Jewell, Scott win National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation tourney

Spc. Jewell (left) and Spc. Scott (right) proudly display their first-place trophies after winning the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament held on Pickwick Lake. Photo by Gary Mortenson.

July 23, 2011 • MLF • Archives

FLORENCE, Ala. – Spc. Jewell and Spc. Scott won the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament held on Pickwick Lake Saturday. The team, fishing with pro Kevin Hawk, caught three bass for a total of 10 pounds, 13 ounces to take the title and bragging rights amongst their peers.

“It was really hot,” Jewell said. “We started out this morning on a spot I had won a tournament on last weekend and couldn’t get anything going. I caught one of the biggest catfish I’ve ever seen in my life there.

“We moved to a spot that Kevin had been catching fish and we pulled up and caught a fish on a jig and then caught our kicker fish,” Jewell added.

Jewell said the team caught fish steadily all day long and employed the use of a Morning Dawn-colored Roboworm.

“Kevin just told me what to throw, how to throw and where to throw,” said Scott. “That’s all I tried to do. I just tried to have fun out there.”

Each of the participants in the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament are members of the National Guard. In this tournament, Walmart FLW Tour pro anglers took teams of two members of the National Guard fishing to compete amongst their peers. Each team was allowed to bring in three bass. FLW Outdoors is operating the tournaments in conjunction with the National Guard to show appreciation to our service members of the National Guard.

“This means a lot because these guys protect our freedom and give us the opportunity to fish for a living,” said Hawk. “We wouldn’t be here without them, so it’s an honor to take them fishing.”

A total of 22 service men, 11 teams, participated in the tournament. Rounding out the teams was:

2nd: Sgt. Mashburn and Spc. Berryman, fishing with pro Jay Keith, 8-7

3rd: Sgt. Meade and Sgt. Talcott, fishing with pro Troy Morrow, 8-2

4th: Spc. Pyle and Sgt. McNalley, fishing with pro Jack Wade, 8-2

5th: Spc. Hunt and Sgt. Hide, fishing with National Guard co-angler Doc McGhee, 7-6

6th: Sgt. Gillis and Spc. Bryant, fishing with pro Matt Arey, 7-2

7th: Spc. Mitchell and Spc. Malone, fishing with National Guard pro Jonathon Newton, 6-13

8th: Sgt. 1st Class Roth and Sgt. Cook, fishing with National Guard pro Scott Martin, 6-12

9th: Spc. Poss and Sgt. Richardson, fishing with National Guard pro Brett Hite, 5-9

10th: Sgt. 1st Class Zak and Staff Sgt. Burbank, fishing with National Guard pro Justin Lucas, 3-15

11th: Sgt. 1st Class Bevil and Pfc. Siegel, fishing with Jim Leary, 3-14

The Soldier Appreciation Tournament was held in conjunction with the Walmart FLW Tour on Pickwick Lake presented by AMP Energy and hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow National Guard FLW Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/NationalGuardFLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.

About FLW Outdoors

FLW Outdoors is the best in fishing, on and off the water. Anglers worldwide can compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge. For more information about FLW Outdoors and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com.