Ted Peck Fishing

The Lund is in the shop for its annual WINO (winterization in name only) treatment. Sadly, open water fishin’ is probably done for the year. But if it isn’t too brutal tomorrow, maybe I’ll take the flatbottom out.

The bite is essentially within 1/4 mile of the dams. I’ve had better luck at Dresbach the past couple days. Same distance as Genoa from the compound.

Walleyes have been active in 29-34 fow, primarily snap jigging blade baits. There is an article on this technique in the Lan. issue of Big River magazine, just out on the newsstand today.

There is a lot more action going after saugers BUT when you winch anything up from 35+ fow there air bladder will burst, killing the fish. The fish may swim away, but its gonna die. This is why I target water less than 32 feet.

B-Fish-n Tackle offers the best bang for the buck in their B3 blade. My fave is purple glitter, but orange glow catches a lot of fish. When in doubt, go with the gold.

The weather pattern the past several years has been anything but a pattern. This year things locked tight the day after Thanksgiving–a month later than ’23. Pool 9 opened up on Feb. 15 last year.

There are years when the River doesn’t open til mid March. These years we often see a “January thaw” for 7-10 days. In my opinion, this window offers the best walleye fishin’ of the entire year–ending when we go arctic again or the River comes up a bunch.

The WINO treatment includes greasing wheel bearings. The bags of sand/salt and a scoop shovel will likely remain in the back of my truck til March.

There is much to be said about being the 1st rig at the ramp when ambient temps are below freezing. If the second rig shows up 15 mins. later the last 15 seconds prior to launch are thrilling. The sensation will pass when the rear truck tires find open water at the end of the ramp. This is a good time to spread a little sand.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. The Admiral & I don’t go out on “amateur’s night. Some stay at home folks eat oyster stew on Dec. 31. Others eat prime rib.

I think the 18” walleye that was still swimming on Christmas day will make a wonderful entree.

Best fishes all & a Happy new year!

Saturday will be a good day to go hole-hopping on backwaters of pool 9. Travelling light. Just a scoop, electric auger & a couple of 36″ poles in the bucket towing the small sled One pole will have a chartreuse/pink head custom Jigs & Spins Demon on it.

The Demon is most effective when fished horizontally. This means you have to slide the knot after every fish to make it so.

I almost always use plastics on my pannie lures. But Saturday i’ll have a couple of crawlers left over from gill fishin’ back in october. “Garden hackle” is often more effective than a waxie or a couple spikes when you’re just looking to get your string stretched.

One nice thing about living on the River is you can get out for as long as you want whenever you want. With a forecast high in the 40’s, simply gotta go.

I haven’t guided ice fishing in almost 10 years. Only get out fun fishin’ when it is possible to travel light.

The ice guiding gig ended after i crunched the numbers. To make the effort worthwhile you need to guide at least 4 clients, drilling at least 6 holes per client, through at least 2′ of ice 4 X 6 X 2 = enough weight to plant at least one telephone pole.

Besides a gas powered auger, the trip required 4 Vexilars, ice scoops and at least 10 ice rods..plus lunch, heaters & other stuff.

No live-target sonar back then. Fish had to be located the old fashion way. When the parade of at least two sleds behind the ATV arrived on station, the equivalent of planting a telephone pole was completed & all clients received a quick course in sonar use ang jigging technique—with an ambient temp of maybe 20 degrees–at least one client would ask why he wasn’t catching any fish even though red marks on the Vex said fish were down there.

When I realized my ears would get frostbit wearing a top hat with a rabbit under it with social security & medicare cards in my wallet–under 6 layers of clothing–I finally realized i was like the guy who spent all day beating his head against the wall cuz it felt so good when he quit.

A couple years after that i had the same epiphany pulling a Fish Trap tent a mile across the ice through foot-deep snow. My 1st Fish Trap was GREEN. Bought it from Dave Genz when fishing Mille Lacs about 1980. Berkly had just come out with a Lightning Rod for ice fishin’.

