HURRICANE –Sgt. Valentin Soto of Richfield, Utah, and Pfc. Colin Smith of Genola, Utah, won the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament held on Sand Hollow State Park Reservoir Saturday. The team, fishing with Ultimate Bass Team Tour member Mark Somyak of Hurricane, Utah, caught three bass for a total of 14 pounds, 1 ounce to take the title and bragging rights amongst their peers.
“It was nice to go out there and learn a new thing and be good at it,” said Smith. “And it is always good to win.”
“This was amazing. I have never done anything like this before, I have never competed on any level of fishing,” said Soto. “This was an amazing experience and anyone with the opportunity should jump on it. You’ll learn a lot.
Each of the participants in the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament are members of the Utah National Guard and most have had at least one tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. In this tournament, Ultimate Bass Team Tour anglers took teams of two, which consist of 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.
These guys were great, they had never been bass fishing before but they did a great job out there. I explained a few things to them and they did it and made it work and we caught some fish and ended up winning the tournament,” said Ultimate Bass Team Tour member Somyak. “It was a fun day and the least I could do.”
A total of 20 service men and women, 11 teams, participated in the tournament. Rounding out the teams was: