo trip. I didn’t go out looking to make this a solo trip,” she said. Friends she had hoped might join her on the trip just couldn’t make it work.

She is a native of New York state and is an avid outdoors person. Eklund hosts a website Expedition Alpine aimed at introducing people to the outdoors. She also has a large following on her Facebook page, where she posts updates on her journey.

In recent years, Eklund, 26, has been living in Grand Forks, North Dakota with her husband, Ryan, who is a pilot with the U.S. Air Force.

Four years ago, she made up her mind to do an extended expedition. A reading of Sevareid’s book, and a visit with Natalie Warren, clinched her decision on the route. She’s done extensive research on her route, packed food to mail to herself at stop over points along the way and has prepared herself for the challenges of the wilderness ahead.

She launched on May 7 and quickly discovered the challenges that the Midwest offers. Since her start, she’s been on the water 24 days. She’s been forced to stay off the water for about as many days. Flood conditions along with thunderstorms and tornadoes have waylaid her.

“I’m a strong believer in everything happens for a reason,” said Eklund. The forced layovers allowed her to make new friends; they hosted her in their homes and made her part of their lives while she had to stay off the water. “I’ve had a ton of fun,” she said.

Through much of the trip, she’s also pitched her tent at campsites along the river and in state parks.

She was on her way to a Renville County park when she encountered a friendly group preparing to fish through the night for flathead catfish. They lured the hungry paddler to shore with a simple offer: “Would you like a hamburger?” “Yes, I want a burger. Yes, I do,” Eklund said she responded. They invited her to pitch her tent near them and soon, offered her a pole to tend.

“I almost went into the river,” said Eklund of the sudden pull on her pole when a catfish struck.

It was one of two that took the anglers’ baits almost simultaneously. Eklund and her new friends pulled in what they estimated to be 30-pound and 20-pound flatheads in back-to-back succession, the lines crossing and tangling at one point. She yanked in the 20-pounder. She has caught fish that size in saltwater. Landing a fish this size in freshwater surprised her, especially after her friends told her the river holds flatheads twice that size.

The Minnesota River has surprised in many other ways too and for the good. She found the section between Redwood Falls and Granite Falls to be the most scenic. In some ways, it reminded her of her home and her treks in the Adirondacks. The granite outcrops and woodlands were “like little glimpses of where I grew up,” she said.

The Minnesota River has offered her a natural corridor filled with wildlife, birdsong and often, a feeling of wilderness solitude.

She’ll be busy in the days ahead as she discovers what the Red River offers. Eklund said she will be performing water quality sampling along her way in cooperation with the state of North Dakota.

She’s also looking forward to a layover in Grand Forks, where her husband will be waiting.

From there, it’s the adventure of the north that will be waiting. “I know mentally what I need to expect,” she said. Her hope, she said, is that the miles ahead will bring as many new friends and fun adventures as she enjoyed on the Minnesota River.

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Authorities ID men who died in separate incidents on the Minnesota River

Shelby Lindrud — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 14:23:47 GMT

MORTON, Minn. — The identities of the men whose bodies were pulled from the Minnesota River on Sunday, in two different incidents, have been released by the Renville County Sheriff's Office.

The individual found caught in a log jam Sunday afternoon was Matthew James Wrobleski, 48, of Willmar. The manner of his death is still under investigation.

The man pulled from the river Sunday evening was Lance Edward Scheer, 19, of Redwood Falls. He reportedly drowned.

The first report came in around 2:58 p.m. Sunday, when the Sheriff's Office received a 911 call about what was believed to be a body caught in a log jam on the river between Franklin and Morton.

Both the Renville County and Redwood County sheriff's offices and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources responded, a news release said. The individual later identified as Wrobleski was located, recovered and transported to the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office for identification and investigation into the cause and manner of death.

The second incident occurred around 5:23 p.m. Sunday when the Sheriff's Office again received a 911 call, this one reporting a person who was drowning in the river near Vicksburg County Park, south of the city of Renville.

