INTERNATIONAL FALLS &045; Fishing openers are like the weather. Who can predict how they will turn out? I’m sure our Governor would take credit for the good ones if you asked him. I guess you could say I had to drive all the way to the top of the state to find the sun, not to mention a few fish.

Harry Swendsen, mayor of International Falls where the Governor’s Opener was held, says it’s part of the &uot;Rainy Lake mystique.&uot; I think we will leave it at that.

Jesse once again caught his share of fish: five walleye and a northern. The largest walleye was 22 inches. When someone on his staff, I believe it was DNR commissioner Al Garber, reminded him the limit was four, he asked, &uot;How well do you like your job?&uot;

This kind of good-natured fun is common on the weekend of the Minnesota Fishing Opener. G

Governor Ventura not only rubs elbows with the media, with whom he seems to be at odds most other times, but, more importantly, he mixes with members of the community that host this great event.

Jesse still likes to keep the media on guard. At the community supper he announced, &uot;For my good friends in the media I will be going out on Rainy at 12:01 a.m.&uot; I wonder how many of the media people were waiting for him at that time. He actually went out at 4:30 and then traveled about 41 miles to Kettle Falls, where he and his party were shown some good fishing by their guide Billy Dougherty.

The community of International Falls and the surrounding area spent many hours fundraising and planning so their community could be spotlighted for a weekend. They were gracious hosts and did a super job.

The reason for the Governor’s Opener is to promote tourism in Minnesota and to highlight the host city as a tourist attraction.The mayor says International Falls has two main resources, trees and tourism.

This was my first trip to International Falls and Rainy Lake. I knew the lake would be big, but it was really impressive. The lake itself is 212,000 acre, 929 miles of shoreline and another 635 miles of shoreline around its 1,600 islands. I plan on returning to this beautiful area again to spend a little more time fishing and relaxing.

Outdoor News magazine sponsored a contest for kids. They had to write a short summary of &uot;Why I would like to spend the Governor’s opener with my Dad.&uot; I got to meet two of the winners who happened to be brothers and also real nice kids: Justin and Brady Haak of Garfield, Minn. and one very proud dad, Dana Haak.

On Friday I joined my fishing partners, Danny Olson of KELO radio in Sioux Falls and Jeff Anderson, of 3 Eagles Communications in Watertown, S.D. We went to the pairings, which matches guests with guides, and met our guide Pat Arnold of International Falls.

Pat is 40 years old, has lived in International Falls all his life and has been guiding since he was 12. We’re supposed to call them &uot;hosts,&uot; not guides. He said in the winter he works for a logging company, but being a guide is a big part of his livelihood. On the back of his jacket it has his guide service name and on the bottom it reads, &uot;Not Just a Guy with a Boat.&uot;

We agreed to meet at Thunderbird Lodge at 7 a.m. for our trip out on Rainy. We got started a little late because someone slept in, but once we were all there we were off to the races.

Cruising between and around islands at about 50 mph, we were wasting little time getting to the spot – until we hit something. It was kind of like hitting a brick wall. Everyone moved ahead one seat. Danny and I were in the rear seats, so we just flew onto the floor.

The first question was, &uot;What did we hit?&uot;

Jeff identified the object as buoy. It wasn’t exactly a buoy but was actually one of those boat fenders with a rope on it that got tangled in the prop. It must have been there for the winter because it was almost black and was pretty hard to see.

After climbing off the floor and getting ourselves seated we were off again. Fifteen miles later we were at the spot. Pat circled for about half an hour before he would let us fish. He was looking for the right concentration of fish and bait fish on the locator. When he found it we were fishing.

There is a slot limit on Rainy Lake. The combined walleye/sauger limit is eight, with only four walleye allowed. The protected slot for walleye is 17-29 inches and only one walleye over 28 inches may be kept.

We were fishing a flathead jig and fathead minnow in 45-50 ft. of water. Drop it down to the bottom, bring it up about 8 inches and start vertical jigging. The key to this was quick set, feel a bump and set the hook; don’t feed line or wait for another &uot;tap.&uot;

Danny caught the first fish, a small walleye, which we released. Fishing that deep you need to play the fish up to the surface slowly or they will get the bends just like a person and their air bladder will fill with air so they float belly up.

Pat took a needle and inserted a small hole in the belly. The fish righted itself and took off for the bottom.

That morning we caught quite a few walleye, a northern and perch. For the day we kept six walleye. I was lucky enough to catch four of the keepers, with Danny and Jeff each contributing one. That afternoon we fished a different spot and I caught a 3-pound smallmouth, which was released, and a sauger and some smaller walleye. We were a little worried about Jeff for a while. It was close to quitting time and he hadn’t caught one yet, but he finished strong and I think he caught the last three fish.

When we were ready to make a move again, I noticed a rope lying on the edge of the transom. My chair was facing to the rear, so I leaned forward with my fishing pole to pull it down and, just then, Pat gunned the motor and dumped me on the floor for the second time. A little earlier Danny &045; for no particular reason &045; just sort of fell out of his chair. If there is one thing I will remember about this trip it is all the time Danny and I spent on the floor of the boat.

It was obvious Pat knew how to find the fish and how to fish them when he did find them. I think Al Linder keeps saying something about location and presentation. It’s easy to see a bunch of fish on a locator but sometimes no matter what you do they won’t bite. If you go to Rainy Lake, look for Pat Arnold at Thunderbird Lodge. He’s not just a guy with a boat.

It was a very memorable trip because I got to spend the day fishing with two good friends that I have known since I attended my first opener, and I look forward to seeing them every year at the Governor’s Opener.

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Remember, if you catch a good fish, take a picture of it and enter it in the Tribune’s &uot;Catch of the Week&uot; contest. Good luck and good fishin.’