Managing Editor Rob Drieslein and Editor Tim Spielman talk about the recent find of spawning coaster brook trout in Lake Superior, plus they remember famed Minnesota wildlife photographer Jim Brandenburg. Then John Lenczewski from Minnesota Trout Unlimited joins the program to offer some tips for the Saturday, April 12 trout opener. Longtime friend of Outdoor News Mark Strand then visits to preview the April 16th opener of the first 2025 spring Minnesota wild turkey season. Tim Lesmeister helps Rob wrap up the show with some talk of the big, dire wolf, so-called de-extinction story that hit this week.

The post Episode 535 – Coaster brookies spawning, remembering Jim Brandenburg, trout, turkeys, dire wolf appeared first on Outdoor News.

In the midst of additional tariffs drama, Canada announced last week that it will not be charging Americans with a tariff tax at the border this year. Managing Editor Rob Drieslein and Editor Tim Spielman break it down. Then Wisconsin Outdoor News Editor Dean Bortz jumps into the show to preview the Conservation Congress spring hearings in the Badger State, plus likely changes coming to the state’s deer management units. New Minnesota Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Chair Chance Adams of Bemidji then introduces himself to listeners during a full segment. Tim Lesmeister helps wrap up the show with discussion on fishing issues that came up at the recent MN-FISH Summit, plus some federal public lands controversies.

The post Episode 534 – Canada tariffs update, Wisconsin spring hearings, new Minn BHA chair, MN-FISH Summit appeared first on Outdoor News.

Grand Rapids, Minn.-resident Easton Fothergill’s win at the 2025 Bassmasters Classic last weekend in Texas dominates this week’s show with chatter from host Rob Drieslein, Editor Tim Spielman, and co-host Tim Lesmeister on the big victory. Other guests include Wally Swanson from the Bluebird Recovery Program of Minnesota and Lukas Leaf, from Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, who updates listeners on the status of legislation and potential Trump executive orders that could impact the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The post Episode 533 – Minnesota delivers 2025 Bassmasters champ Easton Fothergill; plus bluebirds and BWCA appeared first on Outdoor News.

Rob Drieslein and Tim Spielman begin this week’s show talking about the two-walleye limit on Mille Lacs that begins on May 10 (fishing opener), then discuss tariffs that anglers could face at the Canadian border this year. Andy Wendt, a Minnesota DNR naturalist at Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park near Northfield, joins the program to talk about maple syruping and maple syrup programs at state parks this month. Griffin Blegen, a graduate student at Bemidji State University, shares insight into his fascinating bowfin (dogfish) research that’s entering its second year with the open-water season. Tim Lesmeister and Drieslein wrap up the show with discussion of the wild cougar cubs sighted in the Upper Peninsula, plus whether or not giant, extinct 200-pound beavers deserve to be the Minnesota state fossil.

The post Episode 532 – Mille Lacs walleye regs, maple sap season, bowfin research, cougar kits in Michigan appeared first on Outdoor News.

Rob Drieslein and Tim Spielman start this week’s Outdoor News Radio reminding listeners about the new yellow perch reg on Lake Mille Lacs. Then Mark Holsten from MN-Fish invites the angling public to the group’s March 27 Summit in Grand Rapids. Chris Granrud from Rainydaze Guide Service provides a late ice border update and Rainy River open water outlook. Tim Lesmeister and Drieslein discuss the “accounting error” at the Department of Revenue, which means a multi-million-dollar penalty for the Outdoor Heritage Fund this year, plus the crossbow issue at the state Legislature.

The post Episode 531 – New Mille Lacs perch regs, MN-Fish summit, Rainy River outlook, crossbow talk appeared first on Outdoor News.

Rob Drieslein and Tim Spielman start this week’s Outdoor News Radio with discussion about a great perch bite on Lake Mille Lacs that could mean a new regulation on the big lake. Shannon Fisher from Minnesota DNR jumps into the program to share details about lake management plan public review going on right now as well as an update on the record fish program. Charles “Turk” Gierke from Croixsippi Guide Service then calls in to offer tips on walleye and sauger fishing on Mississippi River in the spring. Tim Lesmeister brings it home as he and Drieslein discuss how federal funding cuts could affect lamprey management as well as the World Ice Fishing Championships in Michigan… where the American team didn’t fare so well.

The post Episode 530 – Mille Lacs jumbo perch controversy, fish regulations, Mississippi River open water appeared first on Outdoor News.

Rob Drieslein and Tim Spielman start this week’s Outdoor News Radio talking about ice conditions and relatively low winter severity index readings for deer and other wildlife. Then Dan Stark, large carnivore specialist for the Minnesota DNR, joins the show to talk about the public review process underway to revamp the black bear no-quota zone border. Stan Tekiela returns for the second straight week, this time to talk about photographing wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Then Drieslein and Tim Lesmeister jump into a discussion about staff cuts at America’s national parks, plus they chuckle about a proposal to give 65-year-olds and older free fishing licenses.

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Rob Drieslein and Tim Spielman start this week’s Outdoor News Radio talking about the public review process tackling management strategies for the new 1,800-acre Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area. Then new South Dakota columnist Josh Haiar joins Rob to talk about brewing legislation affecting hunting in the S.D. Legislature. Backyard and Beyond columnist Stan Tekiela drops in to talk about all the irrupting owls in the region this winter. Tim Lesmeister helps wrap up the program breaking down the big story involving federal natural resources professionals being laid off across the country.

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Rob Drieslein and Tim Spielman kick off the program talking too much oxygen in some southern Minnesota lakes, youth bear permits, and 2025 turkey permits becoming available in coming days and weeks. Joe Henry from Lake of the Woods tourism jumps into the program with an update on the big border lake and outlook for late winter. New DNR Wildlife Section leader Dave Trauba then joins the program to discuss a host of topics, including the updated Minnesota waterfowl and pheasant action plans. Tim Lesmeister and Drieslein then offer a brief movie review on the new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, before wrapping up the broadcast with chatter on northeast elk and shed hunting licenses in Idaho.

The post Episode 527 – Turkey permits, Lake of the Woods, DNR’s Dave Trauba, Dylan movie review, shed hunting appeared first on Outdoor News.

Rob Drieslein and Tim Spielman launch the show with talk of new, watered-down deer farm legislation and fishing regulation changes. Then Eric Morken jumps into the program to talk about winter whitetail scouting and using mapping apps like onX. For segment three, Kelsie LaSharr from the Minnesota DNR outlines next week’s public meetings as part of the state’s elk restoration process in northeastern Minnesota. Tim Lesmeister and Drieslein wrap up the program with discussion on Land Tawney being back in the conservation mix plus a couple of controversial letters to the editor in this week’s print edition.

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