Big walleyes lead hit parade
High water levels and increasing water temperatures brought out some whopper walleyes in the Ely area.Leading the hit parade was a 10 lb. 8 oz. walleye that went 32 inches on the ruler, caught on a minnow by Kendal Glasener of Des Moines, IA in Little Long Lake and registered at Skube’s Bait and Tackle. Just two inches shorter but also tipping the scales at 10 lb. 8 oz. was a walleye caught by Ryan Becker of Ossian, IA in Basswood Lake on a minnow and checked in at Packsack Canoe Trips and Log Cabins. Six year-old Parker Scipioni of Hibbing caught a 30-inch walleye in White Iron Lake that tipped the scales at 7 lb. 10 oz. Parker used a minnow for bait and weighed in the fish at Skube’s Bait and Tackle. Ron Saver of Inver Grove Heights, MN used a Rapala to land a 6 lb. 5 oz. walleye out of Eagles Nest, entering the contest at Vermilion Fuel and Food.Smallmouth bass are heating up as well. Top fish in this category was a 4 lb. 2 oz. smallie caught by Jack Kramer III of Ingle-side, IL in Basswood Lake on a minnow and checked in at Skube’s Bait and Tackle.Next up was a 4 lb., 20-inch smallmouth caught in Fall Lake on a crankbait by Barbara Benoy of Zion, IL and registered at Spirit of the Wilderness.Carp Lake gave up a pair of 3 lb. bass to Matt Kapraun of Harvard, IL, who was using a slip bobber and a leech. He entered the contest at Voyageur North Outfitters.Top northern entered was a 11 lb. 14 oz. pike caught in Shagawa Lake on a sucker minnow by Marge Reinke of Phillips, WI and brought in to Voyageur North Outfitters.In second place was a 9.8 lb. pike caught in Basswood on a buzzbait by Frank Paoletti of Gurnee, IL and checked in at Packsack Canoe Trips and Log Cabins.A 7 lb. 8 oz. northern was registered at Voyageur North by Bill Fester of Melrose Park, IL, caught in Fall Lake using a minnow.Nina Haaversen of Ely used a light northern minnow to land a 6 lb. northern pike out of Fenske Lake. She took the fish to Spirit of the Wilderness to enter the Angler contest.We had a big crappie entered by Tyler Bauer of Waunakee, WI, caught in White Iron Lake using a fat head chub, the fish weighed 1 lb. 4 oz. and was registered at Voyageur North Outfitters. The Catch and Release entries were very impressive this week, including a 50.5 inch northern pike caught by 10 year-old Mitchell Franks of Ely. The fish had a 29.5 inch girth and was caught and released in Fall Lake. Franks registered the catch at Veterans on the Lake. Kenny Dowden of Greenfield, IN put a 16 lb. 4 oz. pike on the scale and then released it back into Garden Lake and entered the contest at Voyageur North Outfitters. A 22-inch smallmouth was released in Ensign Lake, caught by James Strope of Apalachin, NY and entered at Gateway North. Another 22-inch smallmouth was caught and released in Basswood Lake, this one by Rick Merb of Portsmouth, OH. He entered the contest at Packsack Canoe Trips and Log Cabins.P.J. Freeman of South Range, WI caught an elusive largemouth bass in Farm Lake and released the 20-incher back into the water. He registered the release at Spirit of the Wilderness. We are entering the time of the summer in what has traditionally been some of the hottest fishing of the year. As water temps go up, the fishing action should increase as well. Minnows have been the bait of choice so far, but look for the walleyes to start turning on to leeches soon. Check with your local bait shop before you go out on the water for the latest info. Good luck!
