In Minnesota on Opening Day, you might catch a limit of walleyes and you might not.
But for sure, you'll feel better for trying.
Just ask the state's most famous walleye fisherman, Al Lindner.
"When I got back from Vietnam in the 1960s and my brother, Ron, and I were looking for a place to move to and set up a fishing guide business and perhaps a bait shop, we came to Brainerd from Wisconsin,'' Lindner said.
"Opening Day in Minnesota amazed me then and it still amazes me. Wisconsin has an Opening Day. But the enthusiasm isn't there the way it is in Minnesota, where people come out in droves to participate.''
Participate they will again on Saturday, when fishing for walleyes and northern pike — and in some parts of the state, bass — begins anew for another season.
In anticipation, bait will be bought by the bucketful, outboards that haven't been started since last summer will be fired up, boats old and new will be floated … and hopes among the masses will never be higher.
One could argue, in fact, that in this state, happiness is best achieved, and most reliably sustained, by dropping a jig-and-minnow combination into about 14 feet of water and waiting for the distinctive tug that signals a walleye has taken the bait.