BY DENNIS CHASE
dchase@record-eagle.com
May 05, 2008 04:00 am TRAVERSE CITY -- Divine intervention? Indiana's Jeff Koester thinks so. Koester and his fishing partner, Traverse City's Scott Rhodes, successfully defended their Cabela's Walleye Madness title on Lake Eric last weekend, thanks to harried last-minute catches in the semifinal and final rounds. It was the third tournament victory for the two anglers on Lake Erie in the last year. They won the Cabela's World Walleye Championship last fall. "We've been very blessed on Lake Erie," Koester said. "Somebody is definitely looking over us on that body of water." The two earned $10,000 for last weekend's victory. "Lake Erie's given us 50 grand (in the last year)," Rhodes said. But it didn't come easy last Sunday. Rhodes and Koester beat Donald Olson and Randy Carroll in the morning semifinals -- 18.96 pounds to 15.32 -- by catching their fourth and final walleye just as they were starting to reel in their lines and head back to shore for the weigh-in. "Had we not caught that last fish," Rhodes said, "it would have been over." "We would have lost by a pound or so," Koester added. But they advanced, and then needed another down-to-the-wire catch to ensure a victory over Steve Skupien and Dave Kleszyk in the afternoon finals, 20.56 pounds to 17.14. "We had our four (maximum)," Rhodes said. "It would have been close. Then we caught a 7-to 8-pounder in the last minute -- and that did it." From there, it was just a matter of racing 22 miles back to shore to make the weigh-in. "I'm grateful that when we got back our rods were still in the boat," Rhodes said. "Everything was a mess. After we caught those last fish (in the semifinals and finals) we had to book it. We put on aerial show for everybody on the water. We were in the air as much as we were on the water. "Ever since Jeff and I have been fishing together, that's been the scenario -- nothing but drama. We can't avoid it for some reason. I told him during the final round, 'I can't do this anymore. My heart can't take it.'" Rhodes and Koester reached Championship Sunday by beating Jeff Lash and Alan Baumgardner (31.43 pounds to 11.83) and Larry Rhoads II and Larry Rhoads Sr. (29.83 to 14.13) in bracket rounds Saturday. There was a five-fish limit Saturday, a four-fish limit Sunday. Olson and Carroll caught 36.82 pounds in their second bracket victory Saturday, causing some alarm in the Rhodes-Koester camp. "We assumed they were on a pod of fish," Rhodes said. "We assumed they would be between 28-36 pounds (Sunday). But their fish moved." Although the $10,000 first-place prize was nice -- and paid expenses -- it was not the most important thing for the winners. "The trophy means a lot more than the money," Koester said. "The trophy means everything. The money is secondary."
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
Photos
Rhodes
Koester