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Down To The Wire Fishing Opener At Fish Hook Lake

DORSET, Minn. (WCCO) -- The steady lap of waves on Fish Hook Lake has been replaced by sheets of ice that better resemble wind chimes. Warm weather, wind, and some recent rain have helped, but Gov. Mark Dayton likely won't see ice out here by Saturday.

Dennis Mackedanz is in charge of planning this year's opener. He's thought of everything. But there's not much he can do about the hand mother nature has dealt.

"I've woke up in the morning and had snow on my tacklebox on an opener, but never have I been, you know, against the ice chunks," Mackedanz said.

Whatever the conditions, Mackedanz knows the show must go on.

"You just take it in stride," Mackedanz said. "We went to contingency planning about a week ago. I'd call ice out to be Sunday, based on what I see today."

Mackedanz will guide Lt. Governor Yvonne Prettner Solon, and stick to his plan: a jig, a minnow and the only part of the lake available.

"They're gonna be up in the shallows, we know that. That's where I'm gonna focus is the shallows," he said.

This year, at least, anyone participating in the opener will have a story to tell, before even dropping a line in the water.

"It'll be one of those, 'remember back in 2013 stories,'" he said.

Watch more in the report above!

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