FARMINGTON, Minn. -- A river once riddled with pollution is now a hot spot for trout fishing.
It has taken decades of work to improve the water quality of the Vermillion River. Efforts are paying off, allowing anglers to reel in trout right from the metro's doorstep.
Thursday morning, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) East Metro Area Fisheries staff stocked 1,500 rainbow trout into the Vermillion River at Rambling River Park in Farmington.
"They're catchable size, 11 in. to 13 in. We put them in here every spring for the harvest season, April 18," said T.J. DeBates, supervisor for East Metro Area Fisheries.
In the 1950s, the Vermillion River's water quality was called "a disgrace."
"Some of the wastewater from the sewage treatment plant here basically used to be pumped right into here and now it's diverted all the way down to the Mississippi," explained DeBates.
DeBates also mentioned issues with surface runoff.
Several decades of work allowed the river to officially become a trout stream in 1988. The MnDNR has stocked the river since 1990.
"A lot of effort, a lot of time, a lot of money has been invested in this and frankly, I think it's really paid off," said Jim Levitt, with East Metro Area Fisheries.
According to DeBates, brown trout were stocked in 1990 and have established a population that is sustained by natural reproduction. While the DNR does not stock brown fish in the Vermillion, they continue to stock rainbow trout.
"Oh yeah, we get a lot of people who fish here. Get a lot of calls in the next week and a half. We'll be getting calls pretty regularly," DeBates said.
Thursday morning's rainbow trout came from the DNR's hatchery in Lanesboro. DeBates and Levitt used nets to lower the trout into different parts of the river at Rambling River Park.
"A lot of the trout streams in Minnesota are up in the North Shore, along Lake Superior, or down in southeast Minnesota. There's a lot of fish hatcheries down there. So in the metro, we've got a limited amount of trout streams to fish," said Levitt.
According to Harland Hiemstra, public affairs officer for the DNR Central Region, the Vermillion River is the only trophy brown trout stream in the United States located in a metropolitan area.
The Southern Dakota County Sportsman's Club also stocks the river with 500 rainbow trout. Between the club and the MnDNR, there will be about 2,000 stocked fish for the stream trout opener on April 18.
