In 2016, the Minnesota DNR counted 1,000 adult steelhead pass through their Knife River trap. Now, that figure has fallen to 200. (Shutterstock photo)
May 21, 2025
By Lynn Burkhead, OSG Senior Digital Editor
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As we head for Memorial Day weekend, please don’t forget to thankfully and solemnly remember America’s brave soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom, and the families they’ve left behind.
With this weekend serving as the unofficial kickoff for summertime, it’s also big bug season in some locations as the Brood XIV periodical cicada hatch takes off back East in spots like Kentucky while the salmonfly hatch is waiting in the wings out West.
So while you get the fly box loaded up for the summertime hatches to come, here's the latest round of Fly Fisherman’s News Digest:
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Minnesota DNR Aims to Help Knife River Steelhead Most fly anglers know that steelhead have been in trouble for years out West where the iconic species is much sought after. Now that downward trend has spread eastward, meaning trouble is brewing for Minnesota's steelhead population near Duluth.
In fact, the migratory steelhead—rainbow trout that live in Lake Superior and migrate into spawning habitat in streams like the Knife River—have seen numbers fall precipitously over the past decade.
How steep is the steelhead's Minnesota plunge? According to a story by WCCO News/CBS Minnesota , the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources counted 1,000 adult steelhead pass through their Knife River trap in 2016. Now, that figure has fallen to 200.
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"They've been in Lake Superior since the late 1800s," said Cory Goldsworthy, the Lake Superior Fisheries Supervisor for the Minnesota DNR. "They are part of the ecosystem. They are part of the food web."
Goldsworthy and others believe that the Minnesota North Shore is being impacted by a drought-flood cycle, one where rain comes either in flooding torrents or not at all. That has blown out some fish habitat, while drought has also done its dirty work to limit the steelhead's spawning habitat.
To help figure a way forward out of this vicious cycle, the Minnesota DNR is using pit tags injected into a steelhead's back to gain a better understanding of where they've come from, where they are going, and why their numbers are sliding downward. In addition to being tagged, the steelhead that are caught in the DNR's trap are also being weighed and measured prior to release back into the river.
"With our stocking program, that's our hope is that we can provide not only harvest opportunities like we have done for 30-plus years, but also provide catch-and-release opportunities and then bolster these wild populations as well," said Goldsworthy.
Fish Camp Drift Boat Sweepstakes The "Fish Camp Collabs for Conservation" is dedicated to support the Snake River ecosystem with a sweepstakes fundraiser that offers participants the chance to win a prize package that is valued at over $27,000. Like other streams in the American West, the Snake River is also facing its share of problems. But now a topflight fundraising effort spearheaded by Fish Camp is seeking to raise a lot of money to help figure out how to fix what ails the famed trout stream.
"The Snake River is not just a world-class fishery—it’s a lifeblood of our ecosystem, our community, and our way of life," said Scott Kosiba with Friends of the Bridger-Teton . "Protecting it means ensuring clean water, healthy habitat, and sustainable access for future generations. We believe in the responsibility to give back to the resource that gives us so much, Fish Camp's Collab For Conservation does exactly that."
The "Fish Camp Collabs for Conservation" is dedicated to support the Snake River ecosystem with a sweepstakes fundraiser that offers participants the chance to win a prize package that is valued at over $27,000. That includes a custom Adipose Drift Boat and a Black Dog Trailer.
"Conservation is at the heart of everything we do," said Justin Waayenberg, president of Adipose Boatworks. "Adipose Boatworks is committed to protecting the rivers that support us. By donating the custom Flow drift boat as a benefit for the Snake River, we are investing in the future of our rivers."
Other prizes include a Turtlebox Original Speaker , a Sawyer artisan oar set, a Montana Canvas boat cover, a Tornado Anchor, a YETI Cooler prize pack, two Thomas & Thomas Avantt II fly rods, two Shilton fly reels , a Decked Drawer System and accessory package, a Patagonia Great Divider 26 L boat bag, two WF MPX Floating fly lines from Scientific Anglers , and gift cards from Westbank Anglers, Worldcast Anglers, and Free Fly.
