Ted Peck Fishing

main reason for this blog is to let you know the Blackhawk Bridge @ Lansing is now open!

Just in time, cuz River is supposed to rise to ‘action stage’ in pool 9 by late afternoon tomorrow, 4/21.

When the River comes up to action stage the road to the new Albin boat ramp closes, forcing west side access to the pool south of Lansing @ village Creek or limited access north of the Mn. state line @ Visigar’s and a mile north of Visager’s @ Millstone Landing. Either way, when River gets to action stage a pair of knee boots is part of the program.

Re-Opening of the bridge also means access from the west at both launches located on hwy 82.

I often pick up clients @ Blackhawk park, near the mid-point of the pool.With the River flowing below 625.4 its actually quicker for me to launch @ new Albin and navigate down Minnesota slough to the east side of the River–also cheaper, given continued outrageous fuel prices.

didja notice that spot gold prices are now over $2400/ounce? This means folks a lot smarter than me know that world peace is in real jeopardy. Gas prices may soon be just a minor worry.

Old habits die hard. As a kid growing up during the Cuban missle crisis youngsters all learned the “duck & cover” drill. It wasn’t until the early 1980’s that I had the courage to leave home without Milt, my personal mallard, and my raggy old blue security blanket. As a bona fide geezer now, packing a heater at essentially all times is part of the program.

Kind of a squirrely segway into falling water temps–again–but they are gonna be a factor for at least another week. Water temp on the River mainstem was a solid 62 on 4/15 . By 4/18 the temp had fallen to 53. didn’t seem to bother the SMB…59 bass on the clicker in just over 4 hrs.

Smallmouth start to move out of deepwater habitat moving toward tribs and other spawning areas when the temp warms to 55, dropping back toward wintering holes in the fall when the water cools to this temp.

A couple weeks ago when the temp fell from about 50 down to 38, the bronzebacks were still pretty active. Since we got past 55 more than a week ago, it looks like the parade has begun. Just need to do a little tweaking to stay on the fish.

Howling wind and the folly of trying to fish on Saturday have me wondering what the water temp will be on tomorrow afternoon’s trip . Thinking probably somewhere in the upper 40’s.

this is just a small part of the matrix! Walleyes are post spawn now , likely headed toward the sand flat pattern usually seen in May. With pool levels right at action stage I see no point in probing wingdams–but closing dams are a different matter.

Regardless, it takes me at least an hour every single day to figure out the River’s mood. Sometimes She is not keen to reveal how to harvest her bounty…and that’s why I love her so!

Jesse L’s quest to best his PB 26.5″ walleye was almost realized at the very last micro-structure we probed yesterday. The fat girl ate a #B-Fish-N Tackle purple/silver B-3 blade snap-jigged back to the boat from 8-16 fow, coming unbuttoned just out of net range with a couple violent head-shakes.

This tanker came out to dance at about the 12th spot we probed. Trophy walleye spawning micro-structures aren’t much bigger than a bathtub or maybe a boat. River level and flow add to the matrix of these magical locations. Water temp, timing of the spawn and several other variables plug into the quest for a new PB. Presentation, fish orientation to the bait…and more than a little luck are factors, too.

Sheep, shorts and a 17.5″ white bass with gender identification issues found Jesse’s hook on the way to realizing his PB dream.

I thought the 1st spot we checked held the greatest potential. Over the years this backeddy with a rocky rubble shore dropping quickly into 30+ fow has produced several ‘dirty thirties’ Biggest was CPRed a couple years ago: 31.25″, weighing on the heavy side of 12 lbs.

The last time I visited this spot was fun fishin’ Easter Sunday afternoon. It gave up several male ‘eyes before going to a #Northland Tackle 3/8 oz purpledescent Deep Vee spin with a firecracker/chartreuse Moxi tail and liberal dose of Liquid Willowcat, a.k.a. ‘da juice” on a slow pull downstream against the backeddy in exactly 24 fow.

When all these variables lines up I boated 13 keeper males in just over an hour, keeping 2 for the Admiral’s dinner.

Dialing in a presentation to this degree requires considerable tweaking. Lure selection is a small part of the recipe. When you have 2 lines in the water, starting with a couple vastly different baits is a good idea. Jesse started with the Deep Veee spin jig. His partner Luke threw the B-3 blade. After Luke hooked his third quality SMB in a dozen casts, both guys went to the blade.

In the first hour of the trip the guys boated 11 SMB from 14-18″….not unusual in the Spring when water temp warms to 55 degrees. Bass tend to congregate in very small areas.

