Ted Peck Fishing

Heavy morning fog is a factor on the Miss about 80% of the time this month.It usually burns off 8-10 a.m. Navigating in pea soup is dangerous in an already dangerous environment. Launching at a ramp close to fishing spots is a good idea.

There is an absolute PILE of baitfish right now, with all species of gamefish dogging their every move. A lot of these fish are shad, so white or chrome baits 2-4″ lomg are very effective.

Your EYES are better than the best electronics now for locating active fish. Watch for birds dipping on structure on rocks. When you see them, get there fast, then sneak close using the trolling motor.

Keeping one rod rigged & ready with a 1/2 oz blade bait, white plastic fliptail or topwater lure like the Pop-R is a good plan.

The topwater feeding frenzy will pass in a minute or two. But it will usually return to the same area shortly. Following the frenzy as it moves along the face of a wingdam isn’t as effective as spot-locking where you first saw activity and waiting for fish to return.

Most of the time the action is white bass or SMB. But pike, largies…and even walleyes will likely be cruising nearby. In August i never fish deeper than 12’…usually less than 3′. Even for walleyes. Ever catch a walleye on a topwater bait? Now is the time!

With water temps still a solid 80 degrees fish metabolism is in overdrive. It is virtually impossible to reel faster than fish can swim. A burning retrieve is usually best when fish are actively feeding during Fogust!

Bull bluegills are staging on river mainstem rocks. Might find’em right on top of a wingdam or hanging tight to the upstream breakline where the bottom drops away from 2-8 fow quickly.

Apologies for not blogging in almost a month. Been fishin’ too hard. Just passed the 150 trip mark for 2023. More fun fishin’ than guide trips.

There are seasonal patterns on the River –like gills on wingdam rocks–that you know are coming every year. They happen when the River says its time. Even though i’m out there essentially 5 days w week it still takes at least an hour to decipher what the river is trying to tell me,

Sometimes it is election day and most of the fish feel like voting ‘no’. On these days the gamefish catch rate may be as low as 2 per hour. On a good day, 10 per hour–or more. The average day is 3-6, depending on the species.

Yesterday we put 10 species in the boat. 3-4 species is the average most days.

Taking what the River wants to give you is always more productive than a stubborn species-specific strategy.

The only reason I still guide is to share what more than a half-century on this water has revealed. There are quite a few open dates on the calendar for the next several months. Not actively seeking new business. I have nothing to prove to anybody, or myself. There is great peace in the knowledge that you are just part of the Immortal River for a short wink in time

Rain over the past several days has energized fish activity on pool 9. My favorite trips are those with young anglers with skills who want to hone their craft. had 2 such adventures last week–Trey & his buddy and siblings Blake & Lauren.

Trey is starting to get his feet wet on the tourney trail. Lauren is just 1 of 3 kids from Cheeseland to attend a major Trout Unlimited GTG in Montana. Her brother, Blake builds his own spinners as well as tying flies like his older sister.

both trips were multi-species. Trey’s crew had 26 gamefish on the clicker in a half day before rains raised the River; Lauren and Blake put 42 mostly SMB in the boat in 6 hrs.

Boat control is at least 40% of putting clients on fish. Angler ability is 55%. But the fish get to vote, too…and their 5% can cancel out everything else.

Reaction bites were key both before & after the rain. If I had a nickel for every fish that came up to the boat then eased away without biting it would be well beyond a fistful. but that’s fishin’

River level is lookin’ good @ just over 621′ @ Genoa, with stable levels forecast for the next 10 days. Water temp is a sultry 78 on the River mainstem. Fish–especially big ones– need to be revived after just a couple minutes out of their environment.

This means putting them in the livewell with that scaly face in the bubbles for at least a few minutes before release. Foto ops often double time prior to release.

Walleyes from 20-27″ must be released on pool 9. If one of these fish has dimensions that result in a foto op, they go ‘in the box’ until ready for a tail splashing release.

Game warden “Sprink” Hensal was a childhood mentor who said “you’ll never go wrong if you put the resource first”. This holds true for game wardens as well as sport fishers.

Doing the right thing for the resource ALWAYS supercedes the DNR. If a “carp cop” ever gives me a citation for reviving a fish prior to release saying ‘tell it to the judge” That is EXACTLY what i will do!

tight lines!

