It didn’t take long for someone to snag one of the 10 specially tagged walleyes in this year’s Walleye Weekend. An Albert Lea, Minnesota woman is $43,000 richer after catching one of the walleyes. Blain Andera, CEO of the Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, says Dawn Ingvaldson caught the fish around 2:00 am Saturday morning on Big Spirit Lake, just two hours after the contest started:
Ingvaldson says this was the second Walleye Weekend she’s competed in, adding she has a special connection to the Iowa Great Lakes:
Ingvaldson tells KUOO is Spirit Lake what was going through her mind as she was landing one of the highly 10 coveted walleyes with the help of her boyfriend:
Chamber CEO Blain Andera says Walleye Weekend was another huge success this year, with registrations up from last year:
Walleye Weekend officially concluded at noon Sunday, with Ingvaldson being the only angler to catch one of the 10 tagged walleyes. However, the extended contest continues, meaning if someone who is registered for that catches one of the other tagged fish, they’ll still win some cash. Andera says those prizes will be based on the total amount of registration fees for the extended contest:
Registration for the extended contest is now closed. Andera thanks all those who helped make the weekend a huge success.
(Story and photos courtesy of fellow Community First Broadcasting Station KUOO in Spirit Lake.)
