Water temp in the upper Miss dropped 14 degrees over the past eek. It is now down to 42 :prime time for walleyes. The River also came up a bunch in this time frame. It is near perfect level right now, but dropping fast.

That’s okay. Walleyes have already started moving toward wintering holes, “stair stepping ” deeper in the water column as temperatures drop into the upper 30s.

Yesterday I found ’em holding in 16-17 fow….right where you would expect with water temp of 42. GRASS was a major issue. Trolling out of the question . Ditto vertical jigging/drifting. The only efficient fishin’ method I could find was snap-jigging blade baits like the Echotail Teddy Cat and B-Fish-n Tackle B-3 after locating pods of potential walleyes cruising at this depth.

Even this technique produced weeds on about every 5th cast. Every 30th cast produced an eager sheep. Every 80 casts or so a walleye/sauger would find the blade.

Usually in fall sheep stage slightly shallower than active eyes. But with transition going on and steadily falling water level the goats are swimmin’ with the marble-eyes.

The significant cold snap triggered daytime deer movement big-time. I sat in a tree behind the house last Sat & Sun. Passed on 7 deer Saturday and arrowed a 147″ buck on sunday afternoon. He only had a 16″ inside spread and lacked an h-3 measurement on the L. mainbeam. A couple more inches would have made this 6 1/2 yr old heavy-beamed brute with double brow tines a ‘trophy’ by definition. You can’t eat horns. But weighing close to 200 lbs. there will be enough for boat treats–pepperjack/jalapeno/pineapple sticks–from Edgewood locker to feed clients for next year.

An overnite 14 degree drop in water temp is a shocker to fish. air Temperatures have since moderated and will continue to do so. I expect water temp to stabilize right about 42 degrees and hold here for at least several weeks. This translates into REALLY good walleye fishin’!

The guide biz closes down on Nov, 15. Still have open slots if somebody wants to go. I’ll be on the River pretty much every day, regardless until it locks up with ice.

Lord willin’ next year will be my last for guiding. 50 yrs is enough. But fishin’? Every single day I can launch the boat until i croak.

The tug is the drug. There are only a couple of sensory thrills which equate to having a fat walleye thump a jig and leaning back to feel a serious head shake.

This morning the Admiral has me doing yard work. However, a couple hours on the water is in the cards this afternoon. I only need to catch a couple. maybe a couple more or a half-dozen after that….

My name is Capn. Ted. I am a fishaholic