He's angling for accomplishments
CENTER TWP — At one point, Bill Lyons helped his grandson learn how to fish.
Now, it wouldn't be a fish tale to say Dylan Beachem has taught his grandfather a thing or two.
Beachem, 9, of Center Township, has been fishing for most of his life, starting at about 3Z\x years old.
During a recent trip to Lake Erie, with three of his grandparents and his stepfather on the boat, Beachem obtained all three objectives that were put before him.
"I enjoy reeling in the fish and seeing how big a fish I can get," said Beachem, a fourth grader at Dassa McKinney Elementary School.
"I have a contest with my grandfather. Usually it's the biggest first, then the most fish and then who catches the last fish.
"Usually my goal is for the most or the biggest,"Beachem added.
On Lake Erie, Beachem landed the first fish, he but also pulled in the most fish with 14 and caught the biggest, a 27Z\x-inch walleye with a 14Z\x-inch girth.
Lyons, who lives in Slippery Rock, has an ideal location for fishing, which has certainly benefitted Beachem.
"I'm a very avid fisherman. I'll take fishing over hunting any day," said Lyons, 49. "I live right on Slippery Rock Creek and have access to the creek and fish ponds. It's a baseball's throw from my house.
"He watched me do it and we exposed it to him. He can pretty much do it all. He's a good fisherman. I doubt I could tell him too much more,"Lyons added.
Beachem may have enjoyed success with the walleye trip, but that wasn't how he got started.
"We went walleye fishing as a treat for him doing so well," said Lyons. "We wanted to treat him to something special.
"He had been known as Catfish Beachem from that pond across from us. He caught an 8-, 8-pound catfish (at the age of 6).
"A group of us sat there all day and caught something like 50 fish and he told me he really wanted to catch a catfish,"Lyons added.
Lyons put a minnow on Beachem's pole, and, sure enough, he caught his prized catfish moments later.
"He's quite a special little guy," said Lyons. "The thing that touches my heart as a grandfather is he was as proud as punch."
Three years later, Beachem, son of Angie Voloch and Daniel Beachem, has only gotten more experienced.
While he hasn't competed in any fishing tournaments — "I've never been in one, but it always sounded like fun," he noted — Beachem enjoys the tranquility of being on the creek or in the boat, whether he catches anything or not.
"I did it all for him in the beginning, but now he wants to do it on his own," said Lyons.
