Ted Peck Fishing

The first thing each morning and last thing at night I check the pool 9 hydrologic table and forecast on wunderground.com…figuring the River level has gotta shoot back up to the action stage cuz somebody flushed a toilet in the Twin Cities. Over the past 72 hrs. we have received about 4″ of rain locally. But the hydrologic prediction only nudged up a bit. Holding steady–right now–for the next week or so.

This ‘low’ water has revealed quantum changes in areas away from the River mainstem–most notably sandbars and shoals where they’ve never been before. Plenty of ‘new’ snags are out there, too. Just waiting for your prop to come whizzing overhead.

Siltation over the past couple years and islands created by USACE to limit wind fetch have fostered development of considerable weed growth–some good, some bad.

Most exciting is development of distinct weed edges which make perch and bluegill fishing much easier. Perch tend to seek out elodea. Gills do too, but really like transition zones between eelgrass and American water lotus( lily pads) . AWL also attracts crappies. All the pannies are there to chow on benthic macroinvertebrates ; the edumacated term for “bugs”.

I like fishing a 1/8 oz. Northland buckshot rattle spoon along deep weed edges for perch. Short walleyes and the occasional legal are there in the mix. My 2nd rod is an amazing 9′ St. Croix panfish rod. the reel is spooled with 6 lb. Sufix braid. this one is rigged with either a Teddy Skunk Perchanator when looking for perch or the considerably lighter Bimbo Skunk when gills or crappies are the primary target.

I suppose using 2 lb. floro might result in more bites when fishing water with at least 2′ visibility. But if you’re fishing where the fish are, you’ll get hung up. Using light wire hooks and a straight pull-back on the rod without stressing it will free your bait about 90 % of the time when using braid…90% more time fishing instead of tying knots means more fish. Enough foot-long perch, crappies and 10″ bluegills don’t seem to mind the heavier line to make this more productive than boy scout practice through hook eyes which get smaller every year.

Of course, bass & pike are cruising near the pannies. That’s a whole nother blog. I have the day off. The Admiral wants perch for supper–and i know where they live. gotta go.

Yesterday afternoon I went up to a vantage point here the River can be visualized 10 miles in both upstream and down, looking for clear water after 2+” of rain.

The River was linear ‘chocolate milk’ for as far as 10 X 50 binocs could see. I felt a bug land on my arm. Experience teaches the wisdom of looking before you swat. The bug was a mayfly, a.k.a. shadfly, river fly…or hexagenia.

Experience also teaches when a shadfly lands on your arm @ 1700 hrs., 500′ above the River bottom that a whale of a hatch is about to come off. Last night was one of those nights when the hex hatch could be seen on radar.

Shadflies only live 24 hours. This morning about 7 gazillion carcasses are floating on current seams easing downstream, attracting every fish species with the ability to scarf a mouthful down.

Combine a mountain of shadflies with a linear fountain of ‘chocolate milk’ and you get a shadfly shake that no fish can resist. There are only two presentations with a hook conventional wisdom says will work under these conditions: willocat or a Pop-R topwater lure with hooks removed and a large hex fly imitation trailing behind the rear tie-eye on 40 lb. mono.

You still have the competition of 7 gazillion copies of the real thing to contend with…but the Pop-R makes fish think the commotion must mean there are some juicier bugs and come to investigate. Honestly, I don’t know what fish think…but thoughts tend to go elsewhere after about the 3rd walleye slurps in a hex fly behind a bass popper.

One more tip from the old guide…there is a bucketful of river fly carcasses beneath some light poles at the boat ramp. Two cups of carcasses blended into a jar of Sonny’s Super Sticky is a wickedly effective bait for channel cat. Applying just a dab behind each ear is a truly effective way to establish social distancing, while assuring prompt service for any purchase you are making.

The River is predicted to rise just over a foot in the next couple days, down from a projection almost 2′. The chocolate milk will pass, the bug carcasses will float away and the action on the Immortal River should be headed back towards ‘crazy good’ levels by early next week.

I seldom fish when guiding. Watching clients catch 25+ bass and pike in the first 90 minutes of yesterday’s trip, mostly on #Rat-L-Trap & MR-6 were heavy on my mind when eyes opened @ 0:430. Check the pool level at https:water.weather.gov/ahps2hydrograph.php?wfo=arx&gage=genw3. Noted pool levels were stable, with forecast rise of over 1′ by the weekend. Then checked forecast on wunderground.com . Doppler clear, hourly called for rain to start shortly after noon, then get serious.

Hooked up boat and got on the water by 6:30. Headed to spot where Kelly & Tonya POUNDED them yesterday. Explained the spot was a choke point by which 250 acres of backwater must go through when River is rising or falling. There was a distinct mudline at this spot, which changed considerably in the 3 hrs. I was on the water this morning.