River levels in pool 9 right now are are low as they got last summer–and it’s ot even July! The lowest pool levels usually happen in mid to late August. A River stage of 620.1 @ Genoa now, projected to remain stable for the next week or so has the potential for going even lower.

There is only one positive in this equation–and it’s a good one. Extreme low water provides the opportunity to mark rock piles and other strucutre which will hold fish when the Immortal River rises again.

The largest obvious negative is hazards to navigation at essentially ANYWHERE beyond the channel markers.

Yesterday I eased in to a natural rocky structure which holds nice SMB at low pool, just as i have done 100 times before. This time the rocks redefined my prop a little bit. It still looks good for a river prop after 2 years of service, but will need some file work before today’s trip.

There are many, many MANY places in running sloughs where trailing ends of islands and mud flats upstream from backwater channels have gone from at least a couple feet to maybe 4″, creating serious potential for going from 30 mph to 0 in about 20 feet.

Low water also means clear water. Floro leaders are part of the matrix in finesse presentations. Directional change and pulsation are part of the retrieve when burning in a bait looking for a reflex strike.

Canadian wildfires have created a haze frequently on otherwise bright, sunny days which extends to active bite window at least another 30 minutes early and late in the day.

The active bite window is a real deal. Extreme low water has concentrated the gamefish BUT it has also concentrated the forage base. With so many young-of-year baitfish to choose from, why would a predator actively pursue dinner?

Essentially, all they have to do is open their mouths and eat. If you’re in the right orientation with a desirable lure when they decide to do so, you’ll hook up.

Case in point: A couple days ago walleyes weren’t even interested in willocats,despite optimum boat location on the ends of wingdams and steep structural breaks.

It was ‘one more cast’ time at mid-day at the end of a morning trip. The guys boated 4 eyes and lost 4 more in just 15 minutes. One was throwing a Rat-L-Trap, the other A Bill Lewis Echo 1.75 that only runs about TWO FEET deep, max!

A few years ago I wrote a story entitled “September bass and menopausal Women”…a subject which I have considerable personal knowledge about. When the non-male gender (there are just TWO options) goes through ” the change” , hormonal imbalance causes unpredictable mood swings which make absolutely no sense to the OTHER gender.

Just like a perfect September day when all habitat and environmental parameters seem perfect, but the fish don’t want to cooperate.

After 52 years of happy marriage I can also testify that when XX and XY chromosomal units get thru with “the change” most remaining , healthy days for the remainder of this union are happy, happy, happy!

Stay safe out there! Be prepared for self-rescue with a come-along, navy anchor and plenty of rope.

USACE predictions call for pool 9 below Genoa to ramin stable @ about 621′ for the next 10 days. We are already close to last year’s perpetual low level…and summer doesn’t even officially arrive until next week.

When spring flooding subsided it left another layer of silt in already silfted in backwaters. This incredibly rich soil is conducive to aquatic plant growth, making completely weedless presentations necessary in many backwater and quiet areas in running sloughs.

Hazardous navigation beyond the channel is pegging out near the extreme. Cuts between the mainstem and Minnesota slough like Sand slough (Dead man’s Cut) are mere inches deep in some places creating essentially a game of bass boat mumblety peg–going 60 to 0 in essentially 20′!

next week the high school national world championship bass tourney will be fishing out of LaCrosse on pools 7,8 & 9. Over 400 boats from all over the USA.

This massive field of bass boats coupled with inherent challenges of fishing the daunting Mississippi have combined into an intimidating scenario for all the young guns.

Several have sought advice and guidance. I have told all of them “Fish against the fish…the fish are your only competitor!” In this scenario the River is the balance point. Work with the River and odds tip in your favor. Work against her and the bass have a bigger edge.

At current River pool levels the mainstem and significant running sloughs are the best –and safest–bet for hooking up. Boat in the backwaters at your own peril. Should you opt to go there, go prepared.

I keep a navy anchor, 150 feet of towline and a come-along in the boat at all times when the Miss is running low and sleepy. I also carry plenty of water, MRE’s and BUG JUICE along with other safety items.

There is true potential in getting stuck and spending the night on the river if you don’t know where you’re going, and a genuine potential for bewilderment even if you’re out there almost every day.

The walleye bite has been good until 8 a.m. and between 7:30 and dark on rocky structures. Midway you can catch ’em ‘slidin sand” with a 1/8 oz jighead and a half-crawler working just beyond the channel along the 9-13′ contour.

