Minnesota DNR
Steelhead
Will Minnesota’s steelhead surge continue in 2016?
Reporting for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Tony Kennedy writes:
North Shore rivers and other tributaries to Lake Superior are still asleep, but last year’s remarkable steelhead run and intrigue about the 2016 return are increasing anticipation for April fishing from Duluth to Grand Marais and beyond.
Anglers and the DNR do have concerns about hybridization between steelhead and stocked Kamloops rainbow trout, which could weaken the fishery in the future.
+ In the Duluth News Tribune this week, outdoors writer Sam Cook checked on the iffy conditions for Big Lake ice fishing on the Minnesota shore.
The Atlantic’s James Fallows talks Duluth
Author and pilot James Fallows, a national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, has been around the world and back. Raised in Redland, California, he’s also lived in Seattle, Berkeley, Austin, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Beijing. Mentioned in our weekly roundup a few weeks ago, James’ cover story for the March issue of the magazine, “Can America Put Itself Back Together,” chronicles what he and his wife, Deborah Fallows, found on a three-year, cross-country tour by Cirrus SR22 airplane. Duluth was one of the cities featured as places that show American can-do. In promoting the story, James has mentioned Duluth several times on Marketplace and on CNN.
Lake Superior Magazine’s Konnie LeMay emailed a few questions to James about how he came to know Duluth.
When did you first visit and how often do you return?
My first trip was in the summer of 1999. I was doing a story for the New York Times Magazine about the spunky little Cirrus company, which was just about to deliver airplanes to customers. I had the memorable experience of flying in a Cirrus from Los Angeles (the El Monte airport) to Duluth, with an overnight at Bryce Canyon in Utah, with Gary Black, then and now one of the company’s stalwarts.
I’ve been back 15 or 20 times since then – to pick up my own airplane in 2000 (and again in 2006); for Cirrus’ own “migrations” [worldwide gatherings for Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association members]; for more reporting trips for my book; and just because I like it.
What did you first find intriguing about the area and has that initial impression held up over the years?
I grew up in Southern California – orange trees, Newport Beach a short drive away, desert in the other direction. More or less the opposite of the boreal beauty of Duluth and the Northland. I thought the area was beautiful and the town, with its past, fascinating. I still think that.
I have to believe you get some double takes from friends out your way when you say you’re coming to visit Duluth, Minnesota. What’s your response to those “where?” and “why?” questions?
At least they’ve heard of Duluth, or most of them! You should see when we tell them we’re going to Ajo, Arizona, or Columbus, Mississippi.
Have you ever been out on Lake Superior? Do you carry an impression of our Lake with you?
My wife, Deb, has an all-Upper-Midwest in background. She was born in Chicago, spent her elementary school years in “The Cities” and then from junior high onward was in Vermilion, Ohio, a little fishing town (then) west of Cleveland. She spent half her life as a sailor on Lake Erie, so she is a big fan of the Great Lakes.
We’ve been out with friends several times sailing on the Lake or in motor boats. No ice fishing, though (I actually am from Southern California).
What was the seed that sparked your three-year journey with Deb to find good things out there? (Other than a valid excuse to fly the Cirrus, of course.)
Pretty much describe it in the beginning of my current Atlantic article. Trying to see how the fabric of the country actually seemed on a city by city basis, which is the way we’d done reporting while living in China, Japan, Malaysia, etc.
James added one more story about a Duluth visit:
I unexpectedly spent 10 days in Duluth in November 2000. I was living in Berkeley, California, then and teaching at UC Berkeley for a year. I was in Duluth to pick up my new SR20 on the weekend before the presidential election. Planning to fly home on Sunday and Monday, vote in Berkeley on Tuesday. But there was a 10-day ice storm-inversion in Duluth, so I ended up spending most of the election/recount period in Hawthorn Suites, waiting out the storm and watching the recount. I never got to vote! (Though since it was California, the election didn’t come down to me.)
Nipigon River Bridge reopens: The investigation into the bridge’s bolt failures continues, reports Leith Dunick of TBNewsWatch.
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, tests its pipes: “In keeping with provincial law, the PUC is currently testing tap water at residential and non-residential sites in Sault Ste. Marie,” says SooToday’s Darren Taylor. Very few pipes in town are made of lead, and the city offers an interest-free loan program to residents who want to replace lead pipes in their homes. Testing is free.
Wisconsin’s Chequamegon Food Co-op offers microloans: “Since 2007, the program has made very small loans to area food producers, to aid those agriculturalists to become more efficient, expand their operations and provide more locally produced food,” reports Rick Olivo in the Ashland Daily Press.
Winemaker Peter Mondavi dies at 101: The Napa Valley pioneer was born on Minnesota’s Iron Range. “The family moved to Lodi, Calif., in 1922 so [Peter’s father] Cesare could start a winegrape-shipping business, sending fruit to home winemakers back in Minnesota during Prohibition,” writes Wine Spectator’s Aaron Romano. “Peter's first job was to assemble and pack 30-pound boxes of grapes for shipping.”
Duluth photographers reach finals of Smithsonian photo contest: Dawn LaPointe and Gary Fiedler submitted photos from their paddling adventures in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters and Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park. More from Bring Me the News, which links to where you can vote for Dawn's and Gary’s photos.
Thunder Bay has a new brewery: Dawson Trail Craft Brewery opened on Thursday. Its current brews are Oater Limits (Oatmeal Stout), Running Stone (Irish Red Ale) and Up & Ahtanum (American IPA).