2016 Minnesota Governors Fishing Opener
This past weekend was the 2016 Minnesota Governors Fishing Opener which was the 69th annual event and by all measures it was a huge success!
Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener Hosted by McGregor MN
The smallish town of McGregor Minnesota has 396 residents, yet at the same time they had 400+ volunteers who helped put this event together.
Everyone was bundled up to have a great time!
While the weather was cold the hospitality and cheer was very warm indeed.
And while the fishing might have started out a little bit slow, the day ended with plenty of success all around to be had by the fishermen, women and children.
Quaint Fun In McGregor
School House Cafe, McGregor http://www.schoolhousecafemn.com/
While this event is called the governor’s fishing opener, in reality it’s a huge celebration of Minnesota tourism and in my opinion it’s the official kickoff of Minnesota summer!
Everyone is Having Fun at the Picnic
Tourism In Minnesota
Let’s take a look at the impact of Tourism on the Minnesota economy.
Travel/tourism in Minnesota generates:
SALES
- $13.6 billion in gross sales
- More than $37 million a day
Amazing Fun at the Community Picnic Governor Fishing Opener
JOBS
- 254,400 full- and part-time jobs
- 11% of total private sector employment
- $4.7 billion in wages
REVENUE
- $878 million in state sales tax
- 17% of state sales tax revenues
Note: Data for leisure & hospitality sector, 2014
Big Sandy Resort and Lodge
International Travel to Minnesota
Minnesota’s appeal as a travel destination extends
across the globe, including:
- 633,00 Canadian travelers on overnight trips
- 258,000 additional international travelers from other countries
Note: Canadian estimate is for 2014; Estimate for other countries is 2012-2014 annual average
Face Painting Time at the Community Picnic Governor Fishing Opener
Fishing for Life at The Governors Fishing Opener
Leisure & Hospitality Gross Sales (in billions) 2004-2014
Growth in the tourism industry
Sales at leisure and hospitality businesses grew 37% from 2004 to 2014,
including 5% annual growth for 2014.
$10.0 $11.0 $13.6
2004 2009 2014
Impacts of state tourism advertising
- 3.2 million Minnesota trips
- $337.4 million traveler spending
- $31.2 million direct state and local taxes
- 2.6 million additional intended trips in next 12 months
- $75 to $1 traveler spending return on ad investment
- $7 to $1 state and local tax return on ad investment
Yep, tourism in Minnesota is a huge industry!
The Fishing Opener
Let’s take a look at the particulars of this event. The event took place up in McGregor Minnesota. It was planned and put together significantly by the McGregor Area Chamber of Commerce led by the Dynamo Lisa Marsyla Kruse.
The Dynamo Lisa M Kruse, McGregor Area Chamber of Commerce
The event was hosted by Big Sandy Lodge and Resort,
Big Sandy Lodge and Resort
Big Sandy Camp & Retreat Center
Big Sandy Camp & Retreat Center
and Minnesota National Golf Course.
Minnesota National Golf Course
There was a ton of work done at the state level from the DNR office and the Explore Minnesota tourism office and of course many many more.
Alyssa Ebel and Caitlin Rick, The Marketing Muscle Behind Explore Minnesota
I need to call out at one very special person that has been involved in this event for I believe 40 years; The ever positive incredibly hard-working Carol Votava Altepeter retired this year after giving years of her life to this glorious event. She is a legend in the inner workings of the governor’s fishing opener.
Friday’s Festivities
The events kicked off Thursday and ran through Sunday morning. Many of the events were designed to highlight the region and how important it is in Minnesota tourism.
ATV in McGregor
I showed up on Friday morning to register and I got to partake in the ATV event.
Up North Riders Inc. ATV Club McGregor, MN
There is a very large ATV Club up in the McGregor area. A representative from the county land management office gave us an overview of how important the ATV Community is becoming for that region. The ATV clubs build and maintain trails so that more people would come up to the area. They were showing a graph of how camping in their region has been exploding over the last couple years as more and more Trails become available.
While some trails are shared with the snowmobile Enthusiast other trails are purely ATV trails so they’re not destroying the land or running across private property or whatever the case may be. They are serious about using the land in a responsible way and they work very hard to maintain the land. We went out for a three-hour ride into the backcountry in going across the old railroad train track beds that are now a combination snowmobile ATV trail. We covered about 16 miles of trails and then we stopped for a very nice lunch. We visited with many of the people that were involved with the large club.
They took the responsibility of caring for the land very seriously and they worked very hard to make the trails accessible and keep people from damaging the land.