An ice fishinig spinning rod is not necessary for at least 70% of productive pannie water on Upper Miss backwaters. Ditto electronics. When you see a red blip headed toward your lure, most of the time you’ve already missed the bite. Not taking your eye off a wiggling spring bobber which suddenly changes cadence puts more fish on the ice at the end of the day.

Which brings us to the Demon. A gold Chekai tungsten jig drops quicker, finding the fish zone about a foot off the bottom quicker. BUT a slow falling, horizontal-rigged Demon has pannie attention from the time it drops under the ice until it waffles down to the fish.

Back about 1980 I was fishing the Madison chain of lakes a lot. A lure called the Little Atom was DEADLY on gills. I relayed this to Bill Klingbeil who used to own CJ &S long before Walt & Poppy or Bob Gillespie

At season’s end i sent Bill the only 2 Little Atoms I had left (one had a broken hook). He made a mold, and the Demon was born.

Back then there were far less than a dozen effective ice lures. The Candy Stripe & Rembrandt worked well for crappie. Gills liked the Little Atom & Dot. Perch jumped all over the Dot rocker & rat finkee. Of course, all species would hit any of these lures. The Swedish Pimple caught a lot of walleyes and was a perch killer, too.

Since the Demon was born, ice fishing has truly evolved into fishing’s 4th season. Genz used to hype his Fish Trap tent as his “winter bass boat’.

Investing in a bunch of hi-tech year is probably a good idea if you fish mostly lakes and are serious about the sport. But if the Mississippi River is out your back door and you’ve spent a lifetime pullin’ a plow its more fun light-footing across the ice when weather is a friend and not an adversary

Water temp on Nov. 20 was an outrageously warm 46.3 degrees. ambient air temp was 36, with snow showers driven by a sustained 15 mph wind.

I only fished about 4 hours. Boated several short walleyes and a 3-foot sturgeon. By the way it fought I thought sure it was the BIG ONE.

A lifetime spent fishin’ the River has led to the conclusion that dancing with big, fat walleyes under brutal conditions is my favorite thing in the outdoors.

Talkin’ November into ice up in December & early February into mid-March as soon as ice goes out. these times are a study in fishing instead of catching. There are days when you might catch 50 walleye/sauger. Other days you might only tussle with a couple of fish.

The unknown is why i don’t actively seek guide work during these times. I would work–but few folks are willing to fork over hard earned cash with a possibility that only a goat or sturgeon will stretch their string. That’s okay. Nov. 15 was the last guide trip on the books in 2024.

Looking back on the past 3 years in comparison to the 3 years before that guide income was 30% in 20-24….even facoring in the year of perpetual flood and a global pandemic.

In the 20+ years i’ve been guiding on Pool 9 there is a month to 6 weeks when severe flooding causes folks to cancel or reschedule guide trips. That’s okay. Fishin’ can be tough. This year we had serious flooding from June 7 til almost the end of July.

I remember one solo trip when the 2 mile long road to the New Albin boat ramp was under water clear up to the edge of town. I was catching bass with 10 fow under the boat ON THE ROAD about 300 yds. East of town. Not a soul in sight.

My USCG captain’s license is set to expire next March. After serious soul searching, I’ve decided to renew it. the reason? I’ve realized teaching folks about fishing the River is at the top of my purpose of life list.

There may not be many more blogs between now and ice out late winter in February. But know, Lord willin’ I’ll be out there, fishin’ til the end of my days. Hope you can join me in 2025

Water temp in pool 9 has finally dropped to 50 degrees. Walleyes started arriving at wintering areas downstream from the dam Wednesday afternoon, starting to chew a little yesterday.Today should be a good day if the water temp is a solid 48 when the boat gets wet about 9 a.m.

Today we will target fat girls instead of eaters. Weapon of choice a BFishn Tackle B3 blade of Cotton Candy Ribb finn soaked w/ Liquide Willowcat.

The arrival of <50 water is about 3 weeks behind the norm. Looks like i’ll be guiding until mid-december this year.

