DNR pond stocked with fish for the state fair, some of them making a return visit

One of the more popular attractions at the Minnesota State Fair is the pond at the Department of Natural Resources building.

Well, it’s really the fish that are popular, thousands of them, picked from more than 20 different species native to Minnesota.

They don’t live on the fairgrounds all year.

They are raised at a secure fishery in St. Paul, and every year just before the fair starts they are trucked over to the historic fairground.

Tuesday was the day, less than 48 hours before the gates open, with seven pickup trucks doing the heavy work.

There, most of the walleye, crappies, and others are plucked from a transport tank with a fish net and plopped into the water.

It takes a bit more elbow grease to handle the lake sturgeon, which weigh around 40 pounds.

Not only are they heavy, they’re pretty old.

“We collected them back in the 1990’s,” said TJ DeBates of the east metro fishery. “They’re a long-lived species, they can live up to 100 years old.”

Live fish have been part of the fair since 1905, but it’s doubtful than any of current school have been coming to the fairgrounds for that long.

“We send positive mental energy their way, every year, and they come back, every year,” said DeBates. “How’s that?”

For every one of the dozen or so old-timers, there are smaller fish that don’t survive the trip.

“The move can be stressful for them,” said Geneview Furtner, who pulled up her waders and climbed into the pond to clear things out.

“A lot of them aren’t necessarily dead, they’re just in a state of shock,” she said, as a few swim away after getting nudged by a fishing net.

“Some of the smaller fish actually get eaten by the bigger fish, too,” said DeBates.

The ones that make it through the fair are well taken care of.

“Then they go back to this, more or less, natural spring-fed pond, where they live out the rest of the year,” he said.

WCCO's Al Schoch at one time believed the DNR pond was the best thing at the state fair. Then Pork Chop on a Stick came along.