Fishing and Foraging in Minnesota’s Northwoods

Skeeters and Other Things

We found a few days to explore and forage Minnesota’s backwoods near Marcell the first week of August. Northern Minnesota is just amazing if you have never been there – the loons, the lakes, the saunas, the fishing, the quiet and sense of peacefulness. It is a vast land of forests and lakes separated by gentle hills. OMG the mosquitos though, pack your deet if you dare.

This adventure featured a special type of foraging: fishing. Our trip included catching pike, bass and walleye throughout a myriad of small (and large) Minnesota lakes. And then promptly eating them “shore lunch” sytle – battered and fried. With a usual vegan diet, we have an important exception: fish we catch or are caught in a body of water we can see while we eat the fish. These fresh Minnesota fish were just about as good as it gets (although what isn’t good battered and fried in shore lunch eh?). As Coloradans we don’t often keep fish since we don’t really favor eating trout.

Of course we needed some mushrooms to go with all the fish. Just walking around the woods produced golden chanterelles and lobster mushrooms – two of our favorites. They are fun to hunt in the MN woods as their vibrant colors contrast the brown forest floor and announce them from so far away.