Friday, March 10, 2006

Kettle River



the Kettle River, Sandstone Minnesota

I cross this beautiful river every day on my way to and from work. It was the first State designated Wild and Scenic River, and rightly so. This view is looking upstream; the Burlington Northern railroad bridge, the same railroad that is about 4 miles from my house, is visible. On the left extending upstream are the remains of old sandstone quarries, which gave the town of Sandstone its name. The quarries ceased operation in the 1930's or so, but were the source of the stone for many beautiful Romanesque style buildings in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The river has some nice smallmouth bass, walleye and northern pike, as well as lake sturgeon. I caught and released a 48 inch, 20 pound sturgeon out of this river 12 years ago, when we were sampling and tagging sturgeon for work. Honest, I got paid to go fishing.

14 comments:

Rurality said...

Very pretty. But are there any shrimp in it? ;)

Madcap said...

There's a new look around here! I like it. I like your photo, too.

Deb said...

rurality- no, that's one of the costs of living here: no fresh shrimp. I'm trying to figure out a cost-effective way of raising them here, perhaps in tanks in a greenhouse. I love shrimp!

madcap- thanks! I'm quite pleased with it too, I was getting tired of seeing other blogs that looked exactly like mine, and I finally got the guts to learn some code and do something about it.

Nice to see you back; hope the new medication regime works out well for you.

robin andrea said...

That's such a beautiful river. We don't have any rivers close by, just our little creek. So it's really nice to take a look at one so close to your place.

I like the new look here, too. Very well done.

Anonymous said...

cool new look Deb, I like it! and great photo too- that would be my husbands dream job, to get paid while fishing.
I think it's a shame that sturgeon are allowed to be speared during our ice fishing season. From what I've read, they're not tasty fish and they're usually kept just for their eggs (caviar). What a sad waste of an ancient species.

(and I'm glad you're hearing sandhills- I heard 3 more today!)

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous. I've never been paid to go fishing but I have been paid to go hiking, camping, and boating. Being a biologist has its perks. :D

Anonymous said...

We live right by the Pemigawasset River so I get to see scenes as beautiful as yours.

Rurality said...

I really meant, any coconut shrimp in it? Wink, wink...

R.Powers said...

Paid to fish...not fair!

Harbor Branch...google it...they have courses on raising saltwater shrimp in freshwater.

Also you could go the freshwater prawn route...Macrobrachium rosenbergii.

Of course, you can buy shrimp too. Last night we had shrimp 3 ways.

Gwyn Calvetti said...

Ah, memories! We used to travel on Highway 23 to visit Dad's family in Duluth, and would cross the Kettle River, then follow it a short distance along an edge. When I made a trip to visit my aunt and uncle and look for owls in 2005, I took the old route. Who needs 35W?

Deb said...

cindy- Thank goodness they closed the sturgeon fishing season on the Kettle River about ten years ago. I actually saw the state record lake sturgeon, from the Kettle River; it was 94 pounds and six feet long. It was perfectly legal to keep at the time, but what a waste. They take up to twenty years to become sexually mature.

rurality- Ah, the coconut shrimp. ; I made that post disappear because it was rather, um, incoherent (a little not-so-local Virgin Islands rum may have had something to do with it). I will revisit the topic at a later date though, I'm not through with it yet!

FC- thanks for the info; now if I can just figure out how to grow a coconut palm in this climate I can have some real locally grown coconut shrimp, instead of imported from China.

gwyn- Did you have any luck seeing owls? Around here they were hard to miss; it feels rather empty this year without them. And you're right; who needs 35W? I'm just a couple miles off 23, it makes a nice route to Duluth.

Thanks everyone, and sorry if I'm missing a few; glad you like the new look, it feels a lot more personal now!

Jim said...

Deb-

Not bad work if you can get it.

Peggy and I have just begun working on the Spotted-Owl survey again this year, and tonight I'm getting paid to go out hiking in the woods.

Anonymous said...

Deb-

Is this from the bridge near the park with the turkey vultures? My folks used to live east of Askov. I would exit at Sandstone and take the back roads east and then north to their place. There was a park near Sandstone along the river where I loved to watch turkey vultures sunning on the rocks. I'm still fond of vultures! Enjoying your blog-

Deb said...

Jim- that sounds like fun!

Lynne- Yes, this is the Highway 123 bridge that goes east from Sandstone. And Sandstone does seem to be the vulture capital of east central Minnesota! I'll have to go down to that park this spring and see if I can get some vulture photos.