If you go to the State Fair...

[Scott M]

hit the Northern Tool and Equipment tent.

LED headlamps, $3

72 LED light bar and AA batteries, $9

Fishing Scissors, Lanyard, and Pliers with split ring opener, $5

2" 10 foot rolls of non-skid tape (perfect for flat bottom boat floors), $2

Needless to say I bought a ton of stuff!

[harvey lee]

They did have many items for very little.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

anyone see the big flatty the dnr had in the pond. She was nice looking

[MinnesnowtaWild]

That is the only reason I wanted to go to the fair but I never made it.

[Larry FlatCaster]

It took a bit for me to find.... It was a nice one... made everything else look like sunday school.

[The J-Man!]

I saw 2 of them. Of course the pictures don't do them justice.

[pureinsanity]

I still wish someone would have jumped in and swam down to the underwater webcam and waved! Maybe next year? Someone can swim down there and suction up the HSO logo to the window! haha

[Gordie]

looks like the one flat is guarding its next meal

[blakeb]

how big do you figure the bigger one in the pond was i am thinking 43" but its hard to judge underwater size

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

41x28

[MN BassFisher]

Sad to say but the smaller of the two wasn't looking good Monday (last day of the fair). I was there looking at the pond and the two cats were facing eachother. About 5 minutes later my girlfriend asked what "that one" is doing, and the smaller of the cats was belly up. Remained that way for ten minutes and then I left the pond.

[The J-Man!]

The picture was taken the first day of the fair. They both were just hanging out there together not doing much. I guessed that the bigger one looked mid 40 inches long. My 5 year old son sure thought they were cool!

That is sad to hear that the smaller of the 2 wasn't doing too well. It's inevitable that there will be some mortality among the fish in the holding pond every year considering how many fish they put in there.

Also I wonder what the flatheads eat in that tank. There were all sorts of baitfish swimming around, but I wonder if a walleye or 2 went mysteriously missing...

[Scott M]

I saw a smallie eat some minnows. That's the first time I've actually seen some foraging in person at that pond. All that direct sunlight and stress isn't good for the flats, but the education side of things is good for flats and the DNR.

[Gordie]

A flathead eats what ever its hungry for and with a smorgasbord that they were in no telling One day smallies the next walleyes they just have to pace themselves

Hope that all the fish in the pond made it Ok and live to see better water.

[Adam Wolf]

I spoke with a DNR officer at the fair. According to him the water is pumped up from the ground, comes in one side, and leaves on the other, keeping the tank at a constant 55 degrees. Which answers why the trout were so active and all the other fish so lethargic. They put in baitfish on wednesdays and that's about it for feeding. The year-round storage facility is outdoors and is located near the DNR facility in St. Paul by the Mississippi river. Interesting enough although it is a good sign of a healthy fish population in the river, they have had some problems lately with the increase in nesting eagles along the river swooping down and taking fish from their pond. The gar in particular have a hard time surviving since they tend to hang out just below the surface. I think there was only one long-nosed at the fair this year.