Fish were holding @ 15-17′ contour yesterday. don’t expect this will change much over the next several days.

Caught more 12-16 ” goats yesterday than walleyes. Not a bad thing. Sheep are the vanguard of walleye migration. When they start showing up in good numbers, the eyes are usually far away.

Probably won’t post or blog much over the next couple weeks. i’ll be on the water.

btw–River is up almost a foot from this time last week. A fair amount of fence post sized wood is floating down the mainstem. Be careful!

Water temp was 54 degrees on the pool 9 mainstem yesterday. Bass have been crazy active cuz they know the big temp drop is coming. Walleyes have been more than a little interested waiting for the change.

The bonus round will kick off later this afternoon on a stiff NW wind with a couple inches of rain. A week from today USACE predicts a half-foot rise in River level.

i’m guessing it will take until maybe Saturday before effects of the approaching cold front will be a net positive regarding walleye willingness—with fishing getting incrementally better as water temps fall into the mid-40s.

If the USACE river level prediction comes up short by this time next week, walleye fishing will be crazy good once the rise stabilizes.

With the high wind & cold front I probably won’t get back on the River until Friday, with plans to be out there essentially every day until the iceman cometh.

I plan on shutting down the guide biz on Nov. 15 for the year. If i can pass the USCG physical I plan on guiding at least two more years…Lord willin’

I still have 5 open days between now & Nov. 15. Not actively seeking more work, but my life’s mission is teaching how to fish the Miss. So there ya go…

tight lines!

Quick fishing report: water temp on pool 9 has warmed to 54 degrees today. Bass are stupid on rocks & wood with a variety of presentations , ‘eyes also in about 14 fow on blades & cranks. 48 fish on the clicker in 3 hrs. Biggest 5 bass would weigh 15+. 2 walleyes bigger than 20″ slot,5 more eaters.

Then the day got interesting. Trolling motor quit. Trip prematurely over. Returned to dock to load boat & get her to jamie Melcher my trolling motor guy.

When backing trailer in I noticed the left bunk had fallen out of its bracket. Pulled trailer out to replace the 2 screws which hold the front left bunk in place. Replaced one. Bracket on the other side of the bunk was busted. Retrieved a length of paracord from the truck and lashed the bunk in place with a figure 8 knot.

a 40 minute drive later, it only took jamie minutes to diagnose/fix a faulty plug. On the way home $50 light a few minutes later, profoundly thankful that this MinnKota tech goes above & beyond in taking care of pros.

On yesterday’s trip nothing went wrong. Lee & his brother jim caught a pile of nice fish. 2 days before that I told client Bob I was gonna be a little late due to trailer tire issues. When I pulled out of the pole barn an hour prior to trip time i noticed a strange wad on one of the tires. About 10″ tread had separated, revealing the belts.

When removing the spare, the first lug nut got jammed in my T wrench. Had to go to a breaker bar & 4 lb. maul to get the nuts off. An impact wrench is not enough! mechanic who rotated the tires last spring must have used loctite AND superglue before tightening down the nuts.

I was 23 minutes late for the trip. To atone, I kept the clients out an extra TWO HOURS…so the one client could fill his limit of eyes. These clients lost 5 crankbaits in the process. They paid my basic half day wage, PLUS $20 for the lost lures. Last time they’ll see the inside of my boat!

On the trip 2 days before that Scott & his buddy gave me a nice tip AND some cash for lost lures. Somewhere between the boat ramp and the truck The Franklin brothers flew out of my pocket.

Bottom line, it was a good week for fishin’. Totalled up, I only lost a grand (not counting boat gas) I should work for the government!

Pool 9 is at low pool now. In my opinion, more dangerous than when the River is running belly-full at major flood. Navigation in backwaters and running sloughs can be challenging–but rewarding.

