ABOVE: Sommer Outdoors Co-Owner Justin Sommer looks through a net full of minnows, prime bait for walleye anglers looking to take advantage of opening day Saturday.

FAIRMONT – With Mother’s Day, dance recitals and proms happening this weekend, the walleye and Northern Pike fishing opener has some competition.

Sommer Outdoors Co-Owner Justin Sommer said the demand and excitement have not been as high as in previous years. On top of the other events happening, Sommer said proximity to Iowa has played a role. Aside from Spirit Lake and West and East Okoboji lakes for walleye, both fish can be caught year-round. The opener for those three lakes was May 3.

“There’s a lot more people getting down their fishing for walleyes,” Sommer said. “It’s only a 15-minute drive, so it takes a little bit of the edge off.”

Overall, he said the lakes are looking pretty decent, water levels are normal, and the weather is cooperating. Speaking to where there will get the most traffic, Sommer said Budd and Hall lakes will be the ones hit up the most.

As for what they have at the shop, Sommer said people can still get their fishing licenses at Sommer Outdoors. The plan from the state had been to move the entire process to an online application system, but delay in doing so means Sommer still has his license machine.

“It sounds like it won’t be until after June, but at some point, the state will take the machines from all locations,” he said. “It will be 100 percent online.”

Sommer said the bait of choice will likely be minnows, along with nightcrawlers and leeches. The minnows live in three large tanks, with hundreds of minnows each. Sommer said his supply is cleared weekly, and new minnows are brought in.

“A lot of people think they’re fish you have to feed like goldfish,” he said. “They just come complete. They get put in a tank. They get sold and by next week they’ll be gone. Then we’ll have a new shipment.”

Minnesota DNR Area Fisheries Supervisor Ryan Doorenbos said the fishing opener is looking great across the southern region.

“A lot of times what happens is we get to the opener and weather can influence the success rate,” he said. “Our weather pattern seems consistent as of late, gradually getting warmer with lots of sun. It should be good from a weather standpoint.”

In the Fairmont area, Doorenbos said there should be a great population of walleye and northern pike in the Fairmont chain of lakes. In addition, he said Big Twin Lake in Trimont has seen great walleye numbers with more natural repopulation than fishery stocking.

Regarding the recent PFAS discovery, Doorenbos said it’s an individual decision whether people want to eat and harvest walleye from George or any other lake in the Fairmont chain.

“They found the PFAS in one lake, but they are all connected,” he said. “The recommendation from the Department of Health is walleye not be eaten.”

Sommer Outdoors is now open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week, with extended hours Friday and Saturday. For more information on the fishing outlook for this year, visit https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/outlooks.html.