Crappies are suspended in deadfalls about halfway deep in the water column where there is at least 10 fow around the snag. Bluegills are here too, just a little closer to the bottom. Bluegills are starting to show up on TOP of some wingdams. Perch in coontail weed in 1-6 fow.

Channel cats are most active in 7-13 fow in running sloughs above deadlfalls with a moderate current and hard bottom. Dipbait is the best way to catch ’em.

Like many River Rats I make my own stuff–Capn Ted’s Catfish Candy. I make just one 6 gallon batch a year for personal use. Some ingredients are truly proprietary–like a pint of my own blood collected over the winter before undergoing gut surgery. Shad flies and willocat are also part of the potion which has a cheese base and soybean oil to achieve acceptable consistency.

A limited supply is available at Willie’s Bait Shop in new Albin. Phone # 563.544.4223.

The old Trading post in blackhawk County Park has reopened under new management. Had biscuits & gravy there this morning. Darn good!

Be careful out there!

Pool 9 levels continue to drop and clear. Submergent vegetation is now emergent with American water lotus spreading across the surface and pencil reeds & sandgrass poking a foot above the water line.

All major boat ramps are now open. Some areas away from the channel have changed significantly as we approach normal summer pool levels. If projections hold we should see these conditions by late next week. Navigation in the backwaters should be done with caution. Today’s easy runnin’ is tomorrow’s drydock sandbar.

Punkinseeds have been on the beds for several days. ‘Gills have just started showing up. In some waters it is possible to sight-fish the nests. Not all LMB have spawned. About 50% of females were still carrying eggs as of June 1.
Water temp is 71-74 degrees.

Active bite has been before 7:30 a.m. or after 6 p.m. for essentially everything except pike & panfish. The closing dam bite has been great. wingdam action will improve with each day going forward–if USACE projections hold.

You might wanna go to a floro leader in finesse presentations in some of the backwaters and running sloughs.

My top walleye baits this past week have been the oxbow Trap, Z-Man Jackhammer chatterbait, B-Fish-N 1/4 oz. Big Dude & Z-Man eye strike w/Pulse R plastic.

Same baits working well for both SMB & LMB. You might try a buzzbait on humid days when static tension on the water surface is high…and, of course, the frog. Honestly, i don’t like frog fishin’. I’m a meat & potatoes guy. Green fish with a side order of salad not my thing.

For those folks just giddy with a blow up on a frog, you might try yer tongue on both terminals of a 9V battery. No bug spray or SPF 50 necessary AND you save $4.50 gal. on gas!

Many boat launches on pool 9 are at least marginally accessible w/pool levels stable @ 4′ above action stage til the end of May. “Wet foot’ policy will likely be part of the experience when launching.

Water clarity now is excellent. SMB have just completed spawn. LMB are TIGHT to cover along edges. Walleyes are active in 3-7 fow in running slough all over the map. Hot lures have been black/blue #Zman jackhammers, oxbow Rat-l-Traps & 1/4 oz. B-Fish-N tackle Big Dude blades.

Yesterday’s half-day trip produced 20 quality fish. Mixed bag of eyes, bass & pike. Pretty much the average over the past week or so, probably even better going forward.

Damn Minnesota! Been launching in Mn. recently. Drain plug must be removed when leaving the launch. Launched in Wi. yesterday. Run upstream 7 miles. Started fishin’ client in back of boat tells me his feet are getting wet. DRain plug which is attached on a wire is gone. Other client is hooked up with a nice ‘eye. Hit the bilge switch, netted the fish, scooted to shore.Pulled a spare drain plug out of tool box. Back to fishin’ in 5 mins—but the bilge kept pumping for another 20.

Other than the usual cuts & bruises only got hooked past the barb twice last week. Thankful both were in places where i could pull ’em out with pliers and get back to work after a little electrician’s tape 1st aid.

Available for hire May 24,25 & 31 this month. Next opening 6/18–Father’s Day. I plan on fun fishin’ after church , Lord willin’

With water temperatures now solidly in the mid to upper 60’s bass are going crazy in <6 fow in preparation for spawning.

Swim jigs, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps are all super search baits. Once you find a pod of active fish switching to a finesse presentation like the senko or a tube might put more fish in the boat.

Edges are still a key to fish location. With a dropping River more edges appear every day. With water coming down out of the trees you can find submergent vegetation in what is usually dry or almost dry ground. Not aquatic weeds. Plants like smartweed and other cover like buck brush & willow.

