STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (Sept. 3, 2011) – Spc. William Troutwein of Defiance, Pa., won the FLW Soldier Appreciation Bass Fishing Tournament on Sayers Lake Saturday. Fishing with FLW college angler Preston Chrisman from Virginia Tech, the team caught three bass for a total of 4 pounds, 14 ounces to take the title and bragging rights amongst their peers.
“I’m a recreational fisherman,” said Spc. Troutwein. “But I have never fished a tournament before. This was a lot of fun. Preston put me on the fish and we even got to cull one. We were fishing a weed patch with a KVD Square Billed Crankbait.
“We caught four keepers today,” said Virginia Tech’s Chrisman. “Sure wish this would have happened during the tournament. That is three more than my partner and I caught for the entire college tournament. We even got to throw one back. But seriously, we had a lot of fun and it was a great day on the water.”
Each of the participants in the FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament are members of the Pennsylvania National Guard and most have had at least one tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. In this tournament, National Guard FLW College fishing anglers took 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.
A total of seven service men and women, five teams, participated in the tournament. Rounding out the teams were:
2nd: Sgt. Jeremy Gardner, Bellefonte, Pa., fishing with Travis Lively, Radford University, 1 bass, 2-6
3rd: Spc. Harold Shipe, Everett, Pa., fishing with angler David Bryant, Virginia Tech, 0 bass, 0-0
4th: Staff Sgt. Aaron Ranio, Howard, Pa., and Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Boone, Yarnell, Pa., fishing with Dan Inferna, Casselton State College, 0 bass, 0-0
5th: Sgt. Adam Fisher, Julian, Pa., and Staff Sgt. Brent Andrews, Yarnell, Pa., with Patrick Inferna, Casselton State College, 0 bass, 0-0
The Soldier Appreciation Tournament was held in conjunction with the FLW College Fishing Northern Regional on Sayers Lake hosted by Penn State University.