BUT the water temp was only THIRTY-EIGHT DEGREES!! Before yesterday I’ve always figured 43 degrees was when the brown bass would start actively chasing blades and #Rat-L-Traps.

When the water temp got up to 48 degrees by March 10, at least a couple SMB were part of the daily bag. But having 11 SMB garwoofle a blade in just an hour in THIRTY EIGHT degree water?? The lifetime learning curve took another bend.

Right now I’m looking forward to Monday’s total eclipse. My plan is to be camping on a prime spot when this celestial envent transpires.

Looked through the fishing diary I’ve been keping for decades about fishing during an eclipse.. Gave up. I remember fishing action around the time of this event was spectacular. Don’t remember what was being caught, just remember it was phenomenal.

Luke said yesterday that he has fished with me a couple times before. I honestly couldn’t remember–until he said my old Evinrude wouldn’t start. We had to navigate to the fish with the MinnKota. Both guys caught limits of eyes and tussled with a sturgeon AND I almost fell in the River when trying to put the boat back on the trailer.

Oh yeah. Now i remember.. Joked about having to buff the fingernail scratches out of the outboard’s cowling..

If Monday’s eclipse produces bizarre results you can read about it on this blog. But if nothing unsual happens it may be a week or so before I post again. The chew is really ramping up…and I would rather feed hooks to fish than spend time with this shiny object

Water temp has dropped again, down to 38 on River mainstem. Also on a slow rise–which is good. a little dirty but still fishable. what concerns me most is ‘pond scum’ …that slimy green stuff found on quiet water mostly in the summertime.

it was an issue today pulling dubuque rigs just beyond the the channel in a moderate current–pretty much the only way to get down to the ‘eyes today with whitecaps on a north wind.

Shortest blog ever. I’m pondering. Pondering is for ponds, NOT the River! On a solid note: fishin’ the river is like a pendulum. today it was awful. but there is only so much awful before it swings back the other way. Hoping early next week.

The River is rising slowly but steadily with USACE predictions calling for a crest just below action stage over the next 10 days. Water temp yesterday warmed to 40 degrees.

There is some dunnage–mostly grassy stalks–coming down the River but the nuisance isn’t even close to the weeds of September. Water also just a little dirtier than the previous day.

Tried the usual pre-spawn places for given conditions and found exciting numbers of male fish cruising the 24′ contour. Caught a couple on the b-3 blade, a couple eaters & a 16″ smallmouth on a Northland buckaroo bucktail w/liquid willowcat then went to a slow pulling on the quiet side of a currrent break with a firecracker/chart tail B-Fish-n moxie plastic w/ da juice on a purple Northland Deep Vee spin jighead. Houston, we have a pattern!

Boat 11 eyes 15-18 over the next hour or so. No other boats in sight. Gotta admit, i felt borderline wicked.

kept 2 fish for Good Friday supper. Nothin’ better than cold water walleye that go from flopping to deep fryer in less than an hour!!!

Still have a few openings for guide service in April. Kept 4/4 open for a Midwest outdoors shoot with the guys from B-Fish-n Tackle. Mission is trying to put a fat girl or two in the boat.

Locking in this day opens up April 3 and 5. I might be talked into working one of those days, but must admit the possibility of personally setting the hook about every 10 minutes is worth much more than any amount of money.

After a half-century of guiding this tough work has evolved into a status quo life. i still get a thrill out of seeing somebody catch their PB & the twinkle in some kid’s eyes when they realize they have the formula of REALLY figuring out the mysteries of the enigmatic Mississippi river.

So far this year I’ve been open water fishing 56 days covering 6 states, mostly ‘fun fishin’….as a result I have rediscovered the passion and intimacy only time alone on the River provides.

Days on the River when you dial the pattern in with Micrometer precision don’t happen that often. There was a time when having this experience when fishing with clients provided a sense of validation–even though I knew deep inside it was living a lie cuz the Creator simply allowed me to catch those fish, proving the opportunity to let others crow about it.

it is good to be at a point in life where you have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone. Ironic, because Easter is tomorrow. What Christ did on that tree over 2000 years ago for ALL MANKIND FOREVER makes it painfully clear how insignificant and trivial a little thing like dialing in a walleye pattern on North America’s most challenging River is.

I don’t like guiding on Saturdays. fun fishin’ isn’t even fun. But the Rivr is whispering my name. think i’ll take a boat ride. If nobody is within sight, maybe wet a line. Being one with the River, which is truly the living hand of the Almighty is truly an incalculable reward . Amen.

