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12 hours ago | 
outdoornews.com | Roy Heilman
As days warm and sunsets arrive later, many a Minnesota angler has fried fish on the brain. The bad news is, walleye and northern pike seasons don’t open for another couple of weeks. The good news is, we don’t have to wait that long. The president of the nonprofit organization Native Fish for Tomorrow, Drew Geving, could talk about native rough fish all day long, especially how sporting they are to catch and how delicious they are to eat.
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2 days ago | 
presspubs.com | Roy Heilman
The Mounds View speech team wrapped up the regular 2024-25 season on Tuesday, April 15 at the section 4AA tournament held at Spring Lake Park. Ten of the 15 students who competed placed in their categories, and four will advance to the state tournament this Saturday, April 26, at Shakopee. As a team, they earned second place, right behind Irondale. Perhaps none is prouder than head coach Bailey Hess, whose enthusiasm for speech overflows. “I love it; it’s my favorite thing,” she said that night.
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5 days ago | 
mankatofreepress.com | Roy Heilman
“You can come shoot one out of my yard. We have loads of ‘em!”There isn’t a turkey hunter alive who hasn’t heard some version of this dubious invitation. It’s usually issued from someone who lives in town, and believes it would be easy because “turkeys are so dumb.” Those turkeys are obviously accustomed to seeing people routinely, and unconcerned about people, cars, and even pets. Conversely, there isn’t a turkey hunter alive who doesn’t know how wary and skittish turkeys are in the wild.
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1 week ago | 
outdoornews.com | Roy Heilman
High school teacher Dan Kreft has brought a course to Hinckley-Finlayson High School that should be the envy of students all across Minnesota: angling. When Kreft read about a school on Minnesota’s Iron Range that had an angling class, he loved the idea. So, he proposed it as a semester-long class, and it’s now been running for a couple years.
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2 weeks ago | 
mankatofreepress.com | Roy Heilman
What weighs just a few ounces, is packed with all the right features, and is the perfect tool for navigating the outdoors in total darkness? Not headlamps, I can assure you. If you were hoping that was a setup for a column in which I extoll the virtues of headlamps and reveal the best one on the market, just turn the page now. I won’t be doing that for two reasons. First, such a tool does not exist. The words “right” and “perfect” are automatic disqualifiers.
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3 weeks ago | 
mankatofreepress.com | Roy Heilman
Do you smell something burning? Don’t worry; it’s not uncommon to get a whiff of smoke this time of year. This is when owners and managers of prairies hope to accomplish most controlled burning activities. You know, after the melt, and before things really green up. You could think of it as spring cleaning. The tallgrass prairie ecosystem historically covered much of western and southern Minnesota, and evolved over eons.
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1 month ago | 
mankatofreepress.com | Roy Heilman
Not all snapshots are created equal. I was reminded of this as I sifted through decades-old photos the other day. For some reason, we outdoorspeople can be inept at capturing memories of the pursuits we love. My recollections of photographic principles remain strong, now almost thirty years after photography class at West High School. Much-beloved teacher Mr. Schwertfeger worked so hard to convey them, and I frequently recall his lessons when taking and editing photos.
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1 month ago | 
outdoornews.com | Roy Heilman
Karl Erickson is on a mission. As founder and executive director of Urban Ice Anglers in Minnesota, he’s working furiously to take 10,000 kids ice fishing. In one season. Along the way, he aims to make them all better stewards of the environment. It’s a lofty goal, and the journey to reach it has so far provided a masterclass in overcoming challenges. This content is restricted to subscribers of OutdoorNews.com.
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1 month ago | 
mankatofreepress.com | Roy Heilman
In case you get stir-crazy in the coming weeks, I want to tell you about one day of fishing a few years ago. I’ve never done anything quite like it before or since. Even more notable, it happened because I heard voices during deer season. This all began in November, 2019. I was deep in the Mississippi river bottoms, and had gotten more than three miles from where I parked. I knew there was a lock and dam nearby, as I could see it periodically through the trees and hear its relentless whooshing.
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1 month ago | 
presspubs.com | Roy Heilman
Kids these days will likely grow up without an ice fishing experience. Karl Erickson, founder and director of Urban Ice Anglers (UIA), is working really hard to change that—and turn those young people into better environmental stewards in the process. The Urban Ice Angler Project aims to get 10,000 kids out to fish through the ice in one winter. On February 5, 6 and 7 this year, the students set up on the south side of White Bear Lake, passing the 2,000-participant mark in the process.
