Fish were optional when it came to walleye opener fun
By Lethbridge Herald on May 30, 2025.
Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald
When the Victoria Day weekend rolled around a couple of weeks ago, I spent a lot of time reminiscing about the early days of the 1980s when I learned that the opening of the Ontario walleye season coincided with those three days off.
Being an Albertan, I wasn’t familiar with the significance of the walleye season opening in Northwestern Ontario when I first stepped foot in Fort Frances. But I learned quickly.
Being on the shores of Rainy Lake which borders Minnesota, and being close to hundreds of other lakes, fishing rules spring and summer for many residents of that community. That and making short boat trips to a couple of resorts on the Minnesota side of Rainy for massive slabs of prime rib and jars of Long Island iced tea, a popular summer beverage in what’s known as Borderland.
By late May, most lakes are free of ice and boats have been brought out of winter storage. When I lived there, for many the watercraft of choice was the venerable Lund aluminum utility boats which were lightweight, virtually indestructible and capable of handling big waters and a crew of anglers. Most guys I knew would throw on a small outboard motor and with a portable gas can, lots of bait and tackle, they were set to explore any lake they decided to pursue the tasty walleye.
I was lucky enough to be often invited to be part of a fishing crew that included our town police chief Jack Murray, one of his officers Bruce Henry, and a town barber, Ron Martinuk, who also owned a convenience store. Ron would buy all the supplies – food and beverages – for the weekend and we would pay him our share.
Often, our fishing trips would have as our base Ron’s cabin on Rainy’s Crowrock Inlet from which we would travel many miles during a day to popular fishing spots. While Rainy is also known as a hotspot for bass – the town hosts the Canadian bass championship every summer – walleye is king.
While our fishing success was always unpredictable on the Victoria Day long weekend due to weather, and the fact walleye are still often in deep water after a long cold winter, we knew we were always going to have a memorable trip whether we stayed in Ron’s cabin or ventured to the Little Turtle River near the village of Mine Centre to camp in tents and tent trailers.
On one such occasion, the walleye opener coincided with the start of the spring bear hunt season. And one evening as we huddled around a smoking fire, trying to avoid an onslaught of nasty little biting black flies, we watched a crew across the river with a video camera filming something multiple times. We finally figured out they were recreating a successful day’s hunt.
And we learned the next night, when this group from Chicago came over to introduce themselves, that they’d baited some of the trees near our camp, one tree just a few feet from where I’d pitched a tent. Over Mexican mezcal and Canadian beer, we learned one of them owned a restaurant and bear apparently was a menu treat.
Thankfully, that weekend none of us were treats for bears.
Regardless of the weather or the number of walleye we landed, the walleye opener was always an adventure and when I think back to those days I long for a chance to return. But since my dad and I visited in 2018 briefly, I haven’t had a chance.
Hopefully, next year I’ll return to get soaked and cold and maybe catch a few fish, but after all these decades, tenting is not happening. A cabin with wi-fi and an indoor plumbing, definitely. And boat seats with a bit of padding, of course.
Unlike my pals who are still carrying on the tradition of their forefathers heading out to the bush to enjoy shore lunches with fresh fish and cold Labatt Blue and soak in the majesty of the boreal forest, I’ve gone soft over the years. My definition of roughing it has changed so when the long weekend rolled around here and the rain began falling, I was glad I had a warm sofa to curl up on. The fishing could wait.
And usually so do the fish, but tradition is tradition.
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