Got to love the Missouri Breaks

[grumpymoe]

Some truly spectacular series of pics and fish!!! way to go guys....Grump 8)

[IceTroll]

Sandbilly,
Peck has some real monster Perch and Black Crappie in it but you have to really work hard to find them. They stay pretty deep and/or in the Timber (it sucks to be a small fish in this lake). We fish nowadays on the main lake arm but if I was looking for Perch or Crappie, I would fish the Big Dry Arm. There is much more submerged trees and timber. I try to stay away from alot of timber because of the way we fish this lake. You are usually not close to a tipup when it goes off and those big toothy's will wrap you up in a tree if there are any nearby. Just an example, this year there was three of us and our last tipup was close to 10 miles from the camper. We had a 20 mile round trip run to check our tipups and did it at least 3 to 4 times a day (6 tipups a piece and no attendance law). Most of the time you are completely spooled when you get to a tipup so we use very heavy duty equipment and limit how much line the fish can run with. Quick strike rigs help to not hook the fish too deep because we prefer to release all the really big fish we catch. To be honest I dont really look for Perch or Crappie when the huge Pike, Walleyes, sauger, Lakers and Ling keep us pretty busy. Let me know when you are ready to come fish and if I cant hook up with you, I will give you all the information I can to help you. We go everyyear about the first week in February because it takes alot of cold to really cap this lake good. Much earlier in the year and you limit where you can go on the lake.

IceTroll

[Pasquatch]

Great Fish, wow!
How long were you guys there?
 Damn, that was amazing!

[TroutFishingBear]

icetroll, that's a great trip! I've always wanted to fish the reservoir with the same last name I have! (peck) Who knows the luck I might have there!
It's  #2 on my list of lakes to fish, lake powell being #1.

[Pasquatch]

icetroll, that's a great trip! I've always wanted to fish the reservoir with the same last name I have! (peck) Who knows the luck I might have there!
It's  #2 on my list of lakes to fish, lake powell being #1.

You may be on to something...
#1, Lake George...ahemm....

[IceTroll]

We were there for ten days Pasquatch. Those pictures certainly werent of all the fish we caught. Just a good representation. Plus we took some time off for the Super Bowl (big Patriots fan here) and to log some hours in a spear house. The spearing thing was pretty cool to do even though none of us speared anything. The Hell Creek Marina has spear houses that you can rent to try something new. Its a 400 plus mile trip for us so when we go, we spend enough time to make it worthwhile.

IceTroll

[Cargo]

IceTroll,
           I know what you mean when you say the fishing was not that good. I have been going to Ft. Peck sense 1987. I have caught my share of trophy fish. I have spent 10 days on the ice without coming off.On that trip I put 450 miles on my wheeler. I have fished Devils creek, Hellcreek, timbercreek,The Dry arm, the pines and everything in between.
            I have experienced straight -40 and 40 above it can be very western and when you say your 60 miles from town, thats Jordan or Ft.Peck a real town which is Miles City is two hrs. you don't want to screw up.
           We used to go twice a winter to Devils creek, have you ever been down in there?
            But for shear numbers of 18" to 22" eyes it just does not happen that often. I had ling trips that we could have filled the back end of a pickup.
             When you set up for eyes and the Northerns just tear you up after a while it just is a pain in the you know what. Also you can only keep 1 sauger now can't you. Years ago we had a couple of sauger holes that were incredible. My son and I caught two sauger that were 27" long.
            The last couple of years we have been going to Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota can't beat it for quality and quantity.     

[IceTroll]

Big Ice,
The fishing was a little slow this year but I have had plenty of years where we tore em up. We did have the huge fluctuation in temps you are talking about though. First day we were there temp hit 60 degrees and it was a mess. 2 days later it was 15 below zero. I have never been all the way down to Devils Creek but I have fished as far as Snow Creek and K marker. The sauger are lumped in with the walleye now and the limit is 5 a day and 10 in possession. Personally Big Ice, I dont mind the Northern "tearing me up" because thats what I am primarily looking for. I can catch walleye at home. Overall, I will take Peck any day over any other Lake in North America for size and numbers. I wont fish Sakakawea because you can only use 4 tipups and have to stay within 150 feet of your tipups at all times. That to me would be a pain in the you know what for the distance I would have to travel to get there. Gotta love those Ling too. Bring em on and I will boil em up.

