10.4LBS Walleye - Echo Lake, Saskatchewan
Dark Knight
Saskatchewan Walleye Trail. My first event was at Echo Lake, just outside
of Fort Qu'Appelle, on August 30th.
The pros fish Saturday and Sunday, but spend their Friday pre-fishing with
an amateur in their boat. The goal of the SWAT (Saskatchewan Walleye
Angling Techniques) is to give folks like me the chance to fish in a fully
rigged boat, learning tips and tricks from the guys who make their living
doing this.
I was put in a boat with Dale Kozak, a Regina angler who's always wanted to
fish for a living, and has been a regular on the Trail for the last few
years. Dale is an exceptional angler - specializing in long-lining Lindy
rigs on bullet weights, but he and his partner Mike are equally well known
for having fun on the water. There was never a dull moment with these two,
and I swear I'd have had as much fun had I not caught anything larger than a
cold.
Sadly, the possibility of catching cold was real one, as Mother Nature
reminded me how much she likes to abuse me! (To those who say that a little
rain never hurt anyone, I ask them to say that while driving into it a
35mph!) Dale proved he can catch Perch like a real Walleye pro, and Mike
and I caught some Walleye - that were arguably smaller than Dale's Perch,
but at least they were the right species! Aside from a few good-sized Pike,
I was looking at entering a 2.9lbs Pickerel at the end of the day. And then
"Momma" proved how much she like does like me...
We were fishing a drop off that started in about 6ft of water, sloping down
rather quickly to about 20ft. I was using a 1/4oz Crawdad patterned Walleye
Pro jig topped with a live leech (a volunteer, I swear) dipped in Top
Secret's AminoGel for Walleye. We were just moving over the breakline,
fishing in 6 to 9 feet of water, when my rod damn near bent in half, and my
drag was protesting like Lothar's wife at the alter. As much as it was
obviously a big fish, everyone in the boat was ticked - we all assumed it
was a Pike, and therefore not what I should be wasting my time fighting. As
I was using a light action rod, it took almost ten minutes of gentle
pressure and hollow promises to convince her to come up for a look.
When I finally got her to the surface, and we realized it was a monster
Walleye, all hell broke loose! Mike screamed like my wife after our
first...adventure, Dale started tossing stuff out of the way to get the net,
and I stopped breathing. Another couple of minutes, and this beautiful
golden trophy was on the scale, then into my arms for a quick photo op, and
then back into the water, to make other angler's dreams come true some day.
She was by far the biggest Walleye I had ever caught, and she graced me with
her presence. Through her I won the Amateur's competition for the day,
taking home a plaque, a Team Lund leather & melton jacket, some improved
fishing skills, and memories that will last a lifetime.
DK