Even if it snows on the opener, they can’t wait to bait
THE LAND, MAY 17, 2013 John Cross/Mankato Free Press
A few brave anglers fish open water on Upper Whitefish Lake near the mouth of the Pine River for the Minnesota fishing opener on May 11. the 25 years she had been in business. “We’re normally open on the Friday before the opener until at least 10 p.m.,” she said Saturday morning. “Last night, we closed at 7:30.” No matter. Because the sources of such coveted walleye baits such as rainbow minnows remain frozen, they were
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unavailable at any price. And leeches, another walleye angler’s favorite, only recently became available. Of course, with the water temperature still only in the mid-40s on Saturday, that normally productive bait would hardly be an opening day bait of choice anyway. See OUTDOORS, pg. 18A
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On most spring and summer weekends, but especially on the eve of the Minnesota fishing opener, Highway 10 and then Highway 371 are the Mother Roads for outstate anglers and their rigs as they motor northward to reach prime walleye waters. But on May 10, rolling along THE OUTDOORS through Royalton, past Little Falls and Brainerd in light trafBy John Cross fic, there was little hint that it was the eve of Minnesota’s biggest unofficial holiday. Only 12 trailered boats were counted during the entire trip and half of those were headed south. Just north of Brainerd, the paucity of angler traffic became apparent as spring back-slid to winter. With the exception of some of the shallower bays, most lakes including those of the Whitefish Chain where I planned to fish still were locked in varying degrees of ice. It was a similar story for the rest of northern Minnesota, including such premier walleye waters as Leech, Winnie and Mille Lacs. Anglers tend to be an optimistic lot but during this spring, a spring that has yet to arrive, it’s hard to find a positive spin. At a bait shop in Cross Lake, the lady behind the counter said that it had been the slowest opener in
17 A