dennis anderson

Mick Jagger famously said anything worth doing is worth overdoing, a world view not unfamiliar to Minnesotans. The new U.S. Bank Stadium makes the point, as does the size of our Legislature (201 members) and the frequency with which it meets (too often). Yet on the plus side are the number of great fishermen this state produces, all the yipping about Mille Lacs and other complaints of the day notwithstanding.

That so many among us can fish so well is telltale of the state's overall health, also its intelligence and for good measure throw in virility. Good fishermen are nothing without good hands, a good head and a good heart, characteristics that often go missing in places where lakes and rivers are few, ditto also boats and waders, bait and bottom bouncers.

The issue arises because Friday and Saturday at the Northwest Sportshow, the Minnesota Fishing Museum and Hall of Fame, along with the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum, will induct its latest class of big-timers. Some of the names will ring a bell, Lindner being one, though in this instance the honoree isn't Al or Ron but Billy, a skilled angler in his own right and a videographer like few others.

Billy will be applauded Friday morning at the Sportshow at a Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame induction ceremony along with fellow designees Royal Karels, Bruce "Doc'' Sampson, Frankie Dusenka et al from Frankies Bait and Marine in Chisago City, and Al Baert and Morry Sauve, among others, from the Minnesota Fishing Museum in Little Falls.

Quite a crew this is, rod smart and reel savvy, and like a lot of Minnesotans they aren't kidding when they say let's go fishing. The same refrain is common to Perry Good, LeRoy Ras and Steve Quinn, three Minnesotans who on Saturday also at the Sportshow will be feted by the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wis.

Those who have fished in Florida or Alaska or anywhere in between know each has a sampling of quality anglers. This is as true on Long Island and north along the Atlantic Coast, where chumming for bluefish is a worthy pastime, as it is in Colorado and Montana and throughout the mountain West, where accomplished fly anglers toss tight loops over the flowing waters of the Green, the Snake and the Missouri.

Brian Wicker — Star Tribune file, Star Tribune
A small walleye is pulled in on the Twin Pines Resort boat during an evening excursion on Lake Mille Lacs in 2015.

California warrants mention as well, if only for its storied steelheading tradition, and even now regularly on display at the Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club are the Stephen Curry-like casting skills of many great Bay Area anglers. History is important: The Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club is an offshoot of the San Francisco Fly Casting Club, which was founded in 1894 and is the second-oldest casting club in the U.S. — reason enough later this month for it to host the World Championship of Spey Casting.

Some of the above is digression. But most is intended to lend context to the claim made at this column's outset that Minnesota not only has more anglers than all, or virtually, all other states, but it has better anglers, too.

Water is the underlying reason. We have a lot of it. But there's more to the story, notably that we are blessed with many types of water, big and small, flowing and still, the multiple characteristics of which by definition beget us many types of fish, a fractional listing of which includes bluegills, crappies (white and black), yellow perch, walleyes, sauger, northern pike, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, a who's-who of salmonids, also brown trout, brook trout, lake trout and muskies.

So it is that the average angler growing up hereabouts is anything but average. By the time he or she has worn out a spool or two of line, species targeted typically include a fair sampling of the above.

In the process, a war chest of fishing equipment is deployed, bobbers to flies, crankbaits to jerk baits, angleworms to waxies. Each is utilized as conditions demand, ultimately yielding a storehouse of knowledge that Minnesota anglers tap as necessary to catch lunkers, big, small and in between.

Royal Karels has expertly fished Minnesota waters for 70 years. Doc Sampson, a retired physician, once won $300,000 in a fishing tournament. Frankie Dusenka and his family have elevated bait and boat selling to an art form. Al Baert and Morry Sauve visualized a fishing museum when others didn't. LeRoy Ras is a guide's guide. Steve Quinn is a top-notch fisheries scientist. And Perry Good has won $1 million fishing for walleyes.

Great anglers, each. Among many.

Dennis Anderson danderson@startribune.com