Minnesota fishing opener about much more than catching fish

OTTERTAIL, MN - The wait was finally over Saturday for thousands of anglers across the state of Minnesota, as the 2019 fishing opener kicked off.

"It's excitement. I mean I've been doing this for quite a few years and I still feel like a kid every time before coming up here," Ottertail Lake fisher Shawn Hearn said. "It's just excited to get out in the boat and again, excited to hang out with everybody at the resort."

Hearn and hometown friend Tony Glynn have been fishing Ottertail Lake for the opener every year for the past decade. While snagging some good walleye is always a great bonus, both agree this weekend means a lot more than how many they catch.

"Over the years of coming up here for opener, we've made friends for a lifetime. Ten years of doing this consecutively there are guys you don't see but this time of the year and that's the excitement of it," Glynn said. "Coming up here, I mean yeah everybody wants to catch that walleye, but it's more about getting together and the night before and all the stories and who's gonna catch the big one."

While the water was a bit cold to start the season at Ottertail, Glynn, Hearn and thousands alike across the state of Minnesota made some everlasting memories on another successful opener.