At the same time there were many other activities going on throughout the city introducing people to McGregor proper seeing all the events and activities around the area from restaurants cafes wineries Etc. McGregor certainly is a thriving energetic community.
Community Picnic
Friday evening then there was the large McGregor Community picnic that seemed to be the official kickoff of the entire event.
They had the local choir singing
McGregor High School Choir
and the local high school band playing.
McGregor High School Band
They had dignitaries giving speeches they have vendors they’re presenting their Wares Minnesota Vikings players were in the crowd and they will have a wonderful summer picnic meal of burgers and beans and potato salad at etc.
Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith, Gov Mark Dayton, Lisa M Kruse
Of course the dignitaries were giving their speeches, Governor Mark Dayton, Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith, Minnesota tourism director John Edman, the lovely Miss Minnesota, Rachel Latuff and many many more.
Miss Minnesota, Rachel Latuff
It was a wonderful celebration of community culture and tourism.
That night I wanted to do my best to capture a great sunset. So, I snuck over to Big Sandy Camp & Retreat Center where they were hosting much of the media for the event. I set up hoping to capture a great sunset, but then came the snow squall and the 30 mile an hour winds. As a good Minnesota would, I waited through the snow squall and hoped and prayed for the sun to pop out. My prayers were answered and I was given this incredible sunset at Big Sandy camp! What an amazing view!
Sunset at Big Sandy Camp
Saturday Festivities
On Saturday morning the day of the big event, we were we were awakened with the surprise of a half an inch of snow on the ground. Well that wasn’t exactly what we were expecting, we Minnesotans are hardy and knew how to deal with it. You simply put on another layer of clothes and get out and get going.
Snow 2016 Minnesota Governors Fishing Opener Big Sandy Camp
The mornings of the event started initially with again speeches from dignitaries, the posting of the flag from the local honor guard, the singing of the national anthem, and of course smoking of the peace pipe.
Governor Mark Dayton Smoking A Peace Pipe
Now we were on to the serious business of catching fish. My job as a photographer for the morning was tried to capture fishermen and women capturing fish.
It was fun to see Fido out there ready to catch fish also! Everyone was eager for huge success.
We went from boat to boat trying to get images of big fish. We kept hearing the same story again and again that, being it was quite cold the fish were moving very slowly and they were probably going pretty deep too insulate themselves from the cold. We had gone to 46 boats before we found fisherman that would show us a fish. But after that point then all the sudden it seems like the fish started biting like crazy. By around 10 o’clock the actions seem to be pretty hot and heavy.
Then I captured the magic shot of the day, the iconic image of what fishing is all about, the image of three generations of a family fishing together and the little tyke pulling in his dream catch. This my friends is what fishing is all about.
This Tyke Was So Excited With His Catch
After the time of fishing we headed back to shore for the community fish fry. No they were not frying up fish captured that today but they were indeed frying up a very large walleye and it was an incredible feast!
Closing Ceremonies
That evening the Minnesota National Golf Course hosted the closing ceremonies. The facilities at the Minnesota National Golf Course were glorious. We had a wonderful time to visit with friends and meet new friends and network and frankly just to have a wonderful time.
Sunset At The Minnesota National Golf Course
Guess what, there were speeches again! The purpose of most of the speeches throughout the evening was to put meaning to the history and the legacy of this event and to thank so many where were involved and sponsored the event.
Governor Mark Dayton at the 2016 Governors Fishing Opener
The announcement was made that St. Cloud area will be hosting the 2017 Minnesota Governor’s fishing opener. It turns out that St. Cloud is my original stomping grounds in Minnesota so I will of course have to go and capture that event next year. It will be so exciting to see how a river town will host the governor’s fishing opener.
Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith
Well I do the Minnesota National Golf course as the evening was finishing up I was able to capture a few sunset images they’re on their beautiful grounds. Wow what a place!
Then while driving back to the Big Sandy camp I finally found the fire tower that had been talked about but I hadn’t seen it until that evening. So I ran up the fire tower quickly to attempt to capture what proved to be a glorious Sunset that evening.
Sunset View over Big Sandy Lake 2016 Governors Fishing Opener
Wow what a great view of an incredible Vista from that fire tower!
This panoramic view became the 2016 Governor’s fishing opener in your commemorative print. If you are part of the event and would like to capture the memories you can find a print here.
Conclusion
I can’t wait until next year! And if you are a fisherman or fisher-woman to be sure to get out there and explore new rivers and lakes and fishing opportunities but even more so get out and explore all of the great Minnesota.
And until next time get out and capture the adventure.
These images and many more are available for purchase.
Find the complete online gallery here: Wayne Moran Fine Art Photography
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Written by Wayne Moran - Visit Website[email protected]