Big fish means big win for local duo

They had to wait four hours to get a bite but when they did, they got their money’s worth.
The team of Todd Baker (Emo) and Greg Stahn (Devlin) took advantage of an 8.8-pound catch on Saturday—the largest fish reeled in all weekend—to capture the second-annual Emo Walleye Classic with a two-day total of 19.22 pounds.
“All week long, we both said one big fish could win the tournament,” said Stahn, who hooked the whopping walleye with less than two hours to go in the competition.
It was a 10-minute battle to land the fighting fish that netted the pair a cool $10,500 in the 55-team field that was pursuing more than $36,000 in cash and prizes.
“We just kept hanging around in the same area [below Manitou Rapids] and at about the time we had to leave, all of a sudden, we hit it. I knew right away it was a big fish,” Stahn added.
The pair also won an extra $1,200 for having the big fish and the largest combined catch of Day Two.
Stahn pointed to Baker’s steadfast refusal to change their position on the Rainy River, and their approach, as the central factor in the duo pulling out the victory.
“When you don’t catch a fish for four hours, definitely the thoughts run through your head [that you’re not going to catch any more that day],” admitted Stahn, who usually teams up with Emo’s Theo DeGroot.
“I suggested a couple of things to try differently, but [Baker] gave us both the confidence to stay with what we were doing.”
The win—Stahn’s first major competitive victory—was even more sweet for him considering it came in the area of his birthplace.
“I’ve only been up on this river one other time to fish and that’s when I was six,” said Stahn. “But Emo is my hometown, and with the fans rooting us on, to win here was extra special.
“Just to drive through the arena as part of the top 10 was a thrill on its own,” he enthused.
Baker and Stahn (Team #29) had finished Day One on Friday in third place overall with a total catch of 8.12 pounds, sitting behind Team #11 of Lorne Wood and Monte Mann from Red Lake (10.78) and Team #20 of Paul Jewiss from Devlin and Dale Strachan from Emo (8.86).
But the top two teams struggled Saturday, with Wood and Mann hauling in only 5.90 pounds to finish third with a 16.68 total. Jewiss and Strachan, who had the big fish of Day One at 5.96 pounds, managed only 1.44 pounds to slip to 11th with a combined catch of 10.30.
Team #19 (Frank Grunewald from Red Lake and Frank McWhinnie from Balmertown) followed up an 8.06-pound opening day total with 8.94 pounds on Saturday to finish second over with 17 pounds even.
The Devlin duo of Dale LaBelle and Wayne Angus (Team #3) finished fourth with a total of 15.60 pounds, while Devlin’s Doug McBride and Fort Frances’ Steve Ballan (Team #5) were fifth with 15.16.
Jerry Elliott from Fort Frances and Vance Allan of Devlin (Team #28) used a strong second day to vault into sixth place with a 13.86-pound total, while Bill Godin and Ralph Galusha from Devlin (Team #52) also had a solid Saturday to take seventh place (11.98).
Jody Shypit of Devlin and Mike Graham from Fort Frances (Team #2) didn’t use their early starting spot to much advantage Friday morning, but battled back Saturday to wind up eighth with a 11.92-pound total.
Franks and Corey Curtis of Emo (Team #31) came ninth with a 11.54-pound total.
Devlin’s Bryan Hughes and Emo’s Trevor Croswell (Team #4) grabbed 10th place with a combined catch of 10.64 pounds—just ahead of Jewiss and Strachan.
The top 11 teams earned cash prizes.