![]() ![]() Importantly, the survey showed that shore anglers contributed 55 percent of the angling effort. Anglers are dispersed on the river, though public access points and locations such as below the Granite Falls dam, the Upper Sioux Agency State Park, and the Renville County parks see more concentrations of anglers, according to the survey. The angling effort over the 233 miles amounted to 11.4 hours per acre, indicative of moderate fishing pressure. Overall, the survey estimated that anglers caught 45,452 fish and harvested 12,701. The survey also showed that many anglers are practicing the ethic for a variety of species, and not just culling so-called “rough” fish from their catch. Anglers targeting trophy flathead catfish, for example, have strongly adopted the ethic, Sindt said. The other apparent change is that more anglers have adopted a catch and release ethic to the sport. The second generation immigrant anglers are more harvest oriented, and it is generally easy to fill a bucket with freshwater drum on any given outing.Īlso, freshwater drum remain classified as a “rough fish,” so newcomers to Minnesota’s regulatory system do not have to worry about bag or length limits, making them a safe catch. The river specialists said he also suspects that the increased targeting of drum reflects an increase in the number of second generation immigrants who are fishing the river, although the survey did not provide data on the ethnicity of the anglers. Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune file photo People are discovering that freshwater drum can make tasty table fare, thanks to promotional efforts by people like Chris Domeier, fisheries supervisor with the DNR in Ortonville, he explained. He said that in part, it could reflect a change in thinking about freshwater drum. Sindt said it showed that more anglers are targeting and harvesting freshwater drum, known to many as sheepshead. The findings call attention to two changes in how the river is being used as compared to 1998. Channel catfish, freshwater drum, and walleye and sauger comprised 79% of the fish caught and 89% of the fish harvested, according to the survey highlights.Fifty percent of the anglers targeted channel or flathead catfish, followed by “no particular species” at 27%, walleye and sauger at 23%, freshwater drum at five percent, and carp at 4%, according to highlights of the survey.The creel census was conducted April 27 through October 31 in 2022, and involved daytime surveys with anglers along the 233-mile-long stretch of river from below the dam in Granite Falls to St.
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