Going Big for Tiny Fish

Tony Long grew up fishing Minnesota lakes for bass. Later, as a fisheries biologist, he worked with behemoths like paddlefish, sturgeon, and king salmon in the Pacific Northwest. But lately it’s the tiniest of fish that can be caught by hook and line that have captured his attention.

Microfishing is a niche type of fishing growing in popularity for its ease, community, and accessibility. Some of the anglers who fish for these small gems target not just the smallest fish, but the largest number of species, compiling life lists like birders. Micro anglers use a lightweight rod, a light line, and a fleck of an insect or sliver of a worm on a miniscule hook. You’ll find microfishers wading through streams, or even at drainage ponds sight fishing.

About 70 Minnesota fish species are considered “micro” under the sub-pound definition. While about 1.7 million anglers fish Minnesota waters each year, it’s unknown how many are micro anglers—but even by their own estimates, they account for a tiny slice of the action.

For many, the sport offers a chance to explore new aquatic habitats. Long, a natural resource specialist for the Minnesota DNR, tells of a time he was alongside a stream in the southeastern part of the state, where he lives. He found himself without his rod. “There was a downed branch along the stream, so I just tied a little extra fishing line on that and then I tied my tanago hook [designed for fish with tiny mouths] to that and we were off to the races,” he says.

For Aaron Bye of Stillwater, microfishing is about taking opportunities to catch fish wherever he finds himself. Much of his microfishing is done in the St. Croix, “my home river.”

He also fishes in less wild and scenic settings. One afternoon on his lunch break, Bye, a home inspector, pulled out his fishing rod at a drainage pond near a shopping center and tried his luck. “It was nice easy access, and it was there.”

Bye has caught about 20 Minnesota micro species including brook sticklebacks, rainbow darters, and logperch.

Microfisher Eric Kolcinski of Minneapolis recalls one particularly long and resolute pursuit of a slenderhead darter on a creek south of Mankato. After a great deal of perseverance, he found and hooked the skittish fish in a little logjam.

“One of the things that’s so cool about this type of fishing is that it is extremely intimate,” Kolcinski says. “Everything else disappears. You’re not worried about your friggin’ mortgage when you’re trying to catch a little darter.”

Long, who now works out of Lake City for the Minnesota DNR, has caught about 47 different species of Minnesota micros, and he has a life list of 158 freshwater species across many different states.

Microfishing is easy to get into, Long says. “You don’t really need a boat. All you’ve got to do is walk up to a shoreline and see what’s swimming around.”