Walleyes were just getting started spawning when the first whisper of a major cold front blew in on March 13. It looked like we were heading for a major spawn going on this weekend. BUT water temp dropped to 39 and ma nature did a big re-boot.

USACE predicts the River on Pool 9 will be at ‘action stage’ by Easter from all the snow to the North. Fantastic! Look for the marble eyes to drop their eggs around April 12–pretty much right on schedule for 4 out of the last five years.

If the meaty-urologists are even close with the 10 day forecast the bite should be back on BIG TIME by April 3 or 4, with fish hanging where you’ve found them in the past this time of year under action stage conditions.

Back on march 13 I was just beginning to put together a pattern for spawn at low River levels. Plum tickled this rabbit hole won’t need to be probed moving forward.

The River is constantly changing. sometimes abruptly and profoundly. Conditions which will be working their way down River by Easter are welcome, familiar territory.

It always takes me at least an hour to figure things out every single day BUT this redux of an ever changing story is welcome, familiar territory. whoo-hoo!

Being on the water almost every day and writing outdoors stuff for over 50 years you sometimes get it right. A month ago my column ” Will we see march weather in April” ran in the Driftless Journal newspaper.

Temps soared into the low 70s when the story published. Water temp soared. The bite was HOT.

This happy times pattern continued through March 11 far as walleyes are concerned. client that day caught an egg wagon weighing over 11 lbs. Since then no quality ‘eyes have come into my boat. Plenty of shorts & a few eaters, but no fat girls.

Bass and pike swam forward in good numbers to fill the void. Right now I’m getting ready for today’s trip in a 20 mph NW wind. Water temp dropped from 48 to 42 since last Friday. Tomorrow the forecast high ambient temp is 38. Looks like march weather in April.

I still say walleye spawn will get serious during the full moon period which kills off March 21. A month of warming water has shaken up many walleye reproductive systems.

If the water was still north of 45 the spawn would likely be over by March 28. With the return of March weather in April the spawning process will come in spurts & dribbles over a couple of weeks.

The positive side of this is the good fishin’ cycle should retrun about April 4 and hang around for at least a couple of weeks. Pike & a lot of the walleyes will be post spawn and active by then. SMB and to a lesser extent LMB will be active. White bass will be nutso if you can find them.

Regardless, I’ll be out there about every day. Most interested to see what happens on March 25 during the solar eclipse. tight lines!

yesterday client Mark put his PB walleye in my boat. 29.25″ very FAT. Fish hid a glow B-3 blade bait in 21 fow. Her belly was firm. Water temp 42.2 degrees. She was the 6th walleye over 24″ on consecutive trips over the past 9 days. Three of these fish were “keepers’–over 27”. All were released. Allcame from 29-21 fow, successively shallower in this time frame.

Primary target on yesterday’s trip was pike. Clients hooked 5 in just over an hour after first going after walleyes. Fish hit a Northland Tackle magnum spinnerbait, A Z-man chatterbait w/6″ SwimmerZ paddle tail and an RT97 magnum Rat-L-Trap. A few years ago Bill Lewis Lures renamed this lure to RT–97 (Red Head Uncle Ted) quite an honor!

Pike had just moved into a shallow, weedy, dark bottom bay where they will spawn over the next several days. Water temp here yesterday was 44. Forty-five is go-time.

In the process of prospecting for walleyes ‘stairstepping’ shallower the clients caught several SMB up to 19″ on blades and BFishN PulseRs w/ Liquid Willowcat.

The perch bite is CRAZY right now!! Hundreds of egg laden females have been taken up by the dam, on jigging spoons & basic pinch of crawler/split shot rigs. Fish are now in <15 fow.

All conditions indicate walleye spawn will occur around the full moon on 3/25. This is extremely early. Historically, they go 4/15.

TV production–a blade bait shoot with Midwest Outdoors has my schedule locked up the last week in March (don’t worry Trey your 3/25 trip is set in stone).

Once the TV crew gets their ducks lines up there MAY be a couple of days where i would be willing to guide. Regardless, I’ll likely be fishin’. Next open date is 4/3. The SMB should just be going nuts by then!

First, a short fishin’ report: Water temp on pool 9 has broken the 40 degree mark. 42 is ‘go time’ for crazy pre-spawn walleye action. Quiet winds and a little sun and the bite will go from steady to easy.

