Author Topic: Ft. Peck 2006 (This is big in more ways than one) (Read 20915 times)

walleyeslayer · « **Reply #60 on:** Feb 23, 2006, 01:34 PM »

Quote from: IceTroll on Feb 19, 2006, 01:35 PM

The annual 10 day trip is complete. The weather was a tad bit brutal at the end of the trip and I have no doubt that a day or two we reached thirty to forty below with the wind chill. Fortunately for us the fishing prior to the cold front rocked and we caught some real pigs this go round. Two Pike over 20, three Walleyes over 12, one Walleye over 11 and on over 10. Plenty of other Pike and Lakers ranging from low to high teens and plenty of smaller Walleye and Ling that we did not photo. The Ling ran small this year with our best about 8 lbs. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

Me with three Walleye I caught. Two were over 12 and one was over ten
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Then my buddy Duker with one of his big Walleye. Duker had another big one I must not have photographed.
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Some nice Northerns. The first bunch is Dukers catch. One of these fish was 21 lbs and another was 22 lbs although I cant remember which was which. The rest were in the mid to high teens.
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My buddy Pete (Pickeral Pete) with a dandy Northern.
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Me with some nice Northerns I caught.
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And another of my friends, Brian, who was a late comer on the trip, looking stylish in his ice survival suit and holding a decent Pike.
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Then a few Lakers. Duker with the first couple.
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Then Pete with a very frozen Laker. It was so cold, this fish was frozen solid in 10 minutes.
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Those were pretty much the highlites of the trip, or at least the fish that I had the presence of mind to photograph. The other interesting occurrance was when the Coyotes ran a big Mulie buck onto the ice into the middle of the bay we were fishing. This occurred between our night and morning runs. This deer was at least a half mile from any shore line and really fought for his life. Unfortunately he lost the battle. The photos are a bit graphic but it depicts a real life mother nature struggle between the strong and the weak and between predator and prey. If it makes anyone feel any better, we did avenge this killing with some Coyote killing of our own.
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wow, i wish i could get into some fish like that

Pickeral Pete · « **Reply #61 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 12:34 AM »

Little Buddy speaks the truth! I have the pleasure of calling him Little Buddy too, as I have given the guy most of his nick names, including the Ice Troll and in return he glossed me Pickerel Pete. This was my 7th or 8th trip up to Peck. Best trip yet. The fishing was unreal this year, a real lifetime trip for us three. Troll has fished long and hard to get into the 10# Walleye club and so has Duker. Their reward was the Troll gets two 12+ and one 11# Walleye and those were his first three fish (that's no BullS&%$!). Duker (The long haired fella) laments about getting into the 10# Walleye and 20# Northern club. He gets a 12# and 10# Walleye and a 21# and 22# Northern. He now has a 1200.00 taxidermy bill! As for me, I caught a tiny 8# walleye and my best yet 19# Northern but it was more than worth the trip to see the fish that the guys caught.

A few notes and tips for the trip:

1.Plan to stay a while. The fishing can be real slow at times. We fished 33 man days and caught maybe 60 fish but ten were screamers! If you are going to go through all the logistics to make a trip like this, you better stay awhile.

2.Fish bigger and stronger. This year, I had 100# Power Pro and 30#-50# titanium leaders. I had three failures. One broken hook (a thin Kayle that probably had rusted), a line that was pulled from a spool (most likely a bad knot and one broken 30# titanium leader(probably too big of a fish)!

3.Have the means to be mobile on the lake. That means at a minimum a 4-wheeler and enough fuel for 300-400 miles. Average daily miles for a total of two runs is about 30-50 miles a day.

4.Have the minnows and the capacity to store them in traps in the lake.

5.It helps to have a compressor, battery charger, reliable generator, fix a flat and propane heaters.

6.Fish spread out. We will have tip ups from 100 yards to 5 miles apart.

Every year we learn more. The best trick this year was rubber surgical gloves and super glue ti fix those annoying cuts on your fingers.

