I am writing this particular column a couple of days before I will be attending the Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener in Ottertail County. They were supposed to host the opener last year, but due to Covid-19 the event was cancelled. I felt very sorry for all of the folks involved, as I know first hand how much work actually goes into pulling off this event. It takes many volunteers to pull off an event like this. I am sure that it will be a little different compared to other years, but the goal remains the same. It’s all about promoting the host area and you can’t forget to mention the fishing thing.
There are about 1.4 million licensed anglers in Minnesota. About 500,000 people are expected to fish on Minnesota’s opening day of the walleye and northern pike season. Minnesota has 11,842 lakes, 4,500 of which are considered fishing lakes. There are over 16,000 miles of fishable rivers and streams. Average annual expenditure per angler in Minnesota is about $1,500.*
Participation and the economy
Fishing contributes $2.4 billion to the state’s economy in direct retail sales, ranking Minnesota third in the nation for angler expenditures.* Fishing supports nearly 35,500 Minnesota jobs.** Minnesota ranks second in resident fishing participation at 32 percent, second only to Alaska.*
Most resident anglers are from urban areas. However, a higher percentage of people living in rural Minnesota fish compared to the percentage of people living in urban areas who fish.*
Fishing habits
Significantly more time is spent fishing on lakes than on rivers and streams.* The average Minnesota angler spends 15 days fishing each year.* Walleye are the most sought-after fish in Minnesota, followed by northern pike and muskie combined, then panfish, bass, crappie and trout.*
See the Web site www. mndnr.gov/LicenseDollarsAtWork for more information about how the DNR spends fishing license dollars, and select a fisheries area to find local information.
* 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, (U.S. and Minnesota reports) U.S. that if anyone can pull this off it will be the folks of Ottertail County Fish & Wildlife Service.
** Sportfishing in America, January 2013, produced by Southwick and Associates.
With all this being said, I feel safe in saying that the tourism industry and the sport of fishing play a large part in contributing to our state’s economy.
This will be the first time that I’ve fished in the Governor’s Opener since 2018. In 2019, I was too involved in the planning and helping make sure everything went as smoothly as possible. I, along with many others, were involved in pulling off what I and many thought was one of the best Governor’s Openers ever.
I now have a chance to witness this event as a guest once again. These nice folks have patiently waited for two years to showcase their community. That had to be tough to do, but I know that they will pull it off. It’s great to watch a community come together to help in any way possible to make their community shine.
Until next time: I have faith that the weather will hold and that every one of you fishermen/women will have a safe and stringer-filled opener.
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