Lake Mead FLW Soldier Appreciation 14 Nov 2011

[Mike Cork]

Sgt. 1st Class Philip Daniel of Las Vegas, Nev., won the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament held on Lake Mead Saturday while fishing with boater Kevin Luby of Henderson, Nev. The tandem caught five bass for a total of 9 pounds, 1 ounce to take the title and bragging rights amongst his peers.

"It was a great honor. I was surprised to say the least, but it was a great feeling," said Daniel. "The pro that I fished with really made the difference. He knew the places to go, he knew the right lures to use and we were able to reel them in.

"This was my first tournament," Daniel continued. "Kevin was a great help. He held my hand, got my knots untied and got me untangled from the weeds. It was fantastic to fish with him."

Each of the participants in the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament are members of the Nevada National Guard and most have had at least one tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. In this tournament, FLW EverStart pros and friends of FLW took members of the National Guard fishing to compete amongst their peers. Each team was allowed to bring in five bass. FLW is operating the tournaments in conjunction with the National Guard to show appreciation to our service members.

"This was a lot of fun," said Luby. "We caught fish and had a lot of good conversation. It was a beautiful day.

"There was a little extra pressure fishing on Veteran's Day weekend," Luby continued. "I wanted to make sure Sgt. 1st Class Daniel caught fish. As it turned out he caught our biggest fish, so it went well."

A total of nine service men participated in the tournament. Rounding out the teams were:

        2nd:   Staff Sgt. Edward Benites, Las Vegas, Nev., fishing with boater Tim Myers, Las Vegas, Nev., five bass, 7-13
        3rd:    Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Stevens, Las Vegas, Nev., fishing with EverStart pro Ernie Stumpf, Henderson, Nev., three bass, 4-6
        4th:    1st Lt. Todd Brown, Reno, Nev., fishing with boater Paul Aznarez, Las Vegas, Nev., three bass, 4-5
        5th:    Staff Sgt. Massimo Irenze, Las Vegas, Nev., fishing with boater David Behm, Las Vegas, Nev., one bass, 1-6
        6th:    Sgt. 1st Class Mario Irenze, Las Vegas, Nev., fishing with boater Paul Addi, Henderson, Nev., one bass, 1-0
        7th:    Sgt. 1st Class Ted Ziegenfuss fishing with boater Matt Lisewski, Las Vegas, Nev., 0 bass
        8th:    Sgt. 1st Class Keith Olson, Las Vegas, Nev., fishing with boater Don Hilton, Las Vegas, Nev., 0 bass
        9th :   1st Sgt. (R) David Burns, Las Vegas, Nev., fishing with boater Robert Maddox, Henderson, Nev., 0 bass