The 75th MN Governor’s Fishing Opener, was hosted by Mankato for the first time, it celebrated the time-honored Minnesota fishing tradition and featured numerous events, starting Thursday, May 11, through Saturday, May 13. Various activities were open to invited guests and highlighted the Greater Mankato area which included: Fun Bike Rides guided e-bike tours, kayaking, goat yoga, live music, and much more.
The Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener has been a tradition in Minnesota since 1948. It was designed to improve Minnesota’s economy through the development and promotion of the state’s recreational opportunities, especially fishing. The first opener was a cooperative promotion between the state’s resort industry, media, and public officials. Today, the emphasis is even broader. It celebrates the kickoff of the summer tourism season. The special partnership continues today with a promotional focus on a host community as well as recreational opportunities statewide.
As one of the committee members working on the 2019 Governor’s Opener, I know, full well, the amount of work that it takes to pull off an event like this. It takes many volunteers stepping up and donating hours of planning just to pull this off. With this being said, I have to commend the city of Mankato for the great event. Unfortunately, the weather took a bit of an edge off of the fishing but those who ventured out had some success. The folks from Explore Minnesota, Minnesota DNR and the Mankato area communities did a great job in promoting their area.
As far as the fishing went, Erik, our boat host, did a great job of getting us out on the water in a literal downpour. It took some time, but we did catch a few fish and as I’ve said before, it’s not always about the catching but spending time with friends and family. Our fishing host, Erik Osberg, has a history of outdoors and is on the board of American Heroes Outdoors TV.
His bio reads as follows: Erik Osberg has been telling stories about the great outdoors for 17 years. He started his career as a sports broadcaster in Rapid City, SD at KNBN TV. He spent four years in television before moving to finance. After a decade as a financial advisor, Erik went back to story telling and started a video production company, Whiskey Creek Media and his own outdoor brand called The Outdoor Report. Eventually, Erik produced a fishing show for a season and then had his own show on Fox Sports North & Fox Sports Wisconsin. He resides in Wadena Minnesota, is married and has three children, two daughters and a son. You can tell that he is a dedicated family man and is very proud of them.
Erik did a great job of trying to get Jeff and me some fish. I did manage to catch a larg3emouth bass while fishing around some of the docks that lined the shoreline. Erik caught a large sheepshead and seemed excited about that. He said that was because Ottertail County, where he does most of his fishing, doesn’t really have any of these fish. After we had finished for the day, Erik said that he was heading back home and would be taking his son fishing. He said that he knew his son would be dock fishing and would be anxious to get out on the water. Thanks for the fun time Erik!
Until next time: This was another enjoyable opener and the folks from Mankato made it so but Erik made it very special by making the best of less than favorable conditions.
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