LMB are cruising in this ‘instant” vegetation where there is at least 2’ visibility. A lure like senko or tube can be finessed right over these weeds, often provoking a strike.

SMB are hanging in more significant structure. Mostly wood or rocks. Great place to fish a Z-Man TRD or tube on a Ned rig!

Pike can be anywhere in the shallows now chasing food. A spinnerbait with a little chartreuse and ORANGE with a 4″ swim jig plastic trailer is tough for them to resist.

Walleyes are hanging on the slack side of current seams and closing dams right now. A good tactic is pulling a deep crank like the Bill Lewis Lures MR-12 in RED/ crawdad pattern on top of the closing dam, occasionally ticking rocks. You will get snagged. Once you’re sure the hang-up is a snag and not a fish just allowing slack will usually fee the bait. If it suddenly ‘snags’ again, SET THE HOOK!

If the River continues to fall in line with USACE predictions migration routes back toward the mainstem are a super place to ambush fish. These conditions should develop in the next week or so.

Meanwhile, the fish catching pyramid is pretty much edges>water clarity>presentation.

Regardless of pyramid building block placement and size the baseline is time on the water. So far this month I’ve been on the Miss 9 days. Today’s adventure kicks off in about an hour.

Be careful out there! Still a lot of dunnage coming down as wood floats out of the trees. Be prepared for self rescue. You may not see another boat for hours–if you’re fishing where the fish are!

Pool 9 has started dropping from near historic flood level. If the USACE forecast holds true, the River should be hovering right around “Action Stage” by Mother’s day. If it holds true, we’ll see Action Stage a week from now.

Action stage is the level where the boat launch at the end of Army Road, east of New Albin is no longer accessible. The parking lot here might give up a pike or two this time next week, with 5-6 fow covering the gravel–if the USACE projections are accurate

Bottom line: with all the technology available today the US Weather Service forecast is only marginally accurate about 72 hours out. The Mississippi River is MUCH tougher to call. Projections for 48 hours beyond any given day are usually in the ballpark. But it is a GREAT BIG ball park,

Back in the year of perpetual flood–2019–we faced essentially the same scenario mid-April. But ground saturation up North and excessive rain kept Pool 9 at some level of flood stage until mid-August.

If local weather conditions are favorable fish can usually be found up to a level of about 632′ @ Genoa–which is what the projection calls for a week from now.

The key is edges. As of this morning, pretty much the only edges are railroad tracks on both sides of the River. At 632′ there are more spots popping up which fish can’t negotiate around so they are easier to find and catch.

My favorite high water weapons between 632′ and Action Stage are chatterbaits, swim jigs, Rat-l-Traps and spinnerbaits.

With water between these parameters a black or white tandem spinnerbait is usually more effective than an obnoxious orange/chartruese one with an oversize Colorado blade. Why? Visibility! Edges appear first in quiet waters. Water clarity can be a major key. Find 2′ + visibility and you’ll likely find fish. These shallow areas which clear up first are almost always over dark bottom, which warms up quicker than a sandy or rocky bottom.

None of this information will do you any good until at least this time next week. Maybe. Between now and then inland lakes and smaller inland river are more productive options.

This past week I’ve boated 80+ sauger, walleye and baffled 19″ brown trout fishng inland rivers. Fish ere holding over gravel bottom in 3-5 fow. Most effective presentation was anchoring up and casting a Bill Lewis lures MR6 crankbait in RAYBURN RED pattern downstream and retrieving at a slow, steady pace. The MR6 dives to about 6′. This retrieve allows the bait to wiggle seductively occasionally ticking bottom. The biggest sauger last week was a respectable 19 incher. It appeared to be spawned out, so I kept it to make a sammich. When the fish was cleaned it revealed the same gender as Dylan Mulvaney. Whoa. Don’t know if this sauger was woke or not…but it was delicious.

If you don’t think God has a sense of humor, just tell him what your plans are. Experience gleaned from a half-century working on the Immortal River teaches there will be at least a full month every year when going fishing with legitimate expectations for favorable results is a fool’s mission.

The second half of march and first half of April were generally tough–but fishable. The second half of April moved right into pretty much waste of time status–perpetual cold fronts and muddy waters.

