Where Are You Headed for Opener?

Heading to little boy lake. 27 years and counting.

crappie55369 wrote:

Anybody give the DNR an earful yet about changing the opener dates so that it doesn’t conflict with mothers day? I imagine the DNR has a good reason to pick the date that they do but man would save a lot of guys a lot of headaches if they weren’t on the same weekend. I will probably stay close to home again this year and fish Tonka and be home in time to make mama breakfast in bed

Take your Mom fishing?

super_do wrote:

Take your Mom fishing?

Weather is almost always crap for fishing opener here in MN. Even with a Mom and a wife who like to fish….. not going to happen. It’s a conflict plain and simple.

super_do wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>crappie55369 wrote:</div>
Anybody give the DNR an earful yet about changing the opener dates so that it doesn’t conflict with mothers day? I imagine the DNR has a good reason to pick the date that they do but man would save a lot of guys a lot of headaches if they weren’t on the same weekend. I will probably stay close to home again this year and fish Tonka and be home in time to make mama breakfast in bed

Take your Mom fishing?

well by mama I meant the wife. would be a little weird if I made my mom breakfast in bed haha. im no Norman Bates. The wife doesn’t mind fishing but she likes being spoiled at home and relaxing better

One of my favorite parts about this week is the seeing all of the boats on the road starting about Wed night. I’d be happy just setting up a chair along 94, 10, 35, and just watching all of the rigs go by. It makes me happy to see boats on the road again. Like all is normal again and seeing them is a constant reminder of my favorite hobby.

Anyway, about the Mother’s Day comment. I do agree that it seems like an entirely avoidable conflict. It is frustrating to deal with every year. My opinion? Move Mother’s Day to the first weekend in May. I’m sure some people will criticize me for that opinion, but I’d gladly move Father’s Day if needed too. Even with kids now I’m not really a fan of either day and life’s too short to be bound by some of these shackles.

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Fix 2 problems at once. Take MD and FD and combine them into Parents Day and kill just one weekend. Works for me.

The Wisconsin opener is the week before. Not sure why the mn opener couldn’t be the same weekend. Especially if it’s being done for the resorts.

I haven’t fished an inland opener weekend for WI or MN in probably 10 years. I strategically dodge the chaos. We regularly fish WI or the river on the MN opener, and the river on WI opener. The crowded launches, and occasional inconsiderate person coupled with some safety concerns are enough to keep me on the river or working. The older I get, the more I fish during weekdays and less on weekends.

Best of luck to everyone who participates in the inland opener. Be polite and prepared at launches. Put “tough guy” egos aside and wear your PFD. No PFDs are too “uncomfortable” and nobody is “a good enough swimmer”. I ended up looking for two drowned boaters years back and saw one of the pair pulled from the water maybe 10 yards away while working my summer job as a college student. The family was on shore. Nobody deserves that.

Lastly, enjoy the weekend and share pictures – or the catches didn’t happen!

Heading to Cut Foot. Ice went out last Friday. Saw the walleye stripping at cut foot Sioux Inn and that was neat. Winnie still had ice on Sunday when I left. I’m sure that will be gone soon. Drove past Big Sandy and that was open with no ice. At least from my view off HWY 65. Good luck to everyone!

Greg Krull wrote:

Yes, Ice is out on BS. My buddy just put his docks and boats in this weekend. Will be up there on the 17th.

@nightkruller
*lil buddy

Fun to hear about other people’s traditions. I get the guys who want to stay away from crowds but in my opinion it’s not really that crowded, no worse than other holiday weekends anyway. Maybe some of the community fishing spots will have lots of boats but you can find other less crowded water too.

Anyway…. Four of us buddies will be up on Leech this year. We have alternated between Leech and Mille Lacs for the last several years. Can’t wait.

be on Kab the 14 – 23 this year

Headed to the cabin on Crane as usual. By the way my apologies to anyone headed north on I-35 Friday, I’m involved with the highway project through Forest Lake and the backup is probably going to be epic.

We’ll be heading to Namakan. Can’t wait to get up into God’s Country! The plan is to find some crappies Friday and finish the weekend chasing White Tips.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Move Mother’s Day to the first weekend in May

Conflict with Wisconsin.

Move fishing opener to…. Never closed.

Leech Lake for me… but not until Monday. Does that still qualify as “opener?”

Out to the garage to try to excavate my boat. Leech for four days the weekend after though and then Namakan for 4 days over Memorial day weekend.

Season dates set by state law established by legislature, not DNR.

Harvester wrote:

Season dates set by state law established by legislature, not DNR.

I wasn’t aware there was a difference between the two

Our group is heading to Leech Lake for our 45th annual opener. In 2011, MN Bound had a fishing traditions contest. We entered and won! A crew came up to film us and the piece was shown on the Sunday after the 2012 opener. Here it is on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Dc0f-XdWk&t=123s

Interesting, one of the groups original organizer was tragically killed in the September 2012 Accent Sign shooting in Minneapolis. This piece has turned into a lasting memorial to our friend Ron Edberg. Everyone have fun and be safe!

Blackduck 19th year!!

St croix. Water levels will be near normal and EVERYBODY will be on a lake.
And maybe I’ll hit chisago for the evening? Just cuz it’s right here

David Anderson wrote:

Our group is heading to Leech Lake for our 45th annual opener. In 2011, MN Bound had a fishing traditions contest. We entered and won! A crew came up to film us and the piece was shown on the Sunday after the 2012 opener. Here it is on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Dc0f-XdWk&t=123s

Interesting, one of the groups original organizer was tragically killed in the September 2012 Accent Sign shooting in Minneapolis. This piece has turned into a lasting memorial to our friend Ron Edberg. Everyone have fun and be safe!

That is really neat David. Too bad about your friend- but glad you can carry on in his memory. Thanks for sharing and maybe we’ll see ya up there!

anybody going up near ottertail? heading up weekend after. im curious what the water temps are going to be like

About 24 hours to departure… getting pumped now!

rubberduck wrote:

anybody going up near ottertail? heading up weekend after. im curious what the water temps are going to be like

I’ll be very close to Ottertail, but not on it. I’ll try to remember to post what the temp was/is.