It’s still a bit early in the spring for there to be many campers at Camden State Park, said ranger Adam Kurtz. But if the weather looks good, Minnesota’s stream trout fishing opener brings in visitors.

Kurtz said Camden Park has about 25 campsites reserved for this weekend. It’s a good-sized crowd, “considering that it’s early April,” he said Thursday.

The stream trout fishing opener starts statewide on Saturday. Trout fishing draws a lot of anglers to Minnesota streams each spring, said Dean Paron, stream habitat supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Paron said over 120,000 trout stamps had been sold in Minnesota, although that number didn’t capture anglers who are younger than 16.

“Over the last 10 years, we’ve been seeing slight increases each year,” he said.

“We have a really good, healthy angler population in the state,” Paron said. “We are also blessed to have a lot of wild, naturally reproducing trout.”

Paron said Minnesota has one native trout species, the brook trout, which is found in streams in the southeastern and northeastern parts of Minnesota. Introduced brown trout have also naturalized in southeast Minnesota. In Camden State Park, brown trout are stocked each year, before the stream trout opener in the spring.

Rainbow trout are not native to Minnesota, but in some areas they are supported by stocking, Paron said.

For many anglers, one of the appeals of fishing for trout is that it provides a different experience than lake fishing, Paron said.

“It provides a unique angling opportunity,” Paron said. Trout are not only an attractive fish, but they can also provide a fun challenge for anglers, he said. “In cold water, it puts up a great fight.”

Minnesota has about 3,800 miles of designated trout streams, the DNR said. More information on where to fish for trout is available at the DNR’s website, or through the DNR’s StreamFinder site, mndnr.gov/fishing/trout/map.html.