MN Driftless Trout

Depending on how you want to look at it, there’s either a brand new species of trout or a very old species now swimming in the Driftless. This August, Minnesota’s DNR released a unique, native strain of brook trout into our streams.

See, a great deal of the trout species we find here were imported into our state from hatcheries out on the east coast. About 20 years ago, the DNR investigated our streams to find if any of our native species survived amidst the imports. Their scientists compared the genetics of fish from 74 streams against genetics of species they knew had been brought in from outside our biome. They discovered a remnant, native strain of brook trout still living in a few streams in the Southeastern corner of the state.

Over the next two decades, hatcheries build up populations of this special trout dubbed the MN Driftless. They persevered through a devastating setback in 2015, where a disease spread through the brooding population. Despite this, good work wins out, and now 14 of our waterways have happy little fingerlings frolicking away.

I’m excited to say we have with us today Melissa Wagner from the Minnesota DNR, the Lanesboro Area Fisheries Supervisor…