On the scene it was learned that Scheer had been with family and swimming in the river. He had not been wearing a life jacket and had begun to struggle in the water, the release said. It was reported Scheer had gone underwater and emergency responders launched several boats and a search began.

Scheer was pulled from the water around 7:40 p.m. and resuscitation attempts were begun before he was transported to the CentraCare — Redwood Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

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2 deaths on the Minnesota River under investigation in separate incidents in Renville County

Shelby Lindrud — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 16:23:29 GMT

MORTON, Minn. — The bodies of two men, involved in separate incidents, were pulled from the Minnesota River on Sunday, the Renville County Sheriff's Office announced in a news release late Sunday night.

The identities of the individuals have not been released and the incidents remain under investigation.

The first report came in around 2:58 p.m. Sunday, when the Sheriff's Office received a 911 call about a body caught in a log jam on the river between Franklin and Morton. Both the Renville County and Redwood County Sheriff's Offices and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene, the release said.

The body of an adult male was located and recovered. The body was transported to the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office for identification and investigation into the cause and manner of death.

On the scene it was learned that a young male had been with family and swimming in the river. The male had not been wearing a life jacket and had begun to struggle in the water, the release said. It was reported the male had gone underwater and emergency responders launched several boats and a search began.

The male was pulled from the water around 7:40 p.m. and resuscitation attempts were begun before he was transported to the CentraCare-Redwood Hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Other agencies responding to that scene to assist Renville County included the Redwood County Sheriff’s Office, Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota DNR, Renville Fire Department, Granite Falls Fire Department, Belview Fire Department, Redwood Falls Fire Department, CentraCare Ambulance-Redwood Falls, Granite Falls Ambulance and North Air Care.

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Fishing's new frontier

Tom Cherveny — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 19:20:52 GMT

Corey Geving was only 6- or 7-years-old when he experienced the kind of thrill that you just never forget, like scoring the winning touchdown in the championship game as time runs out.

He was fishing with his family on an outing to St. Croix State Park when a redhorse sucker latched onto his hook. “It pulled so hard and fought so good,” said Geving. “It was the most exciting thing that happened to me. I couldn’t stop talking about it, into the school year. It made me fall in love with fishing for them,” he told the Tribune.

He’s still talking about it decades later, and more. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources featured Geving as the presenter for its 53rd edition of the Minnesota Outdoors Skills and Stewardship Series offered online this week.

His topic: Fishing for “rough fish.”

“Kind of the new frontier of angling,” Geving told this writer after his webinar. “This is going to get really big I think in the next few years. I’ve been saying that for years but it gets bigger every year. It’s not a false statement.”

He knows what he is saying. Geving, a software developer for the state of Minnesota, is a passionate angler for all fish species. He makes trips to locations as far-flung as Alaska and Arizona to fish for trout. But his forte and driving passion above all else is catching what we call “rough fish” in the waters of his home state, sometimes just down the road from his home in Minneapolis.

He’s the founder of the website roughfish.org. It’s on his website that he has witnessed firsthand what he calls the “rediscovery” of pursuing these fish. He originally started the site in 1998 so that he and his friends could list the fish they caught, but interest soon snowballed, he said. He soon had to upgrade the server and can count millions of hits on the site.

The term “rough fish” is one of many misconceptions that we need to end, according to Geving. With the exception of carp, the fish species many of us call “rough fish” are native fish with important roles in our ecosystems. They are also tasty table fare, and in many cases, some of the biggest and hardest fighting fish you’ll ever tangle with, he explained.

Tag onto a bowfin, or what many know as a dogfish, and be ready. “Absolute thrill” to catch, he said. They’ll tail walk, leap into the air, and pull far harder than the bigmouth bass that you probably thought you were going to land with the lure you were tossing, he explained.

