SFC Brian Troxel, and SSG Tom Leshovsky won the FLW Walleye National Guard Soldier Appreciation Tournament held on Devils Lake Tuesday, July 27, 2010. The team, fishing with pro Dan Stier of Mina, S.D., caught three walleyes for a total of 11 pounds, 8 ounces to take the title and bragging rights amongst their peers.
“We caught our fish while trolling with slip bobbers.” said pro Dan Stier, who will fish at the FLW Walleye Tour event which starts Thursday. “It was a lot of fun and I was honored to take these guys out fishing.”
“This was my first time fishing this year and my first time on Devils Lake,” said SFC Troxel. “It was a little intimidating at first being out with a pro, but Dan was such a great guy and very patient with us; if we made a mistake he gave us tips on what to do differently. We all caught a lot fish and had a great day.”
“Going home with the trophy is always great,” said SSG Leshovsky, who considers himself to be a good fisherman. “It was really great to be able to go out with a pro and see what they do differently than the novices, I learned a lot about bait presentation which was really neat. I even caught the big fish of the day, a 6-pounder, it was so cool!
“Events like this are really cool for me to see, it helps see how much people really appreciate what we do to help protect our country. I really want to thank the National Guard and FLW Outdoors for putting this tournament on for us, what an awesome day.”
Each of the participants in the National Guard Soldier Appreciation Tournament are members of the North Dakota National Guard and most have had at least one tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. In this tournament, FLW Walleye pro anglers take teams of two, which consist of members of the National Guard, fishing to compete amongst their peers. Each team is allowed to bring in three walleyes. FLW Outdoors is operating the tournaments in conjunction with the National Guard to show appreciation to our service members of the National Guard.
Rounding out the teams were:
| 2nd: | SPC Kristopher Brom & SPC Michael Hinton fishing with FLW pro Brian Brosdahl | 9-5 |
| 3rd: | CSM Brad Hiem, Steve Schwitzer, and Darren Sneider fishing with National Guard pro Mark Courts | 8 |
| 4th: | SFC Eric Denald & MSG Rob Sheppard fishing with FLW pro Kevin McQuoid | 7 |
| 5th: | SPC Jacob Danhener & SGT Cody Armstrong fishing with Chevy pro Jason Przekurat | 6-4 |
| 6th: | MSG Cory Evanson & SFC Dean Wolf fishing with FLW pro Chris Burns | 6-3 |
| 7th: | SFC Wes Widmer & SSG Derek Delorme fishing with FLW pro Julian Jones | 4-15 |
| 8th: | SFC Timothy Schear & SGT Paul Holien fishing with FLW pro Glen Vinton | 4-13 |
| 9th: | SSG Brad Hopkins & SGT William May fishing with FLW pro Dusty Minke | 4-11 |
| 9th: | SSG Rick Gaden & PVT Jacob Sullivan fishing with FLW pro Don Loch | 4-11 |
MSG Rob Sheppard and MSG Cory Evanson will participate as co-anglers in the FLW Walleye Tour Western Division which will be on Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D., July 29-31 for the final stop in the Western circuit. Hosted by the Devils Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, the tournament will feature as many as 300 top walleye anglers casting for top awards up to $35,000 in the Pro Division and $7,500 in the Co-angler Division.
Anglers will take off from Woodland Resort located at 1012 Woodland Drive in Devils Lake at 7 each morning. Thursday and Friday?s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday?s final weigh-in will be held at Lake Chevrolet located at 123 5th Street NE in Devils Lake beginning at 4 p.m.
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) 252-1000.By: Julie Huber,
