 |  |  | Koester & Rhodes with their winning walleyes |
Port Clinton, OH -- When the new Walleye Madness bracket was finalized, the teams of Jeff Koester and Scott Rhodes and Jeff Manz and Greg Yarbrough speculated about "what if" we end up in the Championship round against each other? Being good friends and teammates added a whole new dimension of anticipation for the bracketed finals. "Way back in February we thought it would be great to advance to the last round to compete against each other," shared Jeff Koester, of Brookville, Indiana. "It's amazing it worked out that way - and it was awesome to be `ounces' ahead of Manz and Yarbrough for once in the finish, rather than the other way around." Manz and Yarbrough are the reigning MWC Team of the Year. They were seeded #1 in the bracketed competition; Koester and Rhodes were seeded #11.
Koester and Rhodes brought in a five-fish basket for the second half of day three competition, weighing in at 19.85 lbs. Manz and Yarbrough weighed in 19.11 lbs. The new Walleye Madness Champions took home $11,800 for the win, and the runners-up cashed $1,800.
"We really liked this format - the competition was amazingly intense every single day!" stated Port Clinton resident, Greg Yarbrough. Jeff Manz was quick to add "Only one of these per year, please! I don't think I could handle any more - this was intense." The anglers all shared their keen interest in this new style of competition. Facing one another head-to-head was really the key in this tournament format. You either weighed enough to advance and move on - or go home. Talk about pressure!
|  | | Dahl and Stack Won the Toyota Tundra Bonus |
"You really couldn't leave anything out there - every round you had to give it all you had," shared Scott Rhodes of Traverse City, Michigan. Even a nice basket - a GREAT basket for that matter - might not be enough as was displayed throughout the tournament, when a particularly tough bracket held high weights for both teams. It's just part of the format in Walleye Madness. Teams don't compete against an entire field - but rather one team at a time. "Thursday and Friday everyone was talking about how stressed and gut-wrenching this competition was, but I was feeling pretty relaxed...until Friday night and we made the final four that is," shared Rhodes while onstage for the weigh-in in downtown Port Clinton. "Then it really kicked in and I was a nervous wreck and couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned all night and my stomach was in a knot all day."
Most all of the teams in the Sweet Sixteen tournament were trolling inline spinners. The winners were using 2 to 3 ounce inline weights with perch patterned blades and beads. Trolling speed was slow, .8 to 1.1 mph - but a faster speed and moving their baits higher in the water column produced better for the duo late in the day on Saturday to help the winners upgrade their fish. "We made a lot of good decisions for strategy and adjustments that worked for us every day," shared Rhodes.
Thursday and Friday the new Champions' big baskets were produced from the Northeast side of Kelley's Island, but the challenging conditions on Saturday forced the team into an inlet between South Bass and Middle Bass Island. The fish there weren't as big as the "A" spot had produced. The new Walleye Madness Champions weighed 30.36 lbs. on Thursday and 38.19 lbs. on Friday. But with the challenging wave conditions on Saturday - they brought in 20.37 in the morning, and then another 19.85 lbs. in the afternoon, getting the job done with _ of a pound to spare.
Kevin Dahl and Steve Stack of Muskego, Wisconsin, finalists in the final four, were the winners of the Toyota Tundra angler bonus of $1,000.
The father and son team of Donald and Michael Olson of Andover/Coon Rapids, Minnesota earned the $1,000 bonus from Ranger Boats for the top finishing team in the Ranger Cup.
Filming occurred throughout the final competition for a made-for-tv show to air on Versus (Vs.) network sometime in June. Watch the MWC bulletin board at www.masterswalleyecircuit.com for complete details. Complete bracketed results below. |