Plan was to catch 25 gamefish and go home. By 7 a.m. had caught released 8 pike and 16 LMB, mostly on the oxbow Trap. 25th fish was a 17″ walleyes–which is the reason we stopped there first thing on yesterday’s trip. Change of plans!

Switched to a B-Fish-N Tackle 1/8 oz Draggin jig &sassafras PulseR. Added a squirt of Liquid Willowcat. Picked up a pike on the first cast. After another 20 or so bass and pike, went back to the Trap looking for a second walleye to feed the Admiral lunch.

An old River Rat motored up to tell me he had just read my latest book “Tails, Trails & Tales with the Old Guide” found on kindle ebooks. Said he “laughed, cried and couldn’t put the damn thing down” until he finished it.Just what a guy who is too full of himself needs to hear!

While we chatted, went back to the Trap and caught another dozen or so LMB and pike. Another Old River Rat who recognized me pulled up in a pontoon, asked if he could anchor up nearby and fish for gills. THIS is the etiquette that is the rule rather than the exception when you fish during the week.

We talked fishin’, the cwazy stuff going on in Mn. and world in general while he caught a mess of respectable ‘gills and I caught another half dozen bass/pike on the Trap.

Said he didn’t have kindle.Wondered where he could get the new book in paperback. Told him Amazon would have it in a week or so but that he could find my other book “Mississippi Musings with the Old Guide” on amazon now, and locally at the Driftless Center.

Admitted that what he was really angling for was a free book and that his 81st birthday was coming up next Monday. Told him I didn’t have any copies in the boat. Gave him my lone walleye as a birthday dinner.

Motored back to the launch and waited patiently while a guy from Decorah tried to put his boat in. he saw that I was waiting, then hurried to launch and get his rig out of the way. Tied off to a steel corner post on the dock, jumped back in the truck and started to pull out, not noticing the mooring rope was caught under one of his trailer bunks.

Boat lurched, plowed into trailer. Dock came halfway out of the water. Truck to a screeching halt. Finally got things squared away and said fishing must be tough or I wouldn’t be getting off the River @ 09:30.

Told him that actually, it was about as good as fishin’ ever gets. He asked sheepishly where/how I was catching all these fish. Normally wouldn’t say a word. Figured he wasn’t much of a threat to the resource so told him EXACTLY (knowing the fish wouldn’t be there tomorrow with the River on the rise) Took the oxbow #Rat-L-Trap off my Croix Legend Glass baitcast rod and gave it to him. This is just the River way.

Clouding up. Looks like rain forecast is spot on. Believe I’ll take a little nap. Feel truly blessed to be American born and River raised. Just about every day on the River is great. But sometimes its perfect.

Just spent the past couple days on a species specific quest for walleyes. Even with willo cats fishing was tough. Most fish came pulling cranks, anyway. with the River up almost 2′ and dirty over the previous 48 hrs. and boat control a little channeling in winds gusting to 30+ fishing was TOUGH.

Not that we couldn’t catch fish. All that was needed was finding water with 2’+ visibility. Pike all over the place. We were actually sight fishin’ them. Only a few bass, cuz they’re still shaking off the spawn. Rapid rising water levels pushed a lot of ‘gills & perch back into timber now flooded where it was too shallow to get a boat. Crappies now post spawn and cruising clear water suspended 3-6′ down looking for food.

USACE projection calls for River to drop like a stone over the next week. Thanks to judicious placement of gravel on Army road @ new Albin, access should be possible by Friday or Saturday IF USACE PROJECTION HOLDS TRUE. But if somebody in the Twin Cities stops rioting long enough to flush a toilet, all bets on River level are off, thanks to the change in paradigm from siltation over the past couple of years.

Should this happen, it will be time to search for that water with 2′ + visibility again. In the words of my generation: don’t mean nothin’ push on.

Meanwhile, the Immortal River isn’t impacted one little bit by the covid thing or riots. This is where I spend most of my waking hours, just trying to plug in to the Creator’s unspoken but obvious message about who is really in control of all things during these turbulent times in America.

Don’t have to work today, since the 6 man crew gave up and went home. gonna be too hot to fish, anyway. have tomorrow off, too. Will probably get out early and catch a few ‘eyes for fun and see if the bass are on the prowl yet. But game plan is likely to change once the Lund gets wet–just like the River.

