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Walleyes, bass come alive for fall

The secret to fall fishing might very well be trying new ways of angling. Of course, keeping a close ear to talk at the local bait shop doesn’t hurt either.Last week the word was the walleyes were taking nightcrawlers up in the shallows. Several reports came in of guys doing well by slow trolling in secluded bays with worms. Hey, if it works, why not?Fred Floura of Duluth was fishing with a Rapala in Moose Lake when he tied into one dandy of a smallmouth bass. At 21 inches long, the smallie weighed 5 lb. 4 oz. on the scale at Skube’s Bait and Tackle.A 4 lb. 8 oz. bass with a 21-inch length and a 14-inch girth was taken on a crank Rapala in Fall Lake by Ronnie V. Morton of Rudy, AR and entered at Voyageur North Outfitters.Jack Dreyer of San Mateo, CA registered a 19-inch 3 lb. 8 oz. smallmouth caught in Basswood Lake at Skube’s Bait and Tackle.In the walleye category, we had two fish nearly reaching eight pounds.Nightcrawlers did the trick for Bruce Frederick of Park Falls, WI while fishing on Eagles Nest. The 32-inch, 7.6 lb. fish was weighed in at Vermilion Fuel and Food in Tower.Fred Fuller of Des Moines, IA was fishing with leeches on Fall Lake when he reeled in a 28.25-inch walleye that tipped the scales at 7.6 pounds. He entered the contest at Spirit of the Wilderness.As the leaves turn and we get closer to the end of the trout season, look for some hot action in the put-and-take lakes around the area.Right in Ely is Miners Lake and from there came a 2 lb. 8 oz. rainbow trout on the end of the line for Lucas Schwalba of Ely. He used nightcrawlers and entered the contest at Skube’s Bait and Tackle. Two whopper northern pike were entered in the Catch and Release category. Bob Adams was using a red and black spinner on Basswood Lake when he hooked a 40.5-inch pike and later released it. The entry came in to Voyageur North Outfitters.A jig and a crawler worked for Makinna Meister of West Lafayette, IN to catch a 31-inch northern in Birch Lake. The release was reported to Voyageur North Outfitters.Bob Adams of Madeira, OH released a 19-inch largemouth bass in Basswood Lake that was caught on a white spinner. VNO took the entry info.Kevin Gaulke of Titusville, FL entered an 18-inch catch and release out of Fall Lake at VNO as well. This is the final week of the North Country Angler Fishing Contest for the 2004 season. The final entries will be collected Tuesday and winners announced in next week’s Ely Echo.

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