Over the next week or so you’ll be hearing me focus my attention on the 2009 Minnesota Fishing Opener. If you live in Minnesota, I really don’t have to explain what all the excitement is about. Now on the other hand, if you live in Texas…or perhaps Florida…or some other state that has open fishing seasons year-round, you might wonder why make such a big deal out of it.
Well, in many regions of North America we don’t get the luxury of year-round seasons for most of our game fish. Fact is, the seasons generally close for biological reasons to ensure the breeding periods get completed with a minimum of disturbance. In the case of walleye, for example, this means for about 2 1/2 months each year Minnesota anglers must stow away the fishing gear for most bodies of water. …And you know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. 
Then along comes opening day for Minnesota anglers on the second Saturday of May. The excitement builds after a long winter and fishermen start getting that uncontrollable itch to once again wet a line. Supposedly for 61 years the Governor of Minnesota has even helped celebrate the event by taking part in the annual festivities.
The Minnesota Fishing Opener is an event most of our state’s sportsmen have permanently marked on their calendar. The only other date that comes close to having the same significance on the sportsman’s planner is the opening of firearms deer season in early November.
So yea, it’s a big deal when nearly a million anglers take to the water during one particular weekend when the fishing has been mostly idle for a period of weeks since ice fishing during late winter. In Minnesota, the Fishing Opener also marks the unofficial beginning of summer in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Boats that have been stored since last October suddenly roar back to life carrying scores of hopeful anglers.
Indeed, the Minnesota Fishing Opener weekend has a certain charm about it that only a dedicated fisherman can truly understand. Oh, but of course it’s not without some controversy as the event more often than not conflicts with Mother’s Day upsetting the harmony in many families. On the plus side, that’s why most of our state’s florists and jewelers walk around with big smiles on their faces during this time of the year. Even though their business may not be directly related to fishing, the Minnesota Fishing Opener represents nice cash register sales for them, too.
© 2009 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.
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