Anglers who catch walleye in Collinwood, Manuella, Stella and Washington lakes might find themselves landing a walleye banded with a jaw tag.
Stop by the monthly Avid Anglers meeting from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7, at the Hutchinson area fisheries along Minnesota Highway 7.
Hutchinson area fisheries staff perform management, habitat and oversight work for 94 fishing lakes and 38 rivers and streams in McLeod, Meeker, Sibley, Nicollet, Brown, Redwood, Renville and western Wright counties.
Popular area waters are Minnie-Belle Lake, Belle Lake, Washington Lake and much of the middle Minnesota River. These lakes offer fantastic walleye and bass fishing, great panfish action and the Minnesota River remains a fantastic angling resource for a variety of fish species.
- News and notices
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Avid Anglers to meet May 7
Avid Anglers will meet from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7, at the area fisheries office. Please join us for our May meeting.
Get started fishing
We can help you get started fishing. Check out our tips and links to information on how to fish, filleting fish, frying fish and more. - Fishing opportunities
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Learn to fish
Fishing piers & boat ramps by county
Public lands
- Resources
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Welcome!
...to the lakes and streams within the Hutchinson Fisheries Management Area. The management area includes over 550 water bodies found in Brown, McLeod, Meeker, Nicollet, Redwood, Renville, and Sibley counties. Those managed for fishing include over 50 lakes, 8 kids fishing ponds, 5 trout streams, and 5 major rivers including the Minnesota River.
The remaining water bodies consist of small streams and ditches, wetlands, shallow waterfowl lakes, and natural ponds used for walleye production. In addition to water bodies, Hutchinson Area Fisheries manages parcels of land as Aquatic Management Areas (AMA) to protect fish habitat and promote angling access. Our clientele include sporting clubs, lake associations, and thousands of anglers that fish in the management area annually.
General information
Surveys of fish populations and aquatic habitats are carried out periodically on each managed lake or stream. The information collected is used to monitor fish populations, evaluate management activities, and to develop new management plans. These reports contain information on fish populations such as abundance, sizes, age, and growth rates. Along with fish information, the reports include information on water chemistry, shoreline and watershed characteristics, aquatic vegetation and much more.
- Lake management planning
Lakes scheduled for 2024
People who want to discuss the individual fisheries listed below must call or email this area fisheries office during February. Your observations and comments will be considered as updates begin on these fisheries lake management plans.
Comments from people interested in the health and quality of Minnesota’s fisheries are a critical part of the DNR’s fisheries lake management planning process. These plans establish fisheries management goals and objectives for each lake and guide the work fisheries biologists do each year.
Clicking lake links below take you to LakeFinder, where you can find various lake specific information, including past fisheries surveys. To submit input or learn more about each lake’s management plan, please contact this area office.
Lake (nearest city) County Little Mud (Watkins) Meeker Little Swan (Dassel) Meeker Ripley (Litchfield) Meeker Round (Litchfield) Meeker Wolf (Dassel) Meeker How you can help
Comments about preferred experiences, observations or general concerns about the fishery – rather than suggestions on how DNR might accomplish a specific goal or objective – are the most helpful kinds of input.
Some questions to consider when formulating input could include:
- What kind of fishing experience are you looking for?
- Are there fish habitat concerns you’d like to share?
- What species of fish are most important to you?
- Do you like catching fewer big fish or a lot of smaller fish?
Individuals as well as representatives of lake associations, outdoors groups, conservations organizations and local units of government are encouraged to comment.
- Talk with us
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Hutchinson staff
Slide text left for phones & emails
Name
Position
Phone
Email
Scott Mackenthun Area supervisor 320-753-0324 [email protected] Tanner Stevens Assistant area supervisor 320-753-0343 [email protected] Chris Foster Fisheries specialist 320-753-0328 [email protected] Fisheries technician Anthony Sindt Minnesota River fisheries specialist, senior 320-753-0333 [email protected] Hannah Anema Minnesota River fisheries specialist 320-753-0329 [email protected] Amanda Craft Minnesota River fisheries specialist [email protected] Patricia Block Office administrative specialist 320-753-0323 [email protected]