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Brrrr is word in Wisconsin for the fishing opener

Last update: May 4, 2008 - 12:07 AM

WEBSTER, WIS. —  Well, it was almost like ice fishing.

Wisconsin's walleye season opened Saturday on water that was near ice -- 44 degrees -- with anglers who were bold or possibly foolish enough to show up in snowmobile suits to cast into a raw northwest wind.

And guess what?

A few walleyes were willing to open their locked jaws and nibble on filet of fathead. Key word here is few. Although the daily limit on Yellow Lake, near here, is only two walleyes, limits were in the minority.

As usual, there were unusual exceptions.

Mitch Petrie, a self-described walleye rookie from Plymouth, nailed a pair of 17-inch walleyes -- his limit -- before noon by dragging a three-eighths-ounce Fireball jig, tipped with a fathead minnow, in about 20 feet of water. Under Wisconsin rules, only walleyes 15 inches or longer may be possessed.

Mark Bundgaard and Andy Webber, both from the Twin Cities, put three keepers in the livewell by pitching small jigs into 6 to 10 feet of water.

Clearly, the unseasonably cold weather discouraged many anglers. The number of boats and anglers appeared to be fewer than past openers.

The best fishing news Saturday was nobody needed an ice auger.

 
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