Minnesota's fishing opener has long been an occasion for the state's governor to get out of the Capitol and show his sportsman bona fides, but a Republican candidate for governor's plan to hold his own fishing opener event drew ridicule Wednesday from one of his opponents.

GOP candidate Marty Seifert is holding a two-day fishing opener event on May 9 and 10 at Rush Lake in the town of Otter Tail. Gov. Mark Dayton, whom Seifert and a handful of other Republicans are vying to challenge in November, is hosting the Governor's Fishing Opener that weekend on Gull Lake in Nisswa.

State Sen. Dave Thompson, another GOP candidate, zinged Seifert's plans on Twitter when asked if he'd hold his own fishing opener event, tweeting that "I am not going to pretend to be governor."

Seifert's fishing opener events are free, although his campaign is suggesting participants make at least a $50 donation to his campaign.

Seifert campaign manager Andy Post called Thompson's tweet "petty." But he admitted the campaign has actively pursued a strategy of presenting Seifert as the most viable alternative to Dayton.

"We wanted to offer people an alternative to the Dayton opener," Post said.