Yesterday’s clients worked me hrd. they wanted SMB, then a nice mess of ‘gills for the pan. Throwing topwater, Rat-L-Trap and ZMan ned/TRD they put 25+ fish in the boat, several with substantial dimensions. With less than an hour left I went looking for a mostly submerged tree in that neck of the pool where we were fishing. Hadn’t chased gills there for several years. When i navigated thru this cut the tree-top wasn’t visible just 3 days prior the treetop wasn’t even visible.

But yesterday it had poked thru the surface on the falling River–one little staub in 3 fow surrounded by a forest of fallen trees with much better habitat. don’t know why they like this spot (must be cuz of easy food) but at this pool level gills that never see a hook are usually hanging there.. Took only minutes to put dinner in the boat.

Water temp is hovering around 70 degrees. Looks like this temp and low water will continue for at least another week. Sandgrass has started coming down the River in bales, making crankbait presentation on River mainstem rocks ‘challenging’.

The 1st cold front of fall is imminent. When water temps finally drop to 62 the shad will gather and suspend. Find a pod of shad. gamefish will be hanging nearby.

Last year from mid-Sept/mid-Oct I had five trips where clients boated 100 plus bass in a HALF-DAY. Pretty much fish-a-minute on chrome Traps, 1/4 oz big Dude blades and 3″ paddletail plastics.

It has been said that fishermen are not born liars, but they learn quicker than most folks. No need to lie when the truth is better—and the River when it’s sleepy in the fall holds the ultimate truth.

Like many old guys, I often wake up about 3 a.m. to answer nature’s call. Going from vertical to supine again the brain often starts to work with sleep denied until pondering is resolved.

This night’s torment centered around skinny walleyes. River walleyes usually weigh heavier than the average for their length. Over the past 10 days the dozen or so fish 18″+ were SKINNY…like they came from a mismanaged inland lake. Shorter fish usually haven’t put on significant girth yet. Maybe they are skinny, too. You can catch “eaters” all day long drifting 1/8 oz jigs with a half-crawler on sand flats along channel edges in 9-13 fow now or pulling spinner rigs & crawlers in deeper cuts in running sloughs, Maybe 1 out of 10 fish is 18″+

An oxbow pattern Rat-L-Trap has produced 80% of my quality ‘eyes over the past couple weeks targeting shallow rocks with current in 3-6 fow. Much deeper water is usually under the keel of my Lund– which is positioned in the most effective way to target 3-6 fow. Time of day doesn’t matter. The nicer eyeballs are whackin’ the Trap @ noon on a blue sky day.

Boat position/control when throwing cranks on the Big River is like a trout fisher mending the line to create a natural presentation with a fly–a small but critical detail in hooking up.

With this demon now excised I can try to get back to sleep for a nap before 4 a.m.

SMB have been stupid on channel mainstem rocks fishing wacky rigged Yamamato senkos or Zman black/blue TRDs ned rigged. Always at least a couple 17-18″ fish, but mostly shorts.

Bluegills are easy in 3-9 fow relating to rocks with a little current, also in the wood. Crappies are moving into fall pattern hanging 4-6 feet down over at least 10 fow in the wood. Perch are a little tougher to find. The best place to look is in patches of coontail weed in 18″-3 fow with a tiny pinch of crawler on a 1/32 oz orange jighead.

The River is MUCH more dangerous now than it was at full-blown flood a couple months ago with pool level as low at it was at its nadir in ’23 (which was the lowest level since ’88).

No shortcuts thru running sloughs for this old River Rat until the pool comes up another foot.

Boat traffic has been exceptionally heavy, even during the week….maybe cuz the weather has been pretty much perfect.

Stay safe out there!

In late winter there is a hot bite for walleyes between the time ice comes off til the river starts to rise with snowmelt, usually 7-10 days.

There is a seldom window of opportunity in late summer when water temp drops to 72 before a never-ending mass of sandgrass makes any crankbait presentation on River mainstem rocky structures like wingdams & closing dams essentially impossible.

There was a short window which checked all the boxes late last week. I got out ‘fun fishin’ one afternoon and put 13 legals in the boat pulling a purple ghost MR-6. kept 2 fish.

