2010 Fishing opener was one to remember

2010 Fishing opener was one to remember
Publisher's Perspective by Tim Douglass

It was the nicest fishing opener we've had in a long time. I'm not necessarily talking about the amount of fish caught; I'm talking about the weather.

It didn't hurt that the opener was a week later than it has been in recent years. Last week we would have been dressed in parkas and rain gear had the opener been on Mother's Day weekend. As it was, the skies Saturday and Sunday were sunny with very little wind and temperatures in the 70s, making it the most comfortable opener in the past five to 10 years.

And that made area boat landings and favorite fishing spots crowded with anglers.

The walleyes and northerns cooperated just enough to keep anglers occupied, at least on Lake Minnewaska.

While working one of my favorite spots on Minnewaska, I watched a number of anglers get out the landing net and land some nice walleyes. It wasn't a non-stop bite, but it was enough to keep your attention and just being out on a nice day made it much easier to be patient.

Many openers on Minnewaska it is so windy and cold it's hard to get back into the boat after taking a break for lunch. Not this weekend. The fishing boats, especially on the "school house bar" in the middle of Minnewaska, were thick most of the weekend.

Larry Jensen at Minnewaska Bait and Tackle in Starbuck told me the three best lakes for producing fish were Emily, Long Lake (near Cyrus) and Minnewaska. He said he had a person stop in with a two-pound, 12-ounce Crappie caught on Emily.

The large crappies haven't been hitting yet on Minnewaska, Jensen explained. But he expects the bite to begin soon.

"The water temperatures over the weekend were at about 52 to 55 degrees and the crappies move in when it hits 58 to 60 degrees," Jensen said. He expects a good bite near Torgy's point by the middle or end of this week.

Whether or not you were fishing walleye or northern pike or crappies, it was a great day to be out on one of the area's lakes. It was an opening weekend to remember.


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