McBride/Ballan win Emo Walleye Classic for the second time!

By Mitch Calvert
Fort Frances Times

The seventh-annual Emo Walleye Classic wrapped up Saturday with its first two-time champions being crowned.
Doug McBride of Devlin and Steve Ballan of Fort Frances overcame motor problems on Day One on Friday, then caught the biggest fish of the tourney (7.85 pounds) when it mattered most to recapture the title they had won in 2005.
McBride and Ballan had a combined two-day weight of 24.89 pounds to eclipse the second-place team of Les Morrison and John Swentik of Rainy River by almost four pounds (20.48).
The father/son tandem of Frank and Corey Curtis finished in third place for the second-straight year—and held the top rung until McBride and Ballan unveiled their prize catch in front of a boisterous capacity crowd at the Emo/La Vallee Arena.
The Curtis duo did take home the Elmer Haglin Award, presented to the highest finishing parent/child team, which they’ve won every year since its inception.
Mark Chapman and Kent Christianson of Baudette, Mn. finished fourth with a total haul of 18.67 pounds while Ron Skyberg and Ed Carlson rounded out the top five with a two-day total of 18.03.
McBride and Ballan were runners-up to Bill Godin and Ralph Galusha last year, but caught the biggest fish of the tournament on the final day to seal the victory and the $10,400 first prize.
Godin and Galusha couldn’t get that one big lunker to put them in contention this year, finishing in 17th place.
The biggest fish on Friday was caught by Wayne Angus and Rick Pruys, weighing in at 5.91 pounds, which was good enough to propel them into a 10th-place finish.
The winners’ haul of 14.11 pounds on Saturday, up from their first day total of 10.78, went against the flow of other teams in the field as 224 fish were caught on Friday compared to just 213 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the 2006 champs, Todd Grennier and Eric Lessman, had a better showing from their last-place finish a year ago, rounding out the top 15 with a two-day catch of 13.51 pounds.
River conditions were the polar opposite to a year ago, with high levels that made things easier for anglers to navigate on the Rainy River compared to the treacherously low conditions they faced last year.