Icetroll

[Cargo]

IceTroll,
           If you have made it to K marker you went a long way from Hell Creek. When we used to go in at Hell Creek know one was there in the winter. Is someone there in the winter now? If you like big pike make the trip around the town of Ft. Peck and go in at Bonetrail the head to Timbercreek unbelievable Pike we have caught there.
        The best laker fishing I ever had was in the Dry Arm, Box Elder Creek Bay we went in at Rock Creek. You know some of those Laker's can be over 20 years old they need to be released.
        I like to go for walleyes, but what I am saying is you set up for eyes with 10lb mono and the northerns can go through it like butter.
       I had something maybe a Pike take the whole reel out from a polar tip-up the kind that sets across the whole. I have never had fish fight like those big Laker's, can they make some runs, to much fun.
       In 18 years I have never caught a Crappie or a perch.
         One trip myself and a buddy caught 10 Walleyes over ten pounds biggest 15 pounds in one day that trip we thought we might break the State record. I believe now it over 16lbs.
        Something we started doing when catching Pike was short lining them only let them run a short distance it helped hold allot more fish. 

[IceTroll]

Big Ice,

Thanks for your advice about the Bonetrail and Timbercreek. I have heard from other people that this area can be very good for Pike. I fished Gilbert Bay several years ago and lost a Northern that I think would have gone 30 lbs. I may have to try what you suggested. I have to agree with you on the Laker thing as well. They are some head shaking, strong running fools aren't they.

We also are looking for big Walleyes when we go up there, its just not our #1 target. The way we have found to catch walleyes and still be loaded for bear (toothy critters) on our set up is to use the ultra thin Titanium wire leaders that Malin makes ( Boa no-kink). I use 35 lb test but it is as thin as 8 lb mono and even more invisible. Plus, it stretches, which makes it a bit like a shock absorber when they hit the end of your spool. I too have seen fish tear the reel right off of a tip up several times. Next year I am trading in my standard Cortland 30 lb test tipup line to a super braid I found. It has the diameter of 30 lb mono but is 150 lb test. That should prevent some of the break offs I experienced the past several years. Would love to have seen the fish that snapped my 30 lb tipup line like it was sewing thread. Live, learn and improve your tactics. Thats what it is all about anyway.

As far as people at Hell Creek, its a pretty popular launch area year round these days. Clint Thomas ownes the Marina there and runs a first class operation. We stay in a camper but he rents first class rooms at an unbelievable low rate. Anything you need, you can get at that Marina including meals, lodging, tackle, bait, food and home cooked meals. He even rents out spear shacks and sets them up for people. Clint and Deb Thomas are outstanding and take pride in what they do.

IceTroll

[Pike Popper]

I'd gladly take that as a "slow" day anyday. Simply speechless of the size of the fish I've seen as being average fish from this place. Too bad NJ is so far away though. 

MikethePike just did a mapquest and this place is only 30 hours, 29 minutes and 1955.19 miles away. That's only about 45 X the amount of what we usually drive to get to a fishing spot.  Maybe we should just take a plane, although the nearest airport is probably hours and hours away lol. It sure would be nice if we could ever make it out there, although its unlikely.

Btw, Those pics are absoultely amazing. Those would be a fish of a lifetime over in my area.

[IceTroll]

Pikepopper,

Bet you guys could fly right into Billings. Only about 3 hrs from there. I can just picture MikethePike frantically typing away at the computer to come up with those figures. I am still laughing. Quit threatening guys and lets have an Ice Shanty western extravaganza next year. What a party that would be . We could have our own little Tournament.

IceTroll

[Sandbilly]

Sounds like a great idea. It would be around an 11 hour drive for us.

IceTroll, did you recieve an e-mail with some NE gills in it?

[IceTroll]

Sandbilly,

I never got yout email but that got me thinking. I went to my profile and found that it still contains my old email address. I updated the address so it is correct now.

IceTroll
 

[TroutFishingBear]

I guarantee I will be going there within the next 2-3 years. Icetroll, do you have gps coordinates you could pm to me? I know 3 years of thinking is a long way off but I want to be prepared

[IceTroll]

TFB,

I could certainly give you advise on where to go, where to stay, tackle to use, where to get bait and licenses and even specific spots to look for in a given area. I don't GPS exact spots because it would be somewhat worthless. With the drought and the fact that the lake and water levels change so much from year to year, I just don't see the point. What was good structure this year might be bone dry next year, or 10 feet deeper God willing. You let me know a few months out from when you are wanting to go and I will help you prepare and give you some names of other people that live in that area who can assist you. Or better yet, plan your trip when I go and you get a free guide. Works for me if it works for you.

IceTroll
   

[reelcharacter]

IceTroll,
You have got some outstanding pictures posted from last year and this year's trips !!!

