AUBURN, Ala. (Sept. 10, 2011) – Spc. Taylor McManus and Sgt. Caleb Hampton won the FLW Soldier Appreciation Bass Fishing Tournament on Lake Harding Saturday. The team, fishing with Andrew Gordon of Mississippi State, caught two bass for a total of 3 pounds, 13 ounces to take the title and bragging rights amongst their peers.
“This feels amazing,” McManus said. “I was not expecting to come out and win. I just came out to have fun.”
“It’s nice to get out with the competitors and support the community,” Hampton said. “I just came out to have fun and I didn’t know what to expect. And it was loads of fun.”
Each of the participants in the FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament are members of the National Guard and most have had at least one tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. In this tournament, 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.
A total of nine service men and women, five teams, participated in the tournament. Rounding out the teams was:
2nd: SFC (retired) Wayne Robbins and Maj. Stewart Robbins, with Xan Hancock, Mississippi State, 3-5
3rd: Staff Sgt. Joel Walker, fishing with Andrew Gordon, Mississippi State, 1-15
4th: PFC Ryan Williams and Pvt. Theodor Aricheta, fishing with John McGraw, South Alabama, 1-12
5th: MSgt. Mark LaJoye and Sgt. Tywanna Lewis, fishing with Preston Broadhead, University of Montevallo, 0-14
The Soldier Appreciation Tournament was held in conjunction with the FLW College Fishing Southeast Division Regional Championship.