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Dayton Ready For His First Governor's Fishing Opener

By Adam Carter, NewsRadio 830 WCCO

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Governor Mark Dayton does not plan on wasting any time starting his fishing season.

"I'm very excited," the Governor told WCCO AM's Adam Carter on Friday. "So much so that I'm going out at 12:01 AM. You can't get much earlier than that."

The fishing season officially opens one minute past midnight Saturday.  Governor Dayton will be fishing on Lake Pokegama in Grand Rapids, site of this year's Governor's Fishing Opener.

This is the 64th Minnesota Governor's Opener. Dayton said it's all about promoting Minnesota tourism, which is an $11 billion industry.

Dayton plans on fishing with two members of the Minnesota National Guard who recently returned from Afghanistan. It's also a bipartisan effort, as Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers is joining the Democratic Governor at the event.

But Governor Dayton said he carries a family trait of being a less-than-stellar fisherman.

"My father and his brothers had a cabin up on Lake Vermillion, and we used to go up a couple of weeks in the summer.  He had many virtues, but catching fish was not one of them," Dayton said.

NewsRadio 830 WCCO's Adam Carter Reports

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