Pete

perch@pans · « **Reply #62 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 07:55 AM »

Thank you for info ,any info is greatly appreciated ,I have to come over the rockies for this trip but it sure seems worth it (just the scenery alone is worth it!) I have a line on a used 4-wheeler Hopefully next month. Are there any perch or panfish there as well? Icetroll mentioned a four season camper do you have any freeze up promblems on an extended stay? Thanks again pickeral pete. Dan

tip-uptwo · « **Reply #63 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 07:58 AM »

Can someone direct me with a link to Icetroll's Last years report.....

That is a trip you would never forget....

Wow..

Waubay Fisher · « **Reply #64 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 03:15 PM »

Here's Troll's last year's trip:
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=22126.0

And I believe this is his 2004 trip:
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=11840.0

Warning... Troll's pictures are HIGHLY addictive... I've caught myself at times staring for hours on end

PS - Search tool works wonders too!!!

IceTroll · « **Reply #65 on:** Feb 25, 2006, 05:16 PM »

Strong post Pete and some excellant points and advise. You know I love ya brother. We did experience a little bit of slushing/freezing of the water lines in my camper this year but nothing that caused any bursting or damage. I was a little miffed at the time but in hindsight the ole girl performed pretty well considering we had several nights where it got between -30 and -50 with the wind chill factor. This was the coldest trip we ever experience and it was somewhat unusual for the time of year. Pete is right about being prepared. The bad thing about fishing Ft. Peck is you are on your own. Help is a long ways away and you better have the ability to deal with little problems like flat tires, campers freezing, flat tires and Ford trucks that wont start or lock into 4 wheel drive (sorry Duker, I could not resist buddy

). We do learn new things every year and we get better and better at it without a doubt. Storing minnows in a minnow trap under the ice is another excellant point by Pete. You will never keep your minnows alive and fresh by storing them in a bucket or cooler. It just wont work. When you have 15 to 20 dozen minnows, keeping them under the ice is a must. Perch & Pans..........there are pan fish like Perch, white crappie and black crappie in the reservoir. There are also Large and smallmouth bass as well. I have never caught any of them though except for last year when I hooked a smallmouth that was consequently swallowed by a Ling. When I caught the Ling, I pulled the bass out of his throat, which still had the hook in his mouth. Moral of the story..............it sucks to be a small fish in Ft. peck and your life expectancy is short.

IceTroll

perch@pans · « **Reply #66 on:** Feb 27, 2006, 02:56 PM »

Thank you both for the info and the invite, after coming to California I wasn't sure on where I was going to icefish , luckily I found a high alt. lake nearby, so it looks my wife and I are going to try and make it to hell creek marina for lodging. How are they doing after the fire? We have yet to contact them, visited their website seems like an excellent lodging choice . We have been looking @ R.V.s for some time now , is your unit a 4-season unit with heated tanks and extra insulation or a conventional rig? Thanks again, Dan

IceTroll · « **Reply #67 on:** Feb 27, 2006, 10:22 PM »

Mine is an Arctic Fox which is a true 4 season camper. Quite a few claim to be but many really are not. Having running water in hunting and ice fishing camp is a beautiful thing. Call me spoiled. I have not had a chance to talk with Clint or Deb recently but last I heard the rebuilding process was under way. They are great people and the little hotel units they have are pretty nice. Not the Ramada mind you but adequate and close to the water/ice.

PondPro · « **Reply #68 on:** Feb 28, 2006, 06:42 AM »

wow, nice walleye,musky,laker and deid mule deer.

fishuhalik · « **Reply #69 on:** Mar 07, 2006, 09:58 AM »

So troll, why is it that you guys only use tipups when walleye fishing? Have you ever tried jigging with a vex? I know it's helped me a TON since I started using one. Also, how is it you guys figure out what areas to fish? Do you just pull out a topo map and try to narrow 'em down? It's amazing that you can catch fish like that almost every time you go. Imagine what someone could do if they could spend the time on the lake to REALLY get to know it!

crappieslayer22 · « **Reply #70 on:** Mar 07, 2006, 11:12 AM »

nice pics

perch@pans · « **Reply #71 on:** Jun 16, 2006, 08:47 PM »

Quote from: Waubay Fisher on Feb 25, 2006, 03:15 PM

Here's Troll's last year's trip:
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=22126.0

And I believe this is his 2004 trip:
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=11840.0

Warning... Troll's pictures are HIGHLY addictive... I've caught myself at times staring for hours on end

PS - Search tool works wonders too!!!