BRP corporation announced Wednesday that they are no longer gonna make Evinrudes. They didn’t really announce this…it just kinda leaked out. I’ve been on the Evinrude pro staff for over 30 years, coming on long before OMC went belly up in 2000. jerry’s Sports Service in Beloit has sponsored me for over 30 years. They are still carrying me on the Lund team–but this is a real kick in the teeth to the great folks at Jerry’s, fellow hall of famers Jim Grandt & Tommy Skarlis (who is already battling cancer) and thousands of other Evinrude owners across the USA.

When OMC declared bankruptcy all motor warranties were voided. BRP says they will continue to stand by limited warranties to original owners. At least that’s what they are saying now.

Officially, BRP is blaming the covid crisis for ending production. Industry insiders several pay grades above my humble status say otherwise. Learned a valuable lesson about trust from my Dad when just a wee bairn. At least that’s the way he used to remind me years later. He said he put me up on the fireplace mantle, extended his arms to catch me and said ‘jump’. Then he let me hit the floor saying ‘that should teach you to never trust anybody’. The Old Guy was a beaut. Certainly wouldn’t put it past him. But this and many other old guy saying have stuck with me through the years.

Everybody who has shared a boat with me over the years has heard Dad’s wise observation ‘the surest way to get 2 rods tangled is get them within 10 feet of each other’ Maybe this will cross your mind the next time fishin’.

Boat traffic is so outrageous from noon Friday til Sunday at 2 p.m. that I’ve raised guide prices within this time frame to $1000/4 hrs. Just sayin’

The River is still on the rise and generally dirty as of right now. Supposed to crest on pool 9 tomorrow @ just over 628′ at the upper end of the pool. This will push fish back into haunts they became familiar with last year. But at 628 there are still some edges beyond firm shoreline like RR track rip-rap where fish will be following their forage base.

Forecast calls for the level to gradually decline over the next week. But if somebody in Mpls. quits rioting long enough to take a shower, the level could go the other way. if it goes up to 630′ I can motor across rather than jump a beaver dam which has clear water and a pile of pike and bass. There a are a couple of sweet spots which develop when you need to go to the half-mile scale on the boat’s nav chart to see blue which indicates water.

This evening I plan on grilling a couple of backstrap tenderloins then later sit around the campfire with the Admiral. yesterday she surprised me with the new M.I.T 70 automatic inflatable PFD from Mustang Survival. New vest is incredibly ergonomic and comfortable. Will be much easier to hold on to the wheel with one hand while waving the other over my head for the full eight seconds it takes to jump a beaver dam!

Topwater baits are producing a few fish with water temp now tickling 70 degrees and some emergent vegetation beginning to appear. Crappies and bass are done spawning.The return of higher water has probably moved the walleyes away from the rock pattern they’ve been on for the past couple weeks. Lord willin’ gonna find out where they went tomorrow afternoon.

Got off the River ahead of the rain to find an email that my latest book “Tails, Trails & Tales with the Old Guide” is now available on ebooks through the Kindle store–just type in the title and it pops right up. Will be out in paperback on Amazon.com and select outlets by late next week.

Walleyes are active on both crankbaits like the #Rat-L-Trap MR-6 on the rocks and with a half-crawler drifting sand based running sloughs in 9-13 fow. Water temp is now 67-68. Bass are on the beds. Perch/gills/crappie are shallow and very active. Kept 2 ‘eyes for supper, should go well with the batch of outstanding potato salad the Admiral whipped up last night.

River level on pool 9 has stabilized about a foot higher than a week ago. Water clarity is good. Water temp has warmed about 4 degrees since Wednesday to 62-63 on main channel. Have targeted walleyes on rocks the past couple of days. #BillLewisLures MR-6 in ‘Caitlin” pattern and oxbow pattern Rat-L-Trap both catching fish. With River still a little high, boat position/presentation are KEY in hooking up

Holiday crowd started showing up when we got off the water at 11 this morning. Saw a lion, 2 tigers, 2 elephants,5 clowns and some guy in a top hat pull up in a Baraboo-wrapped party bus when leaving the ramp. The circus is definitely in town! I plan on avoiding the River like it was a wrinkle wranch with Wuhan bat infestation issues til at least Tuesday

Yesterday I posted a blog stating we’re seeing the best fishing in 2 years on pool 9. That statement was and still is–true.

Over the past 24 hrs. the dry hills and fields of the coolee region received a much needed, gentle rain. The rain gauge at our compound read 0.7″ this morning. Apparently, points upstream must have received a deluge. How can 0.7″ of rain overnight falling on parched ground raise the pool level 1.5 FEET??

The dirty little secret is SILTATION from perpetual flooding over the past 2+ years–a direct result of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fulfilling the mission given to them by Congress in 1878–maintaining a channel on the Miss. USACE was finally able to turn the Immortal River into a big, narrow ditch less than 80 years after placement of 33 lock & dam systems between St. Paul and St. Louis.