If you'd like to enter, entries are $100 and the sweepstakes closes on June 4 and you can enter here .
2025 Yellowstone Snowpack Update Could be better, could be worse... While there was some more late season snow a few days before this was written, the final Yellowstone Area Snowpack Update has been issued by Big Sky Anglers Fly Shop in West Yellowstone, Montana. And according to the shop's Matt Klara, this year's final snow analysis is not enough of a good thing .
"While we’d love to start throwing around phrases like ‘above average’ and ‘my snowpack was a 4.0 GPA at West Yellowstone high school,’ things just didn’t work out that way for us this year," reported Klara. "Since our last report, and especially over the last two weeks, our region has seen temperatures well above average, resulting in an early timing of the peak snow water equivalent and a relatively rapid decline in available snowpack."
In the Madison River basin, the final May snowpack update shows it at 74% of median, and 57% of median peak, with the peak occurring approximately 11 days early this year. In the Upper Henry’s Fork, the snowpack is 51% of median, 35% of median peak, and the peak occurred on time this year. In the Gallatin basin, the snowpack is 85% of median, 61% of median peak, and the peak occurred on time this year. And in the Yellowstone's headwaters , the final 2024-25 snowpack numbers found the snowpack at 77% of median, 64% of median peak, and with the peak happening later than normal (by one week) this year. Klara did offer readers a couple of better news caveats.
"Well, it’s not perfect, but it’s not as bad as you might think,” he added. “When compared with last year, which is easiest to remember for old guys like me, most of our local watersheds are sitting about the same as in 2024!"
Klara added that the recent cool and damp weather should have some mildly positive effects.
Washington Lawmakers Approve $1.1 Billion for Salmon Habitat Restoration A culvert on a stream near Bremerton, Washington. (Shutterstock photo) While good news can sometimes be difficult to find for Western fly anglers, there's some news worth celebrating in western Washington over the next six years.
The Washington state legislature has approved an additional $1.1 billion for court-ordered culvert replacement work by the Washington Department of Transportation. According to the Seattle Times , that will bring the two-decade total for these projects to some $5.2 billion, although the state's Gov. Bob Ferguson still has time to review and potentially veto this work.
Why is all of this happening under the Washington State DOT? As Seattle Times staff reporter Mike Reicher noted in his story, the DOT is under a federal court order that will replace hundreds of fish-blocking culverts in the western part of the Evergreen State. Those metal and concrete pipes help carry streams under state highways, but the design or lack of maintenance has contributed to block salmon and steelhead trout migration efforts.
The ruling came after some 21 tribal nations sued Washington to replace state-owned problem culverts. More than a decade ago, a federal judge ruled in 2013 that the state had to replace most of these problem culverts by 2030. Eventually reaching the nation's high court in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that decision.
Fourth Annual Umpqua Bass Bash Slated When the event concludes on Saturday afternoon, there will be raffles, prizes, food and beverages, and a fish fry. Saturday, June 28 is the date for the latest iteration of the Annual Umpqua Bass Bash on the Umpqua River. The derby is designed to remove invasive smallmouth bass from the river along with helping raise awareness of why these popular sportfish (elsewhere at least) are harmful to the Umpqua's native fish and habitat.
This year's Bass Bash will be hosted at Eagleview Group Campground, and organizers indicate that the campground is reserved on the nights of Friday, June 27 and Saturday, June 28. While it's a true BYO (bring your own) camping gear kind of event, participants can stay on one or both nights.
Along with removing these invasives, there will be a short presentation on the effort and why it's necessary. And when the event concludes on Saturday afternoon, there will be raffles, prizes, food and beverages, and a fish fry.
For more information on this event, visit the webpage or email Native Fish Society Southern Oregon Coordinator Charles Gehr at charles@nativefishsociety.org .