Yesterday was open water fishin’ trip #36 for the year. Trips on Saturday & Sunday provided rare insight into the grand scheme of things. Saturday i guided 19-year-old Trey Kegebein. He was 16 the first time he jumped in my boat. Something special about that kid. Trey has a fire in his belly for fishin’: skill set, focus, determination and eyes wide open quest for knowledge.

Saturday we stayed out long beyond what he paid for–with his own hard-earned money. Trey took home a couple of truly fat pike, reporting back with belly contents :lotsa juvenile sheepshead & lotsa eggs. This reveals at least two things going forward. The pike haven’t spawned, little sheep are a major forage.

This pyramids out to deeper knowledge: find sheep and gamefish won’t be far away and baits in chrome black/blue should trigger a bite.

All the fish Trey caught came on a #BFishN tackle B3 blade bait with a7’3’MLF Avid #StCroixrod, Seviin reel spooled with 15 lb. hi-vis Sufix line & tow more subtle but critical accessories : 16-22″ of 17 lb. floro leader & a #4 snap.

My very first ‘trophy” walleye –28″–came on a Heddon Sonar blade back in 1965 on Pool 13 below the Bellevue dam. I was fishin’ out of a 16′ jon boat powered by a 10 hp Johnson. There were essentially no trolling motors of livewells back in. The Sonar was the template for the B-3 blade. Better paint, eyes, and spectacular colors made a great lure legendary.

Catch & release was an unknown concept back then. My marble-eyed 8 pounder was a trophy to me at the time. I could hardly wait to show it to my Dad. meanwhile, it was dragging behind the boat on a cord stringer with a couple other fish. My buddy and i were working the face of a wingdam. When it was time to move i told Jeffy to pull in the stringer.

He did, saying looks like your torphy ‘eye is about 4 lbs”. I turned to correct him and saw the front of a fish with guts hanging out which had been eviscerated by too short a turn with the Johnson.

I was devastated by loss of a PB and stinging truth of chop-busting by a good buddy. Scarred me for life.

Fast forward to yesterday. I canceled Sunday’s trip due to red flag wind warnings. A few days before my old pal Jesse Simpkins of St. Croix rod fame called and said he wanted to fish. Telling jesse i was already booked I set im up with Mike (Fish N Mission) Yauk, one of the most dedicated, focused River Rats I’ve ever had the pleasure to share a boat with.

I call Mike the “Ace of Blades”. The B-3 and BFishN Big Dude are what he fishes about 90% of the time. Focusing on every single cast, road @45 degrees. Tense & Intense.

Mike taught this old dawg a couple tricks on fishin’ blades. I passed this knowledge on to Trey, with a couple of personal tweaks.Sunday morning, Mike passed this knowledge on to Jesse Simpkins.

Sunday morning my eyes opened @ 06:11. Called Mike @ 06:13. He was already on the water, waiting for Jesse told him i would be there in 20 minutes. Arrived @ the launch 06:32. Mike & Jesse retrned to the ramp and picked me up.

We didn’t boat an ‘eye til 08:11. We were on fish BUT light penetration was zip. Went to a glow pattern B-3 and BOOM! Jesse simkins was wrstling with his PB sauger, 19+”.

Over 30 years earlier I put Jesse on his first ever 5 lb. LMB. We’ve had a lot of adventures since then. Meanwhile, his work at St. Croix rod, before that with Plano tackle allowed jesse to share the boat with world class anglers of many different genres.

The Bible provides absolute truth. Iron sharpens iron. It took Simpkins about 3 casts to learn blade bait fishin’ with Mike’s expert advice. Jesse ent on to put the first 4 fish in the livewell.

Here’s the point of this blog: Two critical components in becoming a better fisherman are time on the water and fishing with experienced fishermen!!!

Mike’s skills and social media expertise put him on the St. Croix pro staff a couple years ago. maybe the only reason I’m with St. Croix is possession of revealing photos of Mr. Simpkins. Nah. But this is common banter among old fishin’ buddies.

Several hours into the trip we were talking about the AVID rod’s perfection in fishing blades. Jesse said he loved Mike’s work. I said all the Best rods on earth company ever sent me was factory seconds. Told Mike I was fishin’ with a DIVA. Prompting Simpkins to tell me what i could do to myself. Could really feel the love…

Final Point. Time on the water + fishing with more experienced anglers are two of the three legs of becoming the Compleat Angler. The third is sharing your knowledge and experience with those who truly want to learn.

