Successful Leech Lake Opener

This year was the 37th annual Leech Lake Minnesota Fishing Opener for our group, Team Walleye.  The tradition was started by my friends Mark Mayerich, Ron Edberg, Mark Taylor, and Gary Ullom, in 1973, while I was still in high school.  Having started out camping it only took a few years to wise up and get a cabin at a resort.  Settling on Brindley's Harbor on the north side of Traders Bay on Leech, the group has been there ever since.  I started going up with these guys in 1990, 21 years ago.  Back then we had 13 guys with Ron doing the major planning, Mark Mayerich taking care of the food, while Mark Taylor and I were in charge of the beer.  Looking for the cheapest brands, we would buy a 12 pack a day for each guy, 3 days of fishing X 13 guys = 20 cases of beer.  I was never much of a beer drinker so at least 2/3rds of my allotment was available, and we still ran out by Sunday night.  Those were the days.  Today we have dispensed with the group providing the beer and concentrate on the essentials, food, lodging, bait, covered slips, and peripherals like hats.  It is much easier as our groups have varied over the last few years with 24 guys on this opener, a record.  My first picture is of my Brother Steve with a huge perch, the first fish we kept on Saturday morning.

Besides fun the main event of the trip is the Big Fish Contest.  When I first began to fish with the group, we could catch and keep any fish so it was easy to bring them in and have these fish weighed at the resort.  Today the size restrictions force us to release all fish between 18 to 26 inches and generally we release anything larger than 26 as well.  Therefore the contest relies on measured fish as the largest and is done in 1/8" increments.  The last 3 years it has taken a fish longer than 26 inches to win first prize.  This also includes a nice chunk of money as well as being able to possess the traveling trophy, which has been in play since 1978.  The winner of the Big Fish Contest has until next opener to get his name engraved on the plaque. We also recognize the 2nd and 3rd place.  In addition to the Big Fish Contest, we keep track of each boat's total catch and individual catch.  We award a prize for the best individual performance and best team performance.  It also helps to keep track of how many fish we have in the freezer.  I am delighted to announce that this years Big Fish winner with a beautiful 26.5 inch walleye is me!  This will be my 5th first place finish in 21 years catching Mark Mayerich's total after he clinched last years title.  As far as individual and team performance, although in the top 10, this year was a tougher year for Team Anderson.  Never the less the first place win made up for any issues of the total walleye catch.  My good friend Kevin Aiona, who with his partner John Felix are rookies, ended up with the top individual performance and 3rd place in the Big Fish Contest.  This picture is me holding the winning fish!

This year Team Anderson consisted my brothers Steve and Jon along with myself.  Steve has been my fishing partner for the last 4 years however it was Jon's first time with us.  Jon has had a tough life with a genetic condition that causes the arteries in his face to deteriorate, creating a number of serious problems.  He has had many operations to repair damage to his upper lip and palate resulting in the removal of one of his eyes and nose, as well as grafting tissues to his cheek area.  He is one tough hombre and both Steve and I are very proud of how he has dealt with this.  Jon and I don't agree on a lot of things but I still love him and it was fabulous to spend the weekend with him at Leech Lake.  Steve and I are what I would call accomplished fisherman and admittedly we expected it would take some patience with our younger brother.  Were we wrong!  I set him up with a nice St. Croix rod with a Stradic reel and he fished as an equal to both of us.  Here is a picture of a very nice 25.50" walleye that he nailed at a new spot I found on the lake.  Maybe it's just instinct,  but I was impressed how well he did, of course he is our brother. 

The forecast for this weekend is very windy and being away leaves me with tons of stuff to do around the house so we will have to see what develops.  I do have the opportunity to go and see the Twins in their new stadium, which will be hard to pass up. Next week I will have more to report on the opener so stay tuned.