I got to Beck today around 4:30 PM. Walked around the East side (boots were a must) and headed toward the long drainage ditch area. I always like to stop and fish the mouth of it, but there was a guy there already so I moved on to the long wide flat stretch. I threw a squarebill, drop shot rig, jig, shaky head with a trick worm all up and down that stretch, but couldn't arouse any interest. I tied on my white/lavender 6th Sense Diving Swim Jig (I love this jig) with a Keitech trailer and bombed it out to the middle knowing that there's decent vegetation out there. No takers. Then I tied on my Lucky Craft LV-500 lipless and bombed it out to the middle and along the bank ripping it through the grass. I tried straight retrieves and yo-yo retrieves. 5 minutes later a feisty 1.5 pounder grabbed it about 10 feet off the bank. Nice little fight.
Nothing after that and I figured, well, just another slow day at Beck. It's a tough place to find the fish without a kayak. I started heading back and got to the drainage ditch and noticed, hey, there's a nice bit of outflow at the mouth of it (raining the past 15 hours or so). And the guy who was there left. So, I said, ok, try it for 5 minutes and then I leave. I fan casted the drop shot all around the area - nothing. Then I started throwing the swim jig. A couple of casts and BAM, I hooked into a lovely, hard fighting 2.2 pounder. I threw a couple more times and got another hit, but he came off. I was feeling like, ok, this is getting interesting and it makes perfect sense for them to be hanging out here. I cast out again and retrieved at a medium-slow pace with some pops and then suddenly my line got heavy. I set the hook, but it hardly moved. I thought, oh boy, this one's big. It stayed down. I didn't really feel any head shakes and I thought this is strange. That doesn't feel like a bass. Is it a catfish? What is it?
A WALLEYE. My first in probably 20 years. I was shocked. I heard that they were in here, but I thought it was just a myth. I was so excited. A Walleye on a swim jig. Just 2.25 pounds, but I was ecstatic. And yes, I put him/her right back.
Nothing after that, but wow. What a great experience. Oh, and when I was walking back to the car two deer ran by. The cherry on top.
Nothing after that and I figured, well, just another slow day at Beck. It's a tough place to find the fish without a kayak. I started heading back and got to the drainage ditch and noticed, hey, there's a nice bit of outflow at the mouth of it (raining the past 15 hours or so). And the guy who was there left. So, I said, ok, try it for 5 minutes and then I leave. I fan casted the drop shot all around the area - nothing. Then I started throwing the swim jig. A couple of casts and BAM, I hooked into a lovely, hard fighting 2.2 pounder. I threw a couple more times and got another hit, but he came off. I was feeling like, ok, this is getting interesting and it makes perfect sense for them to be hanging out here. I cast out again and retrieved at a medium-slow pace with some pops and then suddenly my line got heavy. I set the hook, but it hardly moved. I thought, oh boy, this one's big. It stayed down. I didn't really feel any head shakes and I thought this is strange. That doesn't feel like a bass. Is it a catfish? What is it?
A WALLEYE. My first in probably 20 years. I was shocked. I heard that they were in here, but I thought it was just a myth. I was so excited. A Walleye on a swim jig. Just 2.25 pounds, but I was ecstatic. And yes, I put him/her right back.
Nothing after that, but wow. What a great experience. Oh, and when I was walking back to the car two deer ran by. The cherry on top.
