There is a burst of whispered interjections -- "Whoa!" and "Cool!" -- when the kids see the rows of snowshoes sticking out of the snow.

Earlier, in a brief in-class presentation, ranger and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest youth and community engagement coordinator Tessa Rough showed photos of the snowshoes. But most of the Index ...Read more

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

Sunday..............5:00 p.m....................................................................5:30 a.m.

Monday.............5:55 p.m.........................Read more

Mother Nature answered the prayers of anglers, bait shop owners and resorters last week with an improbable mix of rain, wind and sunshine that unlocked frozen lakes in time for last weekend's walleye and northern pike fishing opener.

The last-minute ice-outs on Leech Lake, Kabetogama, Winnibigoshish, Pokegama, Upper Red Lake and Lake Vermilion ...Read more

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

Sunday..............10:20 a.m.................................................................10:50 p.m.

Monday.............11:10 a.m.........................Read more

Rick Horton of Grand Rapids, Minn., was just back from a spring turkey when he noticed the ticks, about a dozen of them, dug into his skin.

"They were several on my back, between my shoulder blades. And several in places I can't mention," said Horton, who spent three days crawling around in Kansas prairie grass to shoot a tom turkey. "I was ...Read more

It might be time to start saying your goodbyes to Olympic National Park's mountain goats (don't get too close). Some could be removed from the park as early as this summer.

The National Park Service released its final goat-management plan Friday, and the agency's preferred plan -- to remove as many goats as possible for relocation to the North ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- The fishing season for Jordan Wein and Aaron Claus won't start for another month or so, but already they're predicting a much bigger haul than the 12,000 bronze-colored beauties they scored last year.

Carp Solutions, an upstart private company founded three years ago by a professor at the University of Minnesota, removes unwanted...Read more

ON THE RAINY RIVER, Minn. -- For people who fish, there's something about getting in a boat again after a long winter that's difficult to put into words.

Excitement is part of it.

So is anticipation.

Anticipation for the sound of an outboard motor rumbling to life for the first time in months.

Anticipation for the sound of water lapping ...Read more

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

Sunday..............11:40 a.m...............................................................12:05 a.m.

Monday.............12:30 p.m...........................Read more

ON WISCONSIN'S BRULE RIVER -- Bruce Koepke slipped his hand under the young brown trout and quickly removed his pink yarn fly from its lip. It was nearly midday on Saturday, opening day of the early trout season on Wisconsin's Brule River.

Koepke returned the fish to the water.

The Brule opener is a hallowed tradition for many steelhead ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- When Minnesotans think of public lands, they're apt to focus on state parks, state forests, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, other parts of the Superior National Forest, and the mighty Chippewa National Forest in the heart of the north country.

But all around the state in lesser-known pockets of the wild, nature is ...Read more

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

Sunday..............12:35 a.m................................................................1:00 p.m.

Monday.............1:20 a.m............................Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Len Ferrington has one eye on the weather and the other on Minnesota House File 3352.

The longtime University of Minnesota entomology professor is awaiting approval of a $400,000 grant to continue the last segment of a study that's been going on for a dozen years into the different growth rates of trout in the Driftless Area of ...Read more

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. -- It may not be "Duck Dynasty," but a Detroit Lakes partnership has found its own small niche in the duck call business -- it allows hunters to put cremated ashes from their beloved hunting dogs into the duck call itself.

No, you don't get a mouthful of ashes whenever you blow the duck call -- Deadshot Custom Call Company ...Read more

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

Sunday...............7:15 p.m.................................................................7:45 a.m.

Monday.............8:10 p.m...........................Read more

DULUTH, Minn. -- St. Louis River muskie anglers learned something fascinating this past week about the fish they chase all summer: Not all of them stay in the river.

Of 60 muskies that have been fitted with hydro-acoustic "tags" by researchers, nearly 40 percent have ventured into Lake Superior, and 25 percent have remained there for more than ...Read more

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

Sunday...............1:00 p.m................................................................1:25 a.m.

Monday.............1:45 p.m............................Read more