Statewide Fishing Opener Starts With Shiners And Leeches
SPRING LAKE PARK, Minn. (WCCO) -- Inside Vados Bait & Tackle on highway 65, the annual minnow rush is in overdrive. Customers flood in to secure their opening weekend bait of choice.
"These are the extra-large golden shiners that they just got in last night I guess," angler Derek Antrim said.
Anglers heading to points north make it their first stop for fresh bait, filling gallon bags with lively shiners, chubs and leeches.
"The Opener is leeches and spot tail shiners are the next primo," co-owner Greg Fisher said. "My favorite bait for the opener is the spot tail – it's is a wonderful walleye bait."
An estimated 500,000 anglers will hit Minnesota's highways this weekend and head to their favorite open water spot. Cabins, campgrounds and resorts will be a flurry of activity after a long, cold winter.
"Walleyes won't hit unless you got a little bit of a chop," Antrim said.
And like every fishing opener the weather can always be more than a bit unpredictable. This year, the kickoff to summer will feel anything but warm.
"They're talking maybe snow flurries up north tonight," Fisher said, "but that's kind of the tradition too."
For Derek Antrim and Joe Johnson, the opener tradition means heading to Huddle's Resort on Leech Lake.
"I'll put my long johns on, my pants and hoodie on and probably an extra layer of rain gear on just to keep warm," Antrim said.
Whatever the weather, fishing is big business in Minnesota and touches every corner of the state's economy.
Explains DNR Fisheries Chief, Don Pereira, "Over $1 billion based on federal surveys in direct costs," DNR Fisheries Chief Don Pereira said. "With the indirect economic multiplier, you're looking at $4 billion."
And with 1.3 million licenses sold statewide in 2016, there's bound to be a lunker of a story this weekend.
"At least one or two is going on the wall this year," Antrim said. "I'd have to say at least one walleye."