Minnesota is home to six species of suckers, and some of them are best pursued with the intensity it takes to catch stream trout. Silver suckers can grow to 10 pounds in weight and will stack up in shallow water riffles in the springtime. “As far as I am concerned, it’s one of the can’t miss fishing opportunities that we have in Minnesota,” said Geving on his webinar.

Don’t overlook the bigmouth buffalo fish, from which Kandiyohi County gets its name from the Dakota “where the buffalo fish abound.” Recent research shows that these fish can live to 100 plus years, and reach sizes of 60 to 80 pounds.

“That’s gonna put a bend in your rod,” Geving told his webinar audience this week.

As for good table fare, Geving pointed out that people are starting to realize just how delectable the state’s burbot or eelpout are. “Poor man’s lobster” is how many refer to the tasty, cod-like meat. Gevin turns that around: “Lobsters are a poor man’s burbot,” he told the Tribune.

This year’s Minnesota fishing regulations will include the first protection for burbot, a fish that was once routinely (and illegally) discarded outside the fishing shacks of anglers on waters like Lake of the Woods.

Don’t overlook sheepshead or whitebass when it comes to fish for the table. More people are discovering how tasty they can be, he explained.

Minnesota is home to a wide variety of fish lumped in the "rough fish" category, and some are very unusual. The American eel breeds in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic and for reasons not fully known, the females will migrate up the Mississippi River and some tributaries, including the Minnesota River, before returning to the saltwater.

Shortnose and longnose gar as well as bowfin are prehistoric fish. They can use their air bladders as lungs when oxygen levels in the waters drop.

The challenge and fun of catching tasty fish for the table is reason enough for many to take up the sport. There are plenty of other good reasons, starting with a low cost of entry. They can be pursued with basic, hook and line equipment, or fly fishing gear. Expensive electronics and boats are not prerequisites to the sport.

“There is a simplicity to this sport where you can take a pair of sneakers and wade around in a stream and have a blast catching fish,” Geving said.

He also pointed out that rough fish anglers face little competition on the water. They can enjoy the sport in small ponds and waters close to home or in pristine and wild locations.

Some of the species are very easy to catch, think bullheads or freshwater drum, making rough fishing a great way for young people to discover fishing.

Yet at the same time, Geving noted that some species of rough fish are very difficult to catch, providing all the challenges that any passionate angler could ask. Blue suckers are on his list of those difficult to catch. Another is the carpsucker, a native fish which is

not

a carp despite its name. “They make trout look easy as far as fishing for them in clear water and small streams,” said Geving.

One of the big differences between fishing for rough fish and traditional sport species like walleyes is the limited resources available for learning about them. His website, roughfish,org, offers a good starting point for those looking to learn about rough fish. Geving also recommends two books: “Fishing for Buffalo” by Minnesota authors Rob Buffler and Tom Dickson, and “American Coarse Angling” by Brook Landis.

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First flood outlook 'average' for west-central Minnesota

Tom Cherveny — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 12:13:00 GMT

MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — There is an “average” or normal risk of spring flooding in Minnesota, according to the National Weather Service’s first flood outlook report for 2022. The report released Feb. 10 found average snowpack conditions throughout most basins in the state.

As always, the first report comes with the caveat: Much will depend on weather patterns in March and early April.

The flood risk in the Minnesota River basin is termed average. The National Weather Service calculates a 13% risk of “minor” flooding in the Montevideo area, which compares to a historical average of 10% in mid February.

In general, snow depth and water content on the landscape through much of Minnesota is within the average parameters for this time of year.

The most snow is found in the headwaters of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. Due to last summer’s drought, the National Weather Service reported that there is a lot of room to intercept runoff.

Snowfall amounts recorded from Sept. 1, 2021, to Feb. 9 throughout the state are within 25% of normal ranges.

The season’s first measurements show the equivalent of 2 to 4 inches of water on the landscape of northern Minnesota and in the 1- to 2-inch range in southern Minnesota.

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