Anglers in Minnesota now have access to 20 new and improved fishing piers across the state, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Minnesota DNR replaced 15 fishing piers and installed five new ones in 2011, paid for with funding from the Parks and Trails Fund of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.

New fishing piers are operational at Grant Lake (Beltrami County), Big Lake (Carlton County), Sylvan Bay on the Mississippi River (Itasca County), Lake Shetek at Lake Shetek State Park (in Murray County) and Albert Lea Lake at Myre-Big Island State Park (Freeborn County).

The new Legacy-funded fishing piers, ranging from 34 to 84 feet long, are all wheelchair accessible.

The DNR also replaced fishing piers at:

Long Lake (Otter Tail County), Fish Hook River (Hubbard County), Straight Lake (Becker County), Spirit Lake (Wadena County), Hill Lake (Aitkin County),Tilson Bay on Rainy Lake (Koochiching County), Lake Bennett and Silver Lake (Ramsey County), Buffalo Lake (Wright County), Middle Spunk Lake (Stearns County), Lake Charlotte (Todd County), Lake Andrew in Sibley State Park (Kandiyohi County), Madison Lake (Blue Earth County) and Swan Lake (McLeod County).

Work to replace the fishing pier at Boy Scout Landing on the St. Louis River (St. Louis County) was underway as of May.
  
According to Nancy Stewart, fishing pier coordinator for the DNR’s Parks and Trails Division: "Fishing piers provide a safe and convenient place to fish, instead of from bridges or steep embankments or fragile shoreland areas".

"They can be the heart of a community or a main component of a state, county or city park, and are often used to facilitate fishing clinics that help introduce new participants to fishing".

Since the Minnesota fishing pier grant program was created in 1984, DNR has provided more than 350 fishing piers, platforms or shore-fishing sites statewide, with one-third of them in the Twin Cities metro area. The overall goal of the program is to improve fishing opportunities, especially to meet the needs of children, older adults, people with disabilities, and those without a boat.

Anglers can locate a nearby fishing pier online or by calling the DNR Information Center at 651-296-6157 or toll-free 888-646-6367 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

source: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources