McBride, Ballan reclaim EWC crown

It took another big finish, but unlike last year, this time it was good enough to take home the hardware. Doug McBride of Devlin and Steve Ballan of Fort Frances managed a tournament-best one-day haul of 14.11 pounds Saturday to capture the seventh-annual Emo Walleye Classic and reclaim the title they previously had won in 2005. “It was actually a pretty tough day fishing, only had seven bites all day,” McBride said shortly after the final weigh-in at the Emo/La Vallee Arena. “But we got some nice fish and were pretty happy with it coming in,” he added. “You never really know what others have, but we were both pretty pumped after that one.” That “one” was McBride’s 7.85-pound whopper, which turned out to be the big fish of the tournament. “He came up good, we could see him about five feet down, and then he flared his gills and did a kick,” McBride recalled. “Steve had the net right beside him and kind of missed him, but he got him right after.” McBride and Ballan had a similar Saturday showing last year, bringing home a then tournament-best one-day haul of 10.75 pounds, but it wasn’t enough to beat the balanced two-day weight of Bill Godin and Ralph Galusha. This year was a different ball game thanks, in large part, to their lunker—and a renewed strategy. They didn’t use a minnow on Saturday, preferring instead to stick to McBride’s custom-made plastic baits to lure out the big walleye. “We used all our own plastic baits that Doug made for bass and they obviously showed they worked for walleye, too,” Ballan noted. “We tried jigging with minnows and caught a few, but it was really slow [on Friday].” Their first day weight of 10.78 pounds put them in good position in second spot—despite having mechanical problems with their motor that forced them to head back early. It took them two hours to return to the dock, but they managed to avoid any penalties and it set the table for their big finish Saturday—finishing with a whopping two-day haul of 24.89 pounds. Les Morrison and John Swentik of Rainy River finished in second place with 20.48 pounds while Frank and Corey Curtis once again cracked the top 10 in third place with an 18.91-pound total. The Elmer Haglin Award, given to the highest-ranking father/son team, may be due for a name change given the Curtis duo are the only team to capture the award since its creation. Mark Chapman and Kent Christianson of Baudette, Mn. finished fourth with an 18.67-pound haul while Ron Skyberg, of Rainy River, and Ed Carlson, of Emo, rounded out the top five (18.03). They moved up the leaderboard Saturday with an impressive 12.04 weigh-in, including Carlson’s 6.82-pound monster which looked to be the big fish of the day until McBride’s surprise unveiling. “We worked the jig for most of the day and figured we had nothing to lose and started cranking around lunchtime,” Carlson said on stage. “Getting that big one shortly after really lifted our spirits and changed the day for us.” It looked as though that might hold up as the winning weight, but the top 10 boats had more in store. They were towed into the arena in their boats with an anxious capacity crowd waiting for the final verdict—and the anglers did not disappoint. Several teams had some big fish to show off. Chapman and Christianson unseated Skyberg and Carlson with an 11.36 weigh-in, but promptly were ousted by the Curtis duo. It then looked as though they might be the big winners, but McBride and Ballan spoiled the Emo residents’ party. Morrison and Swentik gave the winners a bit of a scare, but their Saturday haul of 8.73 pounds was not enough to unseat the former champs. It was the second win in four years for McBride and Ballan, and landed them a big $10,400 cheque for their efforts. When asked what they might spend it on, the answers were mixed at best. “The credit card is hurting, I’ll tell you that,” McBride laughed. “And I’m sure the kids will help spend it,” Ballan chimed in. High water levels on the Rainy River this year made fishing less treacherous for the anglers. McBride and Ballan said they had 10 “hot spots” on the river, but only chose to fish five of those in the direction of the dam upstream at Fort Frances. Those spots? Not to be revealed, they said. Clearly the champs already were displaying some gamesmanship with the 2009 tournament—and defending their latest title—now in their sights. See tournament video www.fortfrances.tv