Minnesota fisheries

Melissa Mickelson's painting of a rainbow trout eating a minnow made her a first-time winner in the Minnesota trout and salmon stamp contest.

Mickelson, a Minneapolis resident, is not only a first-time winner. She becomes the first woman to win the contest since 1990 and only the second in the history of the stamp.

Judges selected Mickelson’s painting from among 12 submissions. Tie runners-up were Stephen Hamrick of Lakeville and John Barnard of Moose Lake.

Her artwork will adorn Minnesota's 2020 trout and salmon stamp.

A first-time winner took top honors at the habitat stamp contest that determined the artwork for the 2020 version of the Minnesota walleye stamp.

In the contest, Mapleton artist Josh Evan won for the first time with a painting of walleye about to bite on a hook baited with a minnow.

Judges selected the painting from among nine submissions. The runner-up in this year's contest was Minneapolis artist Melissa Mickelson, who won this year's trout and salmon stamp contest.

Proceeds from sales of the walleye stamp, which is not required to fish for or keep walleye, are used to maintain and enhance Minnesota's famed walleye fishing.