Minnesota DNR offers “Minnesotans Fish Free with Kids” weekend

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -The Minnesota DNR is holding its “Minnesotans Fish Free with Kids” event this weekend.

The annual event lets any resident accompanied by a kid 15 and under fish for free.

The event started Friday and will run through Monday.

The DNR offers two free fishing weekends throughout the year, one in each fishing season.

The DNR says the goal of the event is to provide an opportunity for those who wouldn’t otherwise fish to give it a try.

”Ice fishing opens up a whole new world and a whole new adventure for fishing because you can access parts of the St. Croix river or any of these lakes that you normally couldn’t because you don’t have a boat. So you can walk out and fish in a lot of places as long as you’re conscious of the ice safety,” said Benjamin Kohn of the Minnesota DNR.

The DNR is also offering “how-to” fishing and ice safety tutorials to help educate people going out fishing for the first time at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/