Ely’s Moe wins Walleye Whamma contest

It was a near-perfect day and a record number of participants for the 2005 Babbitt Walleye Whamma on June 18. Jon Moe of Ely took the top prize, $1,500, with a 7.22 lb. walleye. “We had 111 walleyes weighed in,” said Connie Koivisto of the Peter Mitchell Fun Days Committee. “But the fish count was down 60 fish from last year’s contest.”A total of 573 participants registered for the contest including 55 youth participants.“We focused on getting plenty of prizes for the youth and this year the top youth prize won a pontoon boat rental by finishing 25th overall,” said Koivisto. “Brianna Aho, the daughter of Todd and Becky Aho was pretty excited at the prize party Saturday night when she figured out she was getting a big prize.” Other top winners included Cathy Kingsley Larson of Gilbert, with a 2.43 lb. fish that won $1,000 for 10th place. Winning a Floe trailer was John Erickson of Clarion, IA with a 1.75 lb. fish that took 20th. Jerry Palmquist of Chisholm won $1,000 for a 1.52 lb. fish that took 30th place. Finishing 40th with a 1.31 lb. entry worth $1,000 was Kenny Winkler of Eveleth. “We were very pleased with the turnout, the results and the weather for this year’s contest,” said Koivisto.