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Thousands of Minnesotans headed to lakes and rivers Saturday for the state's fishing opener.

It's the day each year when anglers can officially start fishing for and keeping prized catches of species such as walleye and northern pike.

It took a lot of patience for Minnesotans to make it through the long winter to reach this spring's opener — and it's that patience, lifelong fisherman Walter Jordan said, that's the most important virtue a good angler needs.

"It's just a day we can get out and relax and try to get some fish," said Jordan, who was fishing for anything he could get on the east side of Vadnais Lake near St. Paul. 

Lawn chairs and snacks in tow, Jordan was keeping up a fishing opener family tradition with three generations along for the day — his cousin Isaac Combs, mother Addie Jordan and 11-year-old son Damitre.

"I just love fishing, period," Addie Jordan said.

 
A truth every parent can relate to, Walter Jordan said, is that it's hard to find activities for the entire family to enjoy.

"This is definitely something different from all the video games, sitting around and doing nothing. It is a way to get out of the house, get a little exercise in, and relaxation," he said.

A 2011 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey showed that Minnesotans enjoy fishing for walleye the most, followed by northern pike and muskies.

There are  more than 11,000 lakes and 18,000 miles of fishable rivers and streams in the state, holding 162 species of fish.

While some popular fishing spots across the state were crowded Saturday, 20-year-old Nikls Chang said he preferred to try his odds alone. He set up several yards away from other anglers on Vadnais Lake.

He said it sometimes takes the sound of nothing to drown out a lot of the noise that many people carry in their heads.

"That's one of the things about fishing — it's not always about catching the fish, it's just the experience with nature and feeling the breeze," he said.

This year's opener brought average weather, with temperatures in the 60s and a few rain showers in southern Minnesota. 

It wasn't lost on the anglers at Vadnais Lake just how special an average day of fishing can be.

"It's beautiful," Walter Jordan said. "Hopefully, it carries on for when they have children one day they have something that they can fall back on and teach their kids."

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It took a lot of patience for Minnesotans to make it through the long winter to reach this spring's opener — and it's that patience, lifelong fisherman Walter Jordan said, that's the most important virtue a good angler needs.


Coverage of the 2018 Minnesota fishing opener at Vadnais Lake near St. Paul

2018 Minnesota fishing opener

Damitre Jordan (right) and his grandmother Addie Jordan 

Liam James Doyle for MPR News

Nikls Chang of St. Paul casts his line at Vadnais Lake

Mike Hoey (left) of Anoka helps his grandson, Hunter Johnson

Hunter Johnson realizes his fishing line has become tangled

Damitre Jordan works to attach a hook to his fishing line

Hunter Johnson gets some assistance from his grandfather, Mike Hoey

Family traditions renewed on Minnesota's fishing opener

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