This is both the best and worst part of being a fishing guide. Having guys like young Trey Kegebein in my boat in my final year of working is a wonderful blessing.

Before monster cold front blew in on Tuesday dropping the ambient temp FIFTY NINE DEGREES water temp had risen to 38 with river running low and exceptionally clear.

The last full moon was 2/24. The next one is 3/25. If this weather pattern continues uber warm trend we’ve seen for several weeks I think we’ll see a quick spawn commencing within 3 days of the next full moon.

Since 2/19 I’ve put 134 ‘eyes in the boat “fun fishin”. Seven of which were slot fish. biggest 26″. About 1 in 12 saugers is 14″+. Turned a fat 19″ into a sandwich a couple days ago.

My guide season kicks off tomorrow. Wind will be a major factor for at least the first 3 days. This will limit presentation to essentially vertical jigging. Pitching plastics and snap-jigging blades is much more effective.

Walleyes have been holding in 21-30 fow. Sauger a little deepr. Perch still in deep water too 19-29 fow relating to current breaks.

Dance card is already full until 3/10. Several openings 3/10-3/15. Next open day is 3/25.

So far this year I’ve been on the open water 34 days in 6 states. 100% fun fishin’! This has made me realize i’m like the guy who beat his head against the wall cuz it felt so good when he quit!

This will be my last year of guiding. Fifty years is enough! Looking back, 1973 doesn’t seem like all that long ago. The MinnKota 65 & Lowrance paper graph were ‘state of the art’. Serious walleye guys were fishing out of 18′ vee boats with bench seats and 25 hp motors. There were no line counter reels. Used to catch double digit eyes in Sept. at nite, fishin’ #18 blue/silver Rapalas, seven rod sweeps back..

There was no spot lock, let alone something like Live Target. We watched the flasher dial, the waves, the birds…on the River we kept a close eye on the River, cashing in on subtle nuances like bubble lines, mudlines and crawdad holes.

Believe ’24 will be a drastic change for the USA. Blood in the streets. Chicoms will take down our comms satellites. No more shiny objects for you, kids! Gonna have to learn how to fish like Grandpa did. That’s pretty much what I do every day. tight lines.

Since mid-January I’ve been fishing my way across the deep south in alabama, Louisiana. and Arkansas. Finally got back on the River yesterday–1st open water adventure since 1/7.

Averaged about 9 walleye, sauger & perch per hour, pitching B-Fish-N tackle B-3 blade exclusively. About 35% “keeper” size. Many shorts, one fat girl 25+”…and enjoyed a 15 minute dance with a big sturgeon.

This caused a great degree of introspection. Other than sugar sand beaches, gators & armadillos and fishin’ in a tee shirt why travel south?

This will be my final year of guiding on the Miss. My primary motivation in guiding is to teach others about the River and try to put them in touch with many of the 130 species of fish which swim here. Nothing is sweeter than putting a veteran hook on their PB of a target species or seein’ a young’un experience serious rod bendage from an angry pig-beast of a fish.

Sadly, after 51 years of guiding government bureaucracy a steady parade of self-entitled weekend warrior “bassholes” have goaded me to pull the pin. Technology exists to release fish on site. But coliseum tourneys persist with my home River pool, pool 9, the epicenter of basshole invasion. Tourney guys come in here, take quality fish out of the pool and give absoutely NOTHING to the resource. It’s all about money. Greedy communities and young turks seeking glory.

Meanwhile, the FWS charges me $3 for every client who shares my boat and ends the trip a better angler than when they came aboard. Enough!

My final guide season kicks off 3/1–2 wks. earlier than usual. My dance card is wide open thru mid-March but i’m only gonna work 5 days max.

Friday night I’m doing a FREE walleye seminar at the Community Center in New Albin. Show starts at 6 p.m.

Between now and then I expect 100 walleyes/saugers will come across the gunnel of my boat, Lord willin’, if the catch rate is even close to yesterday. The very best time to catch numbers of quality fish is between ice out and sharp River rise due to snowmelt.

This may be a non-issue in 2024 cuz there isn’t much snow up North to melt. Also, River levels are low from Minnesota almost to the Gulf. Last year we experienced low levels not seen for over 30 years.

Will this be a year of extreme low level or perpetual flood like we experienced three years ago? I don’t know. Will this season be a scorcher like 1988? Will early Spring turn into unseasonably cold weather in April & May? Don’t know that, either.

Either way I hope to be out on the Immortal River 4-5 days a week til winter comes again and try to blog more frequently. tigh lines.