Baudette, Minnesota: Willie Walleye

40-foot-long Willie Walleye, positioned as if leaping from the lake and at your car. The original Willie was torn down in July 2018 and replaced by a nearly identical fiberglass replica.

In early July 2018 the 59-year-old "Willie Walleye" statue was demolished. A week later a new walleye was put in place. He is made of fiberglass this time, and his look is an homage to the original. Long live Willie!

In addition to "Willie the Walleye," there is a totem pole, bobber, and steer on a sign in Baudette -- but they pale in comparison to Willie.

Baudette claims to be the Walleye Capital of the World and they most certainly win if the statues are the competition, as their downtown Walleye Statue is huge.

Baudette, Minnesota is making a bold move in the normally slow, simmering fracas between at least seven towns over the location of the "Walleye Capital of the World." The small, lakeside town in northern Minnesota is in the process of trademarking the phrase, which might prevent other fish-crazed communities from making the same claim.