A record 2,064 anglers registered and took to the Iowa Great Lakes this weekend for the 30th Annual Easter Seals Iowa Great Walleye Weekend, a 36-hour fishing tournament to benefit the Easter Seals of Iowa. This year’s competition featured a record prize of $30,000 for catching one of the six DNR-tagged Walleye released in the area, however, all six remain at-large.

Here are the winning catches:

Heaviest Walleye
1st: Tom Bornstad, Okoboji, IA – 7.9lbs/28”
2nd: Lee Nieuwenhuis, Hospers, IA – 7.26lbs/26.5”

3rd:
 Brian Plowman, Adair, IA – 5.14lbs

Heaviest Stringer (3) of Walleye
1st: Tom Christensen, Spirit Lake, IA – 11.64lbs
2nd:
 Torrey Krause, Everly, IA – 9.76lbs

3rd:
 Larry Benblin, Spencer, IA – 9.1lbs

Heaviest Northern Pike
1st: Tom Dahna, Bingham Lake, MN – 10.14lbs/37”
2nd:
 Barry Williams, Ames, IA – 7.4lbs/32”

3rd:
 Zach Edwards, Waterloo, IA – 6.7lbs/29”

Heaviest Stringer (5) of Panfish
1st: Dan Youngblood, Spirit Lake, IA – 6.38lbs
2nd:
 Matt Rozeboom, Inwood, IA – 6.0lbs

3rd:
 Rick Allison, Sioux City, NE – 5.5lbs

Heaviest Stringer (10) of Bullheads
1stRyan Cunningham, Sioux City, IA – 18.57lbs
2nd:
 Jason Flammang, Sioux City – 18.5lbs

3rd:
 Christine Birdsell, Sioux City, IA – 18.39lbs

Heaviest Bass
1st: Sonny Vanlenning, Spirit Lake, IA – 5.47lbs
2nd:
 Harley Wittkopf, Algona, IA – 5.18lbs/19.75”

3rd:
 Henry Vrieze, LeMars, 5.1lbs/19.5”

The number of registered anglers broke the previous record by nearly 600. The big draw to this year’s event was a combination of terrific fishing conditions and the increased price tags for reeling in a tagged-fish. In all there were 24 tagged fish, including perch, bullhead, and crappie, but all went unclaimed.

The Easter Seals of Iowa is a non-profit, statewide organization that provides daily services to adults and kids with disabilities.

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