Fishing

The review will allow Minnesotans to submit comments on whether or not the state's current mining rules are adequate for protecting the BWCA, its watershed, and the surrounding lands from potential pollution from proposed copper-nickel mining in the wilderness area.

On Oct. 20, 2021, federal agencies committed to complete a study of potential impacts of sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters Watershed and paused new mineral leasing in the area while science and public input is gathered.

Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers today commended a decision by the Biden administration to protect the Boundary Waters Wilderness watershed from industrial mining. The action this morning by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior includes an application for a 20-year ban on sulfide-ore copper mining on federal public lands in the wilderness watershed. Called a mineral withdrawal, the process kicks off a comprehensive study of the potential effects of sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed.

Let's see your best Boundary Waters fly! Tie up your best fly for fishing the BWCA and send Sportsmen BWCA a picture from August 13th through August 26th, 2021. After an online competition to determine the best fly, the top 3 winners will be selected to win gift cards from our sponsor, Bob Mitchell's Fly Shop.

Proper fish handling is our responsibility as stewards of the resource. Handling fish with care is important no matter what time of year and can make all the difference in preserving the life of a fish that is caught and released. As anglers, we need to keep that in mind and do everything in our power to ensure we get fish back in the water safely to reproduce and preserve the fisheries we love. 

The future of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness, and Americans’ relationship to it, is in the hands of key decision-makers at the U. S. Department of Agriculture, U. S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, the United States Congress, and hunters and anglers like you and me.

Lake trout are native to the Boundary Waters and are some of the biggest trout in the entire world. Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters supporter Jacob Bendel shares his passion for lake trout and the adventures he has had chasing them through the ice.

No, this is about eating way, way more calories than you could ever burn.  Being a Backcountry glutton is NOT about instant meals or freeze-dried prepackaged dinners, this is about bacon grease and finger-licking.

In the fall of 2019, Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers took a trip to Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and to Twin Metal’s proposed mine site on Birch Lake.

Listen to Bill Sherck of Minnesota Bound and Lukas Leaf, Executive Director of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, dig into the risky copper-nickel mining proposal upstream of the Boundary Waters.