The results of this disaster can be seen in the still-standing tombstones of nearly 60% of mature timber which drowned and died over the past couple of years. The hazards to navigation mentioned in yesterday’s blog are nil when juxtaposed against what will occur in a few years when these trees begin to topple and head downstream.

There will be plenty of water to navigate back-channels in over the Memorial Day weekend. Just keep a sharp eye for floating dunnage. Forecast calls for more rain next weekend. So long as there are ‘edges’ created by islands in the back channels, fishing will still be great.

If the Iowa DNR got off it’s bureaucratic butt and spread just 7-9 loads of judiciously placed gravel in five low spots from the Army rd. boat launch to the west, this sole west side access for over 12 River miles on the west side of the River could remain open next weekend. This will ONLY happen if YOU call the IDNR and tell them!!!

No apologies for this rant! The River’s decline and overall gov’t malfeasance is explored in depth in my latest book “Tails, Trails & Tales with the Old Guide” which will be out on e-books in a few days and available through amazon.com by June 1. I am also not ashamed of more shameless self-promotion on this blog and elsewhere when this new baby is born!

So there ya go. No need to look for morels in the River bottoms with this recent, gentle rain. Soil temp is good. They should be popping now on southern exposures. Gonna go find some this morning, then probe for pike for upcoming trips this afternoon. I know where the fish are headed-just wanna have a Rat-L-Trap ready for when they get there. tight lines.

It has been several years since Pool 9 has been at such a low level as we head into the Memorial Day weekend. fishing has been great for almost a month already–and getting better every day!

Water temps on Friday had warmed back up from the low 50’s after Mother’s Day to the mid 50’s and beyond. By Friday afternoon I found some panfish-crazy conditions in 66 degree water. Fish were perch and ‘gills. Water was this warm cuz it was dark bottom, on the West side of the River, clear water and <4′ deep. Earlier in the day I was in another running slough where water was only 55 degrees. male crappies were in the wood–4-5′ down over 10′. bigger females were suspended about 10′ down over 18-21 fow. makes you wanna go hmmmm.

It is Sunday morning. Imbedded front will bring gentle rain all day. Had to postpone this afternoon’s trip for a couple weeks. Even though the fish are already wet, those who want to learn more about fishn’ the River don’t need to grow gills to understand them!

River level projection for the next 10 days call for totally stable conditions. Water temps will continue to warm. Suspect those female crappies will follow the males into even shallower water by this time next week. With so much less flooded timber to hide in, they should be easy to find. Of course, the gills and perch will be shallow, too. Today’s rain will also bring the morels, which have been pretty much hiding so far.

Stable, low pool levels will also make gamefish easier to find–and catch. Walleyes have been on the wings…but their high-water orientation is different than when we are approaching normal summer pool levels.

Even though we are still on the high side of normal pool levels, siltation from prolonged high water has created a “new normal”. You want to use extreme caution trying to run anywhere beyond the designated channel. The River is ALWAYS changing–and there are some surprising and PROFOUND changes where bassholes running willy nilly cracking the whip on 250 horses will go from 60 to zero in about a boat length next weekend.

heavy boat traffic is why I now charge a premium for working on Saturdays: $1000/4 hrs. for up to 2 anglers. The same rate applies for holiday weekends, but I supply red rubber noses and orange fright wigs in addition to terminal tackle, and advise clients they need to bring their own popcorn and peanuts.

After a lifetime of fishing the Miss–the past 20 of which mostly exploring Pool 9– I’ve concluded that fishin’ here is like a pendulum. For the past two years consistent success has been tough. Over the past few weeks fishin’ has become LOL easy–with the exception of hazards to navigation.

During the week I’m out there pretty much every day. Still have some openings during the week. So far, Saturdays are WIDE OPEN. Time for church on-line now. With the exception of holiday weekends, still booking trips on Sunday afternoons. Best time to be on the River, as NASCAR on the water has pretty much gone home.

Fishing is GREAT right now for all species on Pool 9! As of today, Wi. gov. Evers has opened the state to allow guiding again. don’t matter. Never needed that pinhead’s permission to work anyway!
River has dropped below ‘action stage’ now and projections call for falling trend to continue for the forseeable future. Yesterday, the water temp had dropped to 52. Fish didn’t seem to mind! Ambient temp should rocket up from this point forward, prompting spawning in warmwater species like bass, gills, crappies. Predators like pike and walleyes will follow this movement closely and be on a serious chew.
Most exciting is fact that we are now able to fish places in May into early June which we haven’t been able to fish for TWO YEARS! On a personal mission to edumacate as many of those scaly critters as possible during the week, with quite a few dates still open for those who want to hire this old guide