National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship trends: Day 4
Put it in the books. Dan Stier is your 2011 National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship winner. He rode the community hole that was the Beaver Creek bridge for four days to the title, despite the bumper boats, despite a key fish he lost on day three and day four, despite a nearly 8-pound deficit behind Tommy Skarlis. They said it couldn’t be won from that spot. They said it would dry up in four days. Stier said otherwise. And he has the trophy to prove it.
To put the stamp on his win, Stier not only won from that magical spot, but he won it with Skarlis watching on. The two jigged circles around each other, with Skarlis literally watching over Stier’s shoulder as the champ landed three crucial fish to start the day.
For Skarlis, it was a classic sports cliche moment: It just wasn’t meant to be.
It wasn’t that the “Great Skarlini” did anything wrong or that he didn’t do something right. It just didn’t happen.
I watched Skarlis from takeoff to weigh-in, and he fished as hard as a guy can fish. I can’t explain why the big fish wouldn’t bite for him. So goes the sport of fishing. If I could explain why these things happen, I’d have a career as a psychic in my future.
Maybe there was something more than just Dan Stier working against Skarlis today. You know, the kind of supernatural or spiritual or cosmic force – however you want to label it – that we as humans can’t really describe.
On stage after being crowned the champ, Stier admitted that 2011 was a tough season for him. He lost his father this spring and his grandmother shortly after that. He recounted the prayer he said before takeoff, before he ever dropped a jig into the Missouri’s waters, when he asked his father to watch over him. He then thanked his father for that first chunky 25-incher that he caught to start his day. Then he caught two more. Not even Skarlis, one of the most decorated professional walleye anglers in history, stands a chance against that kind of juju.
As a journalist covering the tour, I never root for a particular pro in any tournament. But I do reflect on the winners. I’m happy for Stier. I appreciate his grace when winning and his swing-for-the-fence attitude toward tournament fishing.
Forget placing, winning is more fun. Stier has won twice on the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour, but those numbers don’t do his career justice. He’s won a pile of events in other circuits in his career. He’s a quiet legend who makes his noise at weigh-in. You have to appreciate that.
More than once I’ve watched Stier come from behind to threaten at a major tournament. He’s never out of it, whether you see him coming or not. And now, in come-from-behind fashion, he’s a champion.
Where does this put him among the ranks of walleye fishing’s best? Maybe he doesn’t have the star power that will get a guy into a fishing hall of fame. But I bet if you ask the guys he’s been beating all these years, they’ll tell you all you need to know about Dan Stier: He’s a winner. He’s your 2011 National Guard FLW Walleye Tour champion.