I just thought Iwould bring these back up to cure the summer doldrums !

tip-uptwo · « **Reply #72 on:** Dec 02, 2006, 05:18 PM »

Mentally beaming myself there right now........I can never get enough of this report.

fish-slayer · « **Reply #73 on:** Dec 04, 2006, 07:29 PM »

Those are huge good job you guy's nice pic's.

tip-uptwo · « **Reply #74 on:** Dec 05, 2006, 05:40 AM »

Quote from: fish-slayer on Dec 04, 2006, 07:29 PM

Those are huge good job you guy's nice pic's.

No kiddin'...

I am giggling like a little school girl in excitement to see this years report

ol crawdad · « **Reply #75 on:** Dec 05, 2006, 06:52 AM »

AWESOME FISH!!

SLAYERFISH · « **Reply #76 on:** Dec 06, 2006, 08:16 AM »

I have fished Peck once in June and it was awesome! You guys are killing me with those pics! I want to be there now!

lostfisher1 · « **Reply #77 on:** Dec 07, 2006, 11:53 AM »

wow. very nice pics.

IceTroll · « **Reply #78 on:** Dec 28, 2006, 03:31 AM »

Hey gang. I been gone a while because I have been very busy. Very little time to myself or for recreation because I have been working two jobs for nearly a year now. Not to mention the fact that I bought a newly constructed house in August and I have a ton of work to do. I still have to put in a sprinkler system, lay sod, put up a fence and finish a basement that has been framed in only. House is 3600 square feet and yard is about 14,000 square feet so it is a monster and kind of overwhelming.

I am making plans for my 2007 Ft. Peck Pilgrimage in February because nothing can stop me from making that trip. Been doing it every year since 95 and last couple of years we been making Spring time open water trips as well. My buddy Duker bought a house in Jordan Mt which is only about 25 miles from the lake near Hell Creek. What makes this nice is we can put up as many people as we can talk into going between the house and the camper. We have a little Subaru wagon that we can shuttle people back and forth, so a place to stay is no longer a problem. The only real requirement to fish Ft. Peck is an ATV or a snowmobile to get around. The lake simply cant be fished any other way and get the results we get year after year. So, the question is..............who is coming to Montana in February 2007. I know a lot of guys have talked about it but we are making it so easy, some of you are running out of excuses.

Fishuhalic,
You asked about why we only fish with tipups. The majority of the fishing we do is with tipups but we have been experimenting the last couple of years with a vex. The results have been mixed and the potential is very good. Hard to argue with our tipup sucess though. The fact of the matter is that I spend alot of my down time calling in and killing Coyotes when I am not checking tipups. The predator hunting is almost better than the fishing. Most of these Coyotes have never even seen a human and have never been called. Its like taking candy from a baby and loads of fun when we are not fishing. Best of all it requires absolutely no hunting license whatsoever for non-residents so its cheap and rewarding fun. The pelts we collect offset some of the fuel expenses which is really the most expensive part of the trip. A guy that was dedicated to jigging could probably do pretty well although I would certainly recommend setting up 5 tipups and jigging with another since the law allows 6 total lines and no requirement to be in attendance of your tipups. Some of our tipups are sometimes as much as 10 miles from the camper.

Anyone who is truly intersted feel free to send me a message and we can talk more. The rest of you will just have to wait until the end of February for Ft. Peck picture post 2007

IceTroll

SLAYERFISH · « **Reply #79 on:** Dec 28, 2006, 08:38 AM »

Thanx for the invite, Troll! I have a dodge diesel 4x4 with a pop-up camper, and several snowmobiles. Just might be able to swing it. I'm thinking---

Grimace · « **Reply #80 on:** Dec 28, 2006, 08:19 PM »

wicked trip.

