Fair / 55° F
Opener yields fish [UPDATED]
Published 11:04am Monday, May 16, 2011 Updated 11:33am Friday, May 20, 2011Despite the dreary weather, many of the anglers who decided to brave the cold on this year’s fishing opener found success catching walleyes. “There were people coming in here saying the walleyes were biting pretty good,” said Casey Kugler of Park Region Sports in Pelican Rapids. Kugler said Lake Lida was the weekend hot spot for walleyes, and Mud Lake was the place to be crappie fishing. “The fishing on Otter Tail Lake was pretty fair,” said Ken’s Tackle owner Gary Peterson. “Considering how lousy the weather was, we had a lot of boats out there.” Lindy Rigs seemed to be the most effective setup, and right along the weed lines were the best places for walleye fishing. “Not a lot of limits were taken,” said Peterson. “But people will have plenty of fish to eat.” One concern for bait shop owners was that the high gas prices would deter people from driving to lakes for the opener, but “the high gas prices didn’t seem to affect the number of fishermen in the area,” Peterson said. Peterson said he saw some very nice fish, but people seemed more likely to take satisfaction in taking a nice picture and then releasing the fish this year rather than keeping and registering them. “I saw a couple of fish that were 23 to 24 inches,” said Peterson. “Most of these fish were caught in 15 to 20 feet.” Both Kugler and Peterson were happy with the way things turned out for the 2011 opener, and both have high hopes for the rest of the summer. “There might be more people around this weekend because of the better weather,” said Peterson.
