4:47 PM Wednesday, May 8, 2024
About half a million Minnesotans — some of them in the northwest suburbs — hit the water during the opening fishing weekend looking to hook the state’s biggest game fish.
The fishing season for walleye, sauger and northern pike opens Saturday, May 11.
It was a significant day for Twin Cities anglers because of the unseasonably warm winter. The lack of ice means there are few opportunities to ice fish in the metro.
Because of this, there is an influx of anglers who want to take to the water this weekend.
“I think the early spring kind of got people excited about, you know, stopping that cabin fever a little bit and getting out on the water a little bit earlier,” said Brian Nerbonne, regional fisheries manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
JR’s Tackle in Brooklyn Park also saw a bump in spring buyers.
“With the warmer winter, I think people are more itching to get out this summer, so maybe that will play a little bit into the warmer winter and follow the opening this year,” said Jack Betker with JR’s Tackle.
Nerbonne thinks fishing efforts will be productive this year.
“When we have early springs like this, the fish — especially some of the species like walleye, northern pike and others — have picked up their spawning activity at this point,” he said. “They’re transitioning into their more feeding patterns in the spring. And so they kind of put the feedbag down after expending a lot of energy during that spawning time.
JR’s Tackle in Brooklyn Park said they saw a bump in business ahead of the state fishing. They hope the trend continues throughout the summer fishing season.
Business impact
For many businesses in the state, opening isn’t just about relaxing on the shore.
“The fishing economy is really important to Minnesota, it’s literally a $4-to-$5 billion annual industry,” Nerbonne said. “This has a greater economic impact for the state of Minnesota than the Mayo Clinic.”
The increase in sales is significant for a small, family-owned business like JR’s Tackle. They use the opener to predict future sales.
“It starts to pick up when it comes to fishing the opener,” Betker said. “It plays a big role in how the summer goes, we can do that with how the opener went.”
According to the DNR, fishing licenses are selling better than expected this spring.
That’s a good sign for JR’s, but it doesn’t mean guaranteed sales.
“New people are coming in getting worms, getting bait, all that stuff,” Betker said. “Hopefully it will stay strong throughout the summer.”
Fisheries in the Northwest Suburbs
For anglers living in the northwest suburbs, Nerbonne said Medicine Lake in Plymouth offers great fishing opportunities.
“It really has access, French Lake Regional Park, it has a really nice launch facility and they also have some shore fishing opportunities there, both from shore and a fishing pier,” he said. “Medisina Lake has a really diverse fish population, so it has all different species that are there … if you want to target any of those species and have a good chance of bringing home some fish, or at least have the opportunity to catch-and-release some fish, it’s a good option.”
The Mississippi River also has abundant fishing grounds.
“There’s a lot of access to coastal fishing,” Nerbonne said. “The Mississippi is a great fishery … there’s almost always a bite on the Mississippi River, so it’s a great place to bring newer anglers and kids.”
Brooklyn Park | Plymouth | Twin Cities
