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During an in-state trip we relived parts of our past and I came away with the feeling that some things change over 50 years and some things don't. We'll just have to live with the memories. ....
Urbank bait company in southern Otter Tail County celebrating 75 years of supplying bait for fishing. 6:06 am, May 13, 2021 × Urbank Bait employees load tanks on a semi-truck bed to carry minnows to Brainerd in time for the opening of the 2021 Minnesota walleye and northern pike fishing season. From left, Tom Lorine, owner Marshall Koep and Matt Hanson. (Karen Tolkkinen / Echo Press) During the Great Depression, a kid began digging and trapping bait and selling it next to Block Lake in Otter Tail County, not far from Urbank. That kid, Paul Koep, grew up, and in 1946, founded Urbank Bait, a business that supplies anglers with bait throughout Minnesota as well as in about a dozen states. ....
Four months, Marshall corrected. The Twin Cities were just too hectic, he said. Phillip Koep, former owner of Urbank Bank, handles cages that sit on the lake bottom to trap minnows. He said he has built 500 of the cages. (Karen Tolkkinen / Echo Press) On Monday morning, they were loading a semi-truck with minnows to send to a wholesaler in Brainerd. Every day during the busy season, one or two trucks leaves their facility west of Urbank. They ship to Duluth, Orr, Grand Rapids, Deer River, Cohasset and Bemidji. In Douglas and Otter Tail Counties, they deliver personally to the gas stations that have started selling bait over the years. ....