$43,000 Catch! Albert Lea, MN Woman’s Lucky Fishing Trip

Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes but there are actually more than 11,000 lakes in the state. Do you have a favorite?

Caribou Lake, in a tiny town north of Grand Rapids, is the clearest lake in the state of Minnesota. Lake Saganga in Cook County and Ten Mile Lake in Cass County are the deepest lakes other than Lake Superior. And, Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis is the most searched lake in the state.

ALSO READ: ARE THESE THE BEST FISHING LAKES IN MINNESOTA?

There are some nice lakes in Iowa too. Many southern Minnesota residents actually travel to the Iowa Great Lakes to fish. That's what one Albert Lea woman did and while there she caught a fish worth $43,000.

• LAKE GETAWAY: THE 10 BEST LAKES TO VISIT IN MINNESOTA
• SCENIC SWIM: THIS MINNESOTA LAKE WAS NAMED THE PRETTIEST
• YIKES: THE MOST POLLUTED LAKES IN MINNESOTA

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Albert Lea, Minnesota Woman Catches $43,000 Fish

Dawn Ingvaldson told the Albert Lea Tribune that she fished a lot as a child, but lost interest as an adult. “When I was growing up, we went camping and fishing all the time.”

Vacationokoboji.com explains, “Each year the Iowa Great Lakes Area kicks off walleye season with the Iowa Great Lakes Area Walleye Weekend tournament put on by the Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce. Ten walleyes are tagged and released into the chain of Iowa Great Lakes.”

It didn’t take Dawn long. Blain Andera, CEO of the Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, told Sioux Country Radio: "Dawn caught the fish around 2:00 am Saturday morning on Big Spirit Lake, just two hours after the contest started.”

Dawn turned the fish in and was rewarded with a huge cash prize. She won $43,000 and now has an awesome fish story to tell for the rest of her life.