Water temp went back up to 75 the next day. similar amount of effort where I KNEW ‘eyes were holding produced only 2 legal fish.

By Sunday afternoon water temp had climbed back up to 77. Active-bite window with water this warm is just an hour or so at dawn/dusk.

So this blog is about “you shoulda been here next week”. Water temps are supposed to cool down beginning next weekend. There will likely be a few days when we see that 72 degree trigger temp before the Sea of Weeds shows up.

When the weeds of September make their appearance time will be better spent chasing flathead cats with bluegills (or better yet bullheads if you can find ’em) at the leading edge of deeper River holes along the channel edge.

The best fishin’ should be Sept. 15-20 hen flatties should be active all day long during influence of the full moon.

The Upper Mississippi River is one of the most dynamic, challenging riverine fisheries in North America. THIS is a primary reason I’ve chosen to live here in my waning productive fishing days on the planet.

It takes me AT LEAST an hour to figure out the River’s mood every single day–even being out there 5+ days a week during the open water period. Sometimes all the ducks simply won’t line up. But at least 60+ years of fishing this Immortal River usually reveals why.

I’m no Ron Popeil (inventor of the Pocket Fisherman). No promise of “more fish…bigger fish”. But I WILL promise you’ll get out of my boat a better angler than when we howdied & headed out.

Water temp has dropped from 85>72 over the past week. River levels are at normal summer pool. A sea of sandgrass makes bait presentation challenging BUT walleyes are ready to eat if you can put a weed-free hook in front of them.

Willowcats are tough to come by now. If they were available the action would be close to sure thing as it ever gets on the Miss.

Casting cranks on wingdams or pulling them in running sloughs would be my next choice. If you’re picking up weeds on about every cast this is not an option.

I would much rather use plastics than live bait. But sometimes the real thing is the right thing. A number of fish are holding just off the channel on the River mainstem in 10-13 fow on sand flats. Drifting a 1/8-1/4 oz. #BFishN tackle Draggin’ jig w/a half crawler threaded on the hook can be very effective. Ditto in running sloughs in 7-13 fow.

Spinner rigs w/ crawlers have been VERY effective lately, pulled along the 8′ contour above wingdam rocks if weeds aren’t a factor or pulling DOWNSTREAM in 7-13 fow in the running sloughs @1.2-1.6 mph.

My rig is a 1/2 oz. bead chain sinker with a 30″ mono leader. 2 beads above the spinner blade, 4 below. I use BIG blades–#5 Colorado in hologram shad color. For the hook, A #4 sudden death with a long shank, threading a half-crawler on the hook .

Sheep @ shorts will bend your rod most of the time. but stick with it and you’ll get some eaters and maybe a whopping big pig.

In the past I have avoided politics and religion both when guiding and in this blog. But with the USA & this world spinning out of control I will. This is MY blog, not subject to FB bot intrusion. Read no further if you’re looking for fishing info.

I am a born again Christian and never hide my belief. I am NOT gonna vote for TRUMP!

I AM gonna vote for Constitutional Rights, especially the 1st & 2nd amendment.

I am gonna vote for secure borders. More than an army Division of military age Chinese has crossed illegally into our country over the past 3.5 yrs–not to mention terrorists, fentanyl, and human trafficking.

Seems to me the 1st step in controlling inflation is brining down fuel prices by tapping the vast resources here in the USA. Cheaper gas is the 1st step in providing more disposable income (for real important stuff like fishin’ tackle and guide service!)

I cherish the concept that my vote counts. Our election process has worked for over 200 yrs. Pick your candidate in a caucus or primary, cast your voice for the best candidate in the general election.

Doesn’t matter if it’s D or R. Forget red vs. blue. One party says THIS is your candidate. Then 2 months later says, no….THIS is your candidate. This happends in russia & the thrid world NOT in the USA!

I use St. Croix rods cuz I believe they are the best rods on earth. But if your fishin’ license was only valid if you used a St. Croix rod I would give up fishin’ and spend all my money on canned goods & ammunition.