“They’re beautiful. They fight too. They’re strong for how little they are,” said Anema of rainbow trout she scooped out of a semitrailer holding tank into a smaller trailer tank behind her DNR pickup truck near the Redwood River in Redwood Falls Thursday.

The DNR Hutchinson Fisheries crew did their annual trout stocking Thursday. They released about 300 brown trout and 300 rainbow trout at Ramsey Creek just west of Redwood Falls, at Fort Ridgely Creek in Fort Ridgely State Park, at Spring Creek just south of Brown County Road 30 near State Highway 4 and at 7 Mile Creek near St. Peter.

Minnesota’s stream trout season opens Saturday.

“Stocking trout in southwest and south central Minnesota offers a very unique fishing opportunity,” said Anema. “Trout are good to eat. They taste pretty good and they put up a fun fight. You can fish for them with spinner bait or fly fish.”

Staff photo by Fritz Busch Minnesota DNR Fisheries Specialist Hanna Anema holds a rainbow trout before releasing it at Fort Ridgely Creek at Fort Ridgely State Park Thursday.

She said her favorite way to prepare trout is on the grill with lemon, onion and butter.

“I make trout patties often,” said Anema. “Trout we stocked in are perfect eating size, about a half pound to a pound each. Many fly anglers like trout in wide open spots. Early morning is best, before a rainstorm. Trout like clear water to spot their prey.”

Redwood Falls Public Works Project Coordinator Jim Doering visited the DNR crew as they prepared to stock trout near a ball field west of downtown.

He said fishing interest in the community and area as far as 80 miles away has risen since Lake Redwood was recently dredged from a depth of one to two feet to 20 feet.

“It was stocked with 50,000 walleye fry two years ago. Now many of them are more than 20 inches long,” said Doering. “We’ve also got a really good channel catfish population. We’ve also requested white crappies be stocked here. Today, it was great to see the DNR stocking trout at Ramsey Creek, getting ready for the opener.”

Staff photo by Fritz Busch Minnesota DNR Fisheries Specialist Hanna Anema holds a trout before releasing it at Fort Ridgely Creek at Fort Ridgely State Park Thursday.

He said many ice fishing houses were on Lake Redwood this winter.

“Before we dredged the lake, hardly anyone ice fished on it,” said Doering. “Boats will be on the lake when fishing season opens. We’ll put in a DNR fishing pier in Perk’s Park, (just west of downtown Redwood Falls). People are real happy. They don’t tell me what they use for bait, but people are catching fish. It’s exciting. The fishing here now is a blessing.”

For more information, visit https://www.state.mn.us/fishing/trout/index.html.