National Trout Center

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Thursday through Saturday - 10am to 4pm
120 St. Anthony St. S., Preston, MN

507-765-2452 - FREE Admission
Donate to the National Trout Center - Preston, MN
A real "catch"
in the
heart of the Driftless
  • National Trout Center - Preston, Minnesota - Visit, Learn, Explore, Support
  • National Trout Center - Preston, Minnesota - Visit, Learn, Explore, Support
  • National Trout Center - Preston, Minnesota - Visit, Learn, Explore, Support
  • National Trout Center - Preston, Minnesota - Visit, Learn, Explore, Support
  • National Trout Center - Preston, Minnesota - Visit, Learn, Explore, Support - Groups, Field Trips, Schools
  • National Trout Center - Preston, Minnesota - Visit, Learn, Explore, Support - Become a Business Member

The National Trout Center seeks to conserve our natural and cultural heritage of trout and their coldwater environments by engaging the public through education, practice and awareness.

The National Trout Center is located in Preston, Minnesota, which is in the heart of the four state driftless area and home to one of the country’s most remarkable freshwater resources – with over 600 coldwater limestone spring-fed creeks supporting a world-class trout fishery. Several thousand miles of mineral-rich streams weave across the landscape and represent one of the highest concentrations of the rarest forms of freshwater on Earth. These streams support abundant populations of trout, which in turn, attract tens of thousands of anglers to the region each year.

The National Trout Center is a great place for fishermen, families, groups and schools to visit!

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Current Conditions
Stream Conditions August 24th 2018

With rain showers over night streams are looking good, but with chances of rain in the area all day  mean that the stream conditions will most likely decline. As of August 24th Mill Creek at the county road 2 bridge in Chatfield had 80 centimeters of water visibility. This stream is fishable in all manners of trout fishing. As of August 24th Trout Run at Bucksnort Park had over a meter of water visibility. This stream is looking very good and is currently fishable in all forms of fly fishing. As of August 24th the South Branch of the Root Rive was at 75 centimeters of visibility. The Root River Is looking pretty clear and is fishable in all manners of trout fishing.

 

Recent News
Trout Days Weekend (5/18/2018)

Don’t miss the trout-related events at Preston, Minnesota, starting today and continuing through Sunday. Best news of all is that stream conditions promise great fishing with clearing streams and moderate flows all across the region.

Facebook Posts
4 months ago
Minnesota Fishing

DNR’s Lanesboro fisheries crew has been busy completing their fall electrofishing stream assessments. Brook trout (the only species of trout native to southeast Minnesota), were abundant in this area of the Middle Branch Whitewater River relative to years past. No brown trout larger than 15 inches showed up in the survey, but there were many between 10 and 12 inches. Hopefully these will be 15 inches next year! http://bit.ly/DNRTroutPage #TroutTuesday ... See more

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4 months ago
Photos from National Trout Center's post

We were lucky to have a beautiful Saturday and guests had a great time on the National Trout Center's Fall Geology Bus Tour! A big thank you to Jeff Broberg for being our entertaining and educational guide! We would also like to give a huge thank you to Lisa Brainard, Photographer Cameron Owen, Larry Reis a Naturalist with Winneshiek County Conservation, Stephanie at the Spring Valley Laura Ingalls Wilder Site, Karst Brewing for helping and hosting us as stops on the bus tour and, of course, The Sweet Stop and Sandwich Shoppe for providing guests with great sack lunches to bring on our trip!

This will end our 2018 regular season at the National Trout Center. Thanks to our guests (and despite all the rain) we had a busy and successful year! Whether you came to the NTC for a special program or field trip, to hang out with Interns Henry and Bailey for Fly Tying Fridays and fly fishing workshops, or just to ask for some fishing tips, spots, and maps, it was our pleasure to help you. We look forward to the 2019 season where we hope to bring you more programs that continue our mission of educating guests about the natural resources and ecology the Driftless Area has to offer! Keep an eye out for some possible winter events!

Thank you all for supporting the National Trout Center!

Your 2018 NTC Director,
Kelsey Hoffmann
... See more

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4 months ago
Photos from National Trout Center's post

Over 30 people participated in the Izaak Walton League of America’s “Save Our Streams” Water Quality Monitoring Training Workshop hosted by The National Trout Center! The workshop included classroom instruction on water quality challenges, physical and chemical monitoring of streams, and aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling and identification. Many participants will become our Master Stream Technicians for our Whitewater Stream Team!

We would like to thank everyone for coming to learn how to monitor the health of their local streams!

A special thank you to Samantha Briggs from the Izaak Walton League, Liz Micheel and Minnesota State College Southeast in Winona, Neal Mundahl from Winona State University, and Kelsey Hoffmann from The National Trout Center for making this weekend's trainings possible!
... See more

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4 months ago
Fishing the Driftless Area: The Best Kept Secret in the Trout World

Touching corners of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, the Driftless Region is home to a unique landscape, thousands of miles of public clean and cold streams, and countless trout willing to take a fly or spinner. ... See more

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4 months ago
Minnesota Trout Unlimited - MNTU

Dr. Neal Mundahl and his WSU students have been electro-fishing the former Oevering, now Blume, stretch of Garvin Brook and have found positive results:
"Of the three, 100-m sections that we sampled on the former Oevering property, all three had Young Of Year (YOY) and yearling numbers this year similar to the two years (2015 and 2016) prior to the HI work being done. However, the sections had 2 to 3 times as many adult trout this year compared to previous years (40 adult fish /100 m this year compared to 15 and 10 adult fish/100 m in 2015 and 2016. Not a long-term data set by any means (numbers vary so much among years), but at least this first sampling a year after HI work suggests that the work appears to have maintained numbers of young fish while boosting numbers of adult fish." ... See more

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4 months ago
Minnesota Trout Unlimited - MNTU

Thanks to two neighboring landowners for allowing a crew of Win-Cres TU Chapter members to use the Brush Hog to mow an angler's path along Rush Creek this morning!
Anglers won't have to fight so much with the parsnip, nettles, and ragweed for the last few weeks of the trout season above and below the Ahrensfeldt Creek access along County Highway 25.
Anglers are asked to parallel park on the shoulder of the road near the Ahrensfeldt Creek bridge.
... See more

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4 months ago
Minnesota Fishing

Trout streams. Southeast Minnesota. Be there.

We’re into the catch-and-release season for trout streams in Houston, Fillmore, Mower, Dodge, Olmsted, Winona, Wabasha and Goodhue counties that lasts through Monday, Oct. 15. It’s a great way to spend a fall day!

Check out mndnr.gov/fishing for details. #FishMN
... See more

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5 months ago
Izaak Walton League of America

Ready to find out what's in YOUR water? Our one-day workshop will give you the tools you need to become a volunteer stream monitor! Join #IWLA and the National Trout Center on Oct 6th or Oct 7th in Winona, MN. Links for both events at iwla.org/workshops. #SaveOurStreams ... See more

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5 months ago

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5 months ago

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