Global Warming & the Minnesota fishing opener?

Hmmm...find table fare if you ask me.Sometimes a bad does produce a good @ least from a fisherman's view point.Even though you may have a poor spawning cycle one year, the size of the fish next year is usually larger.It's just the numbers of smaller fish have decline.Your not going to catch em all,and most states have size or slot limits.I would always try to find a bottle neck in a river or stream(fluvial) when they were on a spawning run after ice out.If all goes bad you still have the DNR hatcheries but I think it takes 3yrs for them to reach maturity(most fresh water fish ).Walleyes do have a seasonal migratory route and if the appropriate water ways exist they can relocate.

P.S. If it wasn't for fishing I wouldn't had any interest in science @ all...Take a kid with you when you go.

I think the second article makes some good points, particularly this one:

"As the accompanying charts indicate, and more exacting data confirm, warming spring temperatures, such as they are, are neither marked enough nor consistent enough to predict with any certainty in a given year that spawning will be complete in the northern half of the state if fishing season is opened a week earlier."

I don't see why thye can't move the opening day to a Saturday - the day before Mother's Day.

I used to be the South Dakota walleye most mortal enemy. I especially liked to get them under the ice. If you are over-fishing though, I don't see much good in making the season earlier. Mostly only the real hard core fisherman (that catch the most fish) will go out that early. They can wait a couple weeks.

Sounds reasonable and should make Mom happy.