It was chilly when we pulled into the cabin on Friday night. The boys were excited, and quickly unloaded the truck and began rigging up their rods and going through tackle. We fired up the cabin heater, and they crawled into their sleeping bags while I rummaged through the motor shed and grabbed essentials like stringers, landing net, portage wheels and such.
Jr. had invited his friend Josh up for Opener, and like all teenage boys they spent the better part of the trip from the Cities up to Ely heckling one another, and talking about the fish they would catch. As a dad, sometimes you're better off pretending you're not even in the same truck... For Josh, it was a new adventure on a new lake - for Jr. it was another Opener Up North - for me it was going home again.
Saturday dawned way the heck too soon for me! Must be getting old or something, but my sleeping bag was toasty and I had a devil of a time rolling out when the alarm started beeping at 5:30. The coffee maker had already done its best, so I grabbed a mug and headed to the bathroom. Being used to having to roust out Jr. with a 2x4, I was shocked to find Josh and Jr. getting dressed and asking what they needed to do when I got back.. We nuked some Aunt Jemima Breakfast Muffins in the microwave, loaded up some lunch, Gatorade and ice in the cooler, and prepared to do battle with the walleye.
Opening morning was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky, and absolute calm as we motored down the lake towards the portage. Josh had never seen portage wheels in action before, but jumped right in and we made short work of the first portage, and then the second.
We got to our first spot, and I dropped anchor, divided the minnows into a couple of buckets, and told the boys to get busy. Within a couple of minutes, Jr. had a walleye alongside, and we looked at one another - now what? The plan was to catch supper, and the walleye was an easy 20" - we usually throw them back. Josh looked at us like we were morons, and after a brief discussion we strung the walleye up. 10 minutes later, we had another one - a tiny bit smaller alongside, and this time the discussion was brief, and the walleye went on the stringer.
Good thing.
That was the last walleye we would catch.
Over the next 3 hours we caught a bunch of northerns, including a couple that were in the 37 inch range, several smallmouth - the largest a 4 1/2 lb. female, and I was not a happy camper. For me, Opener was about walleyes. Period. Both Jr. and I were getting antsy, and it was Josh who turned to me and announced "this is great - let's just stay right here all day!"
We decided to take a little shore break, and the boys took off to check out some rapids, where they discovered suckers spawning. There's something about spawning fish that just catches your attention, and the boys spent quite a while messing around, scaring the suckers, and discussing why they didn't bring their bowfishing equipment.
Trolling, jigging, rip-jigging - we tried it all. Northerns, northerns, and more northerns. Several times I saw what I was sure were walleyes stacked up in the breaks on the depth finder, but a couple of feeble bites were all we could manage from them. The weather was outstanding - but I'm thinking that high pressure was messing things up.
We pulled in for a lunch break, and the boys tore apart some rotten logs looking at insects, rolled some large rocks down a hill and laughed as they ate and swilled down Gatorade. I sat on a rock working over a sandwich and contemplating the walleyes. They were there, and it was up to me to figure them out. Most of the other boats we saw that morning had fishermen either sleeping or with their heads drooped, and I knew that we had some unusually tough conditions going. It was my duty to bear down and solve the riddle.
As I sat there, worrying about catching more walleyes, Josh walked up and said "Rob, I just want to say thank you for taking me out here." I looked at him and mumbled something or other, and he said "dude, this is a great time."
He grabbed a sandwich and headed back towards Jr., who was laughing and asking for help in trying to roll a boulder the size of a medicine ball. Suddenly the walleyes weren't as important, and I had to chuckle that it took a 15 year old boy to drum some sense into my head.
We caught more northerns that afternoon, and as we were winding down Josh asked why we were throwing all those northerns back, when they were so tasty pickled. I almost choked. Years of walleye mania have clouded my perceptions a bit, and I was embarrassed I hadn't asked him if he wanted to keep a few.
We finally arrived back at the cabin after a bit of portaging and exploring. I cleaned up the walleyes while the boys watched intently, and we and got together with my family for a supper of beer-battered walleye and some adult beverages for the adults. My Dad and sister and her husband had gotten a few also, and we had plenty of fish for the annual feast. For us, that Opener Supper at The Lake is the official kick-off to the summer season, and it was a great evening.
After supper that night the boys asked where they could go to catch more fish, and eventually took off in the boat up the shoreline, where they found a school of perch that had them hooting until dark. Sitting at the picnic table looking down the lake towards the boys, and hearing the laughter, it occurred to me yet again that there's a whole lot more to Opener than limiting out.
Of course, I wish we had!
There's always next year...
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Topic: Opener is What You Make Of It (Read 2879 times)
