An episode of a fishing show filmed in Albert Lea took home first place recently at an outdoors writers conference.

The episode, “Happy Days in Albert Lea,” was shot last summer and aired on “Fishing the Midwest with Bob Jensen,” a 30-minute TV series which runs at 7:30 a.m. Sundays on KIMT.

The episode won first place in the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers Excellence in Craft Award for the television-fishing category, according to a news release. The award was presented at a conference at Lake Rathburn near Centerville, Iowa.

According to the release, the episode highlighted the Albert Lea area and its successful attempts to revive a fishery from severe pollution.

According to Jensen, the host and executive producer of the show, the idea for an episode in Albert Lea started when he met Lance Frank, a member of the Albert Lea Sportsmen’s Club, at a sportshow.

“He told me about all the efforts his group and others have done to revive the lakes around Albert Lea,” Jensen said. “I thought to myself that this sounds like a good story for Fishing the Midwest.”

Jensen spoke next with Susie Peterson, of the Albert Lea Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and learned that Albert Lea was once home to Marion Ross and Eddie Conhran, and was a Blue Zones community.

“With all these story lines I knew we needed to feature Albert Lea,” Jensen said.

While filming, Jensen fished in an area tournament with Jason Howland, of Albert Lea, and members of the Sportsmen’s Club. He said he caught a good amount of largemouth bass but more importantly learned that unhealthy fisheries can be revived.

“The folks in Albert Lea have on-going projects in place to ensure that the area lakes continue to improve in quality,” Jensen said.