Every morning the first cup of coffee is savored while perusing www.wunderground.com and the USACE River level and forecast. With Sunday morning comin’ down, it LOOKS like the River will stabilize at the level where USACE delineates between moderate and major flood. This observation is akin to being ” a little bit pregnant”.

As of yesterday essentially every boat ramp is inaccessible with a “dry foot” policy. Parking lots have several feet of water covering them. Those with a railroad trestle or road bridge require a Limbo maneuver to negotiate.

IF the River level stabilizes along the imaginary line between moderate and major flood by this time next week, fishin’ will be worthwhile by the 1st week in May. Accessibility will be a major issue. But a River Rat will find a way.

With water still flowing through the trees the only barriers to stop fish may be shoreline along railroad tracks or areas which are normally dry & solid ground.

Sometimes getting there requires snaking through flooded timber between trunks and under limbs to arrive at calmer waters. Visibillity in these places is generally greater than 18 inches. With dark bottom the water column here will warm quickly to above 55 degrees. something about that number pushes the “eat” button on species like bass and pike AND displaced walleyes.

My Lund Alaskan draw about 18″. The 14′ AlumaCraft Jon boat, about half that much. The jon is really too small to guide more than one person. Fine by me. Fishin’ between now and mid-May will almost certainly be an adventure…with quick potential for turning into a pickle.

Pickles aren’t a problem on fishin’ missions with just one “strap”. But i certainly wouldn’t put a client’s life in jeopardy–ever. Right now there are only a half-dozen trips on the books where clients will need to make an informed decision between now and opener of Wisconsin’s general fishing season. If you aren’t one of these folks there are a few open dates in both May and June when the hazard level on the River will likely be more “normal”.

After coming very close to the Big Adios over last winter I’m just thankful to still be vertical and able to fish. And tussling with a toother where wild flowers usually grow is a sure recipe for a grateful grin.

On Easter morning water temp in the river mainstem was hovering around 40 degrees. 72 hours later it jumped into the mid-50s. Most walleyes got ‘er done.

With Easter now 6 days behind us the marble-eyes are sliding back downstream a little higher in the water column. Males are like teenage boys after the prom. They wanna go for pizza and beer. Females just dropped a third of their body weight. They want an in-your-face presentation several feet off the bottom.

Snowmelt is causing the River to rise steadily. If you check the USACE flow chart at https;//water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=arx&gage=genw3 the rise is an incline plane at about a 45 degree upward angle, moving from “action stage” almost up to the ‘moderate flood” level.

These two factors–sharply rising River levels and water temperatures –are changing fish location literally by the hour, BUT one common denominator is a key to finding them: fish the lazy side of current seams in an increasingly angry River.

Once you find active fish they will likely be in a tight little pod. Come back after lunch and the pod has probably moved on. Talkin’ walleyes here. The AIM tourney is happening today on Pool 9, so I’m not keen on spilling the beans–even though the catch and release on site format is good.

I think most of the larger walleyes are spawned out. Yesterday I was fun fishin’ with my first mate , Mike Yauk. We had a spawned out ‘eye which weighed about 10 lbs.that hit a Rayburn Red MR-6 crank, casting and retrieving on the quiet side of a current seam. this bait tracks down about 8 feet. She was the 3rd spawned out female to be tussled with and freed since the year’s most important day for Christians..

Current seams and warmer water have been key in bass location over the past week as well, with presentation also a factor. Mike me were on a “fishin’ mission” to boat 50 gamefish yesterday. We accomplished this mission in 2 hrs., 46 mins–a catch rate of one gamefish every 3.26 minutes. About 90 % of this catch was quality bass. Most basshit B-Fish-N Pulse R’s in sassafras pattern on a 1/8 oz Draggin jighead or Z-Man Ned rigged TRD.

With the aforementioned conditions these fish have now moved on, looking for warmer water with visibility of at least 18″.. ..essentially upstream end of backwaters which load from downstream. If water is coming through flooded trees from upstream you won’t find any fish there.

It takes me at least an hour to figure out the fish every single day. during flood conditions finding fish can take twice that long. That’s fishin’ on perhaps the most challenging –sometimes rewarding–riverine system in the USA.

Mike just posted a hilarious video of me on social media, saying when i was born i tried to reel in my umbilical cord & Chuck Norris is my co-angler. Start believing you are master of the River and She will humble your quickly and severely. That’s why I love her so!

Stay safe out there! Watch for dunnage when running under power. Wear your PFD & kill switch. tight lines.