Fishing for a 30 -inch opening weekend – Bulletin Post

While you are sitting for your first cup of Saturday morning coffee, Lucas Fagan could be in his second, even third, while he and the fishing friend Jasper Padrnos are trying to take where they stopped on Vermillion lake during the interior of the Walleye / Northern from last year.

Just perhaps, they will reach the golden golden gold in last year, a cherry on a trip and land the elusive 30 inch. They plan to fish Vermillion, a lake of 39,272 acres near the border with Canada with many islands and 341 miles of the lake. Even if the winds are wild, they can find isolated places in the maze of bays, entries and behind the islands.

It will be their second year up there for the opening, a major cause of celebration of spring, fishing and pleasure in Minnesota.

The two grew up in Rochester, although Padrnos now lives in twin cities. “We met via football, we were both captains of the JM football team (John Marshall),” said Fagan. The school has changed spectacularly because of the Pandemic Covid-19, they decided to fish and “since we go out about every weekend”.

The JM sports biology teacher also helped Robert Schmidt, one of his favorites. He took them to excursion, even during COVID, in places like Mill Creek near Chatfield where he caught trout. “It has definitely started in high school,” he said.

Together, they caught many places for several species. But the fish they like the most is golden, especially northern Minnesota.

Yes, they can fish the Mississippi river here all year round for the Doré, but it is not the same thing. Although Vermillion is seven hours away, “it’s so fun to be on this large light lake,” said Fagan. “When you got out and it’s calm and you are there with your best friend and it’s just both on the water together … You are there in nature.” In addition to being a magnificent light lake, “Vermillion is this chance for this great golden gold”.

State fish are a huge challenge and they love it, said Padrnos. “Northern Minnesota Walleye is a mystery,” he said. “You can go anywhere in Minnesota and you can catch the bass, but I think the gold gives you more a puzzle that you have to solve … With Walleye, it comes to many more techniques, there are little things you have to make them bite.” It could just be the right amount of line for the long line. “It’s a little more difficult to have an incredible day.”

Although they are young – Fagan has just been 23 years old, Padrnos is 22 years old – they speak like real veterans. The part is passion, said Padrnos, the game is social media. Years ago, they should have spent more time, today, they can watch videos from Golden Youtube and get an excellent education quickly. “The learning curve, you can follow everyone,” said Padrnos.

And while speaking like fishing fanatics, they do not miss the beauty of it. They talked about clear lakes from northern Minnesota, fauna, solitude which is such a large part. The lakes without so many people also help. Unlike Mississippi, they don’t have to worry about the current so that they can work more slowly, use different strategies. They will fish a lake and try to understand it. “We are tall by composing a body of water and realizing, Yah, we can do it here, let’s go elsewhere,” said Fagan.

The opener makes these lakes more special because they cannot fish them for the golden gold until the opening, a sacred moment in Minnesota.

Padrnos, paraprofessional in the Hopkins school district, said that once the ice is starting to melt here and ice fishing, he thinks of the boat, fishing the river and the lakes from the north. “I can’t wait to go north and run after Golden Walleye,” he said.

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For Fagan, Chef Barista and Marketing Director of Cafe Aqui in Rochester, it’s time after his birthday at the end of April. “This period of three weeks before the opening, the water is open, the boat is ready, the stems are ready, get on the water,” he said. When he is on the water, being a barista, he must take his cups of coffee.

Last year, the opening was strange because the weather was so hot and the fish had finished reproaching, he said. They could see fish but nothing bites. It took them a few days and the help of the others to compose the bite. They found fish to hang out along a mile long. On the last day (they spend four fishing) “Boom, we caught the 25 inch on one of the last passes,” said Padrnos. “We took this as the icing on the cake.”

This year, they want this 30 -inch cherry.

John Weiss wrote and reported outdoor subjects for the post-bulletin bulletin for over 45 years. He is the author of the book “Backroads: The Best of the Best by the post-Bulletine columnist John Weiss.”

Contributed photo

Contributed photo

Contribution / John Weiss