Minnesota guide and pro angler Brian Brosdahl had a slim 1-ounce lead in the big Walmart FLW Walleye Tour on Leech Lake over the weekend, but that evaporated on Saturday and he eventually finished third.

Dan Stier of Pierre, S.D., and co-angler Gerud Hetland of Maple Grove, Minn., caught five walleyes weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces to win the event. Stier had a four-day catch of 17 walleyes weighing 56 pounds, 5 ounces. He surged past Brosdahl of Max, Minn., by more than 2 pounds to win the nationally televised tournament that featured anglers from 18 states and three Canadian provinces.

Stier pocketed $31,000 for first place plus another $31,000 in boat and engine bonuses.

Stier's go-to tactic was rigging 4- to 8-inch chubs on 7-foot snells behind ½-ounce sinkers in depths of 13 to 38 feet of water, watching for fish on his electronics while moving at .8 to .9 mph, then slowing down when a fish was marked to give it time to take the bait. "One of the keys to getting these fish was being by myself," he explained. "You might scratch one or two fish out with people around but you're never going to be able to really work them hard, which is what you need to do to get the big ones."

Another key was working up and down the breakline in irregular "cups" on the edges of flats. "Those are holding areas where the fish can see all around while being protected," he said.

Brosdahl couldn't catch a fish over the 18- to 26-inch protected slot, so his final-day catch of five walleyes weighed 5 pounds, 4 ounces, giving him a four-day total of 20 walleyes weighing 51 pounds, 13 ounces to take third place.

Tom Keenan of Hatley, Wis., lead the first two days of competition, but finished second.

Rounding out the top 10 pros were Kevin Larkins of Greenwood, Neb. (20 walleyes, 50-1); Brian Bjorkman of Fargo, N.D. (16 walleyes, 48-0); Chris Gilman of Chisago City, Minn. (18 walleyes, 47-14); Toby Kvalevog of Brainerd, Minn. (20 walleyes, 45-2); Andy Renner of Spicer, Minn. (18 walleyes, 44-13); Rick Olson of Mina, S.D. (20 walleyes, 44-3); and Scott Steil of Richmond, Minn. (12 walleyes, 39-12).