-Reelcharacter

[IceTroll]

Thanks Reelcharacter and for everyone elses compliments. Check out some more Ft. Peck pictures by going to BigIce's post showing some of his fish. Every ice fisherman that takes road trips to fish new destinations owes it to himself to someday plan a trip to Peck. Unless of course you dont like catching really big fish. In that case me and my buddy Pickeral Pete will just have to keep it to ourselves.

IceTroll
     

[Gilles]

Very impressive pics!

[IceTroll]

I was going through my pictures again and found some interesting scenery pictures of Ft. Peck I thought you all might enjoy. The first two were kind of a unique sight for us. We have never seen guys that fish the lake by flying in and landing right on the ice. Talk about being able to access places that no one else can fish.



the rest are just pictures of small portions of the reservoir and the surrounding terrain





IceTroll
     

[archbishop]

jealousy is all that comes to mind

[UPSTATE ICEMASTER]

  I gotta put this place on my places to fish list it looks like a awesome place and i need to get there sometime 

[mgarvey]

icetroll those are some nice fish.

How long do you guys go for. I would love to book a trip the same time you guys go next year if you did not mind.

[IceTroll]

Slipbob,
No reason in the world why a guy could not spend some time jigging up there. We did a little jigging this year but like I said earlier, the day bite was pretty darn slow this year. Most of our fish were hooked over night or in the early early morning. My biggest problem with jigging is that I spend so much time going on long runs to check my tipups, checking bait and doing hole maintanence (got to keep those holes 9" in case of monster) I had little time to jig. We did hook a smaller walleye that got off and about a 7 lb Northern that we lost at the hole while jigging. Other than that, it was all tipups. Just to give you an idea of how much running and gunning we do, I got to the lake with a brand new Bombardier 650 ATV. It had less than 1 mile on it when I backed it out of the truck. When the trip was over I had well over 400 miles on it.

mgarvey,
This year we went for 10 days. I wont go for less than 6 and next year I may go for longer than 10. I could easily spend a month out there but I like to use some of my vacation for bow hunting elk in September. I take a 17 to 18 day trip every year and bow hunt those Wyoming bugling bulls. I would not mind one bit if you wanted to coordinate a trip for next year to go up with us. I have said it before that anyone who wants to go is more than welcome. An ATV or snowmobile would be a must and a camper of some kind would help in case we go someplace other than Hell Creek. Hell Creek is about the only place right on the lake where you can rent cheap rooms unless you go to the dam end of the lake and then you have the actual town of Ft. Peck which should have lodging. Hell Creek is easily 100 miles, as the crow flies, from the dam and much further to drive. A camper is the way to go because it opens up options for more remote locations on the lake

IceTroll
     

[reelcharacter]

Well IceTroll,

You continue to be the envy of many here on the Shanty.

-Reelcharacter

[Gilles]

IceTroll, do you have any hunting pics? I can't wait til August rolls around.

[AirManCam]

Man, I would love to come out and fish that lake with you guys! You would need an atv, becuase the snowmobiles sliders would just melt to the tracks, due to the lack of snow to cool the sliders down.

[IceTroll]

LakeTroutMaster,
Most years there is plenty of snow on the ice for snowmobiles. I prefer an ATV to get around on the Lake anyway though. Whenever your ready plan your road trip. Let me know.

Gilles,
I got lots of hunting pics, just none scanned into the computer. I keep forgetting my digital when I go hunting. I cant wait til Aug/Sep either. I will know in a month or two if I drew my Moose tag this year or not  . If so my sept. bow hunt will be an elk/moose/mule deer combo hunt.

reelcharacter,
Thanks but I would prefer to just be able to take a bunch of you guys fishing so you could catch the same fish we have been catching for the last 9 years. Remember, I have only posted the last two trips. There are 7 other previous trips just as good or much better than the last two. Unfortunetely, it would be pretty tough for me to post many of those pictures because those were the pre digital camera days or someone else took all the pictures. I will see what I can do about finding some older photos and perhaps scanning them in. Same for my hunting pictures Gilles.

IceTroll
     

[reelcharacter]

Would love to go out there, but am not going to get my hopes up for the time be'in. Went hunting with one brother-in law to the Great Falls Montana area for two weeks one Thanksgiving a few years ago. We brought some Mule Deer frozen in our suit cases back home to NY State with us. We made the flight home without a hitch. Our guns and game flew to Texas, then back here to Central NY. Our gear and game took the scenic route, but eventually made it back safe and sound.

Truly god's country. Great scenery and a very memorable time.

We are 2 hours from Canada or the Adirondacks. You have inspired me to seek out some adventure in the great outdoors in my own back yard.

-Reelcharacter

[big walleye]

man totally awesome pics. Those walleye are great!!!! I still cannot beleive you went after that tip up. You the man.