Master Sgt. Galen Garrison and Sgt. Dwayne Hinxman, both serving with the New Hampshire National Guard, won the FLW Walleye National Guard Soldier Appreciation Tournament held on Leech Lake Saturday. The team, fishing with pro Dan Stier, of Mina S.D., caught three walleyes for a total of 6 pounds, 3 ounces to take the title and bragging rights amongst their peers.
“This is awesome. I will volunteer for this any time as this is a chance for me to give back a little bit,” said Stier. “This is a treat for me as they are serving to keep me and my family safe. They did a great job today on the water and we had a lot of fun.”
“I have never been walleye fishing before and everyone said that when we drew Dan that we would have a really good shot at this,” said Master Sgt. Garrison. “The bite was not great, but he had us on fish all day long and it was a great day.”
“I thought this tournament was incredible,” said Sgt. Hinxman, who had not been walleye fishing until today. “We had a great time in the boat today catching some fish.”
Each of the participants in the National Guard Soldier Appreciation Tournament are members of the Minnesota, New Hampshire and West Virginia National Guard and most have had at least one tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. In this tournament, FLW Walleye pro anglers take members of the National Guard fishing to compete amongst their peers. Each boat is allowed to bring in three walleyes. FLW Outdoors operates the tournaments in conjunction with the National Guard to show appreciation to service members of the National Guard.
Rounding out the teams were:
| 2nd: | Staff Sgt. Stephen Davis & pro Jon Crane | three walleyes | 5-14 |
| 3rd: | Staff Sgt. Dathan Gazelka & Sgt. Zach Karaye with pro Jon Peterson | three walleyes | 4-12 |
| 4th: | Lt. Col. Jacob Kulzer & daughters Mattie & Jilly with pro Al Moss | three walleyes | 4-8 |
| 5th: | Cpl. Keith Rosenau with pro Dusty Minke | three walleyes | 3-12 |
| 6th: | Staff Sgt. Clinton Thompkins with pro Jimmy Bell | two walleyes | 3-10 |
| 7th: | Sgt. Timothy Berg with pro Ryan Jirik | one walleye | 2-10 |
| 8th: | Staff Sgt. Jotten Woody & Staff Sgt. Kelvin Mullins with pro Toby Kavalovog | one walleye | 2-9 |
| 9th: | Staff Sgt. Jeff Reisdorfer with pro David Kolb | one walleye | 2-8 |
| 10th: | Staff Sgt. Jason Amiot with pro Dwayne Peterson | one walleye | 2-7 |
The National Guard Soldier Appreciation Tournament was held in conjunction with the 2010 FLW Walleye Tour Championship held Sept. 22-25 on Leech Lake in Walker, Minn. The tournaments were hosted by the Northern Lights Casino.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000By: Jeff McCoy, PR dir / FLW Outdoors