fishuhalik · « **Reply #81 on:** Dec 29, 2006, 03:21 AM »

icetroll, good to hear from ya! hopefully it's gonna work out, man do i ever hope it's gonna work out. man, does that ever make it nice having a place to stay! i'll be driving my contour svt, so i can shuttle ppl b5-06ack and forth, too, so we can try to keep gas costs down. my only problem is that i don't have a wheeler. would it be possible to hitch a ride on the back of someone's wheeler? i have everything else in order, savings account is still intact, and i just need to let my boss know when i need the time off. i just got a couple more questions. i thought about pming ya, but figured some of the other guys on here might wanna know what is required for a trip like this, so figured i'd let ya put it on here for them to see. is there anywhere in the area to buy bait, or should i get it beforehand? i'm just hoping i don't have to get it in MN and drive it all the way there, my luck it'd all be dead by the time i get there! also, i have as far as the coyotekillin' goes, sounds like a blast and count me in, i've got a couple boxes of freshly-loaded 80 grain 25-06 hp's and she's sighted in for 300 yards, so bring 'em on! hmm, trying to think of anything else...oh, food. what should i bring, or do you usually just buy it out there? have you guys tried any really big baits, like 10-12" suckers and ciscoes, or do you just catch 'em on normal minnows (suckers, shiners, etc). if i can think of any other ?s i'll let ya know. oh, and if you could let me know when we're going as soon as possible, i'd really appreciate it!!

fishuhalik · « **Reply #82 on:** Dec 29, 2006, 03:38 AM »

one other thing, if there's any of you guys from mn or anywhere else for that matter that wanna meet up, i'd be more than happy to split gas w/ ya! heck, i might even just let ya ride for free. it'd be nice to have some accompaniement on a long trip like that!

IceTroll · « **Reply #83 on:** Dec 29, 2006, 02:15 PM »

Fishuhalic,
I really dont see a reason why it wouldnt be possible for you to ride around on the back of someones ATV. Its not like we havent done it before. If you make the trip, we could probably get you around. Your 25-06 with 80 grainers would make a very deadly pill for song dogs and should be more than adequate. As far as bait goes, there is several bait shops in the area where you can get minnows. We use large Shiners, suckers and creek chubs. We have tried real jumbo size minnows and they do work. It just seems that I have had better luck on the 6"-8" minnows than the really big ones. The Northern and Ling we catch regularly on dead minnows but to catch the Walleye and Lakers it seems to take live minnows. You can do food anyway you would like. There is a grocery store in Jordan so you can get anything you need there. I usually bring my food but then again I stay in my four season camper, on the lake with all the comforts of home. The house in Jordan will let the guys staying there keep and prepare their food right there. As far as tackle, make sure any tipups you have are able to withstand a hooked big fish while you are not right there to grab it. I use 150 lb test Cabelas power pro (30 lb diameter) super braid and 40 lb Malin Boa No-Kink Titanium stretch leader. The Malin is better than steel leader because its just as strong and does not kink and it can be tied. Its also almost invisible in the water. You can do a Google search for the Malin leader which is all I do when I need more. If you try to use mono, flouro or super braid for leader you will lose alot of fish and perhaps have your heart broken. Trust me, we have tried it all. The Malin wire is by far the best we have ever used. We have had success with Sevalon seven strand coated leader but the stuff kinks bad and needs to be replaced after almost every fish you catch. Not much else a guy really needs. If I think of anything else I will let you know.

IceTroll

PIKEGUY · « **Reply #84 on:** Jan 03, 2007, 10:38 AM »

Quote from: fishuhalik on Dec 29, 2006, 03:38 AM

one other thing, if there's any of you guys from mn or anywhere else for that matter that wanna meet up, i'd be more than happy to split gas w/ ya! heck, i might even just let ya ride for free. it'd be nice to have some accompaniement on a long trip like that!

That's pretty tempting

fishuhalik · « **Reply #85 on:** Jan 04, 2007, 11:56 PM »

Love ta meet up w/ ya pikeguy. just meet me here in minneapolis and i'll drive the rest of the way. my contour gets about 32 mpg on the highway, don't worry about paying for gas, i got it. that goes for any of you other guys too. i've got room for 4! just chip in on a good steak dinner and we'll call it even. is that tempting enough?

IceTroll · « **Reply #86 on:** Jan 05, 2007, 02:39 AM »

You go Fishuhalik. Dont know if you saw my other post in the Ft. Peck coming thread but it looks like I will be in Jordan on the morning of the 5th of February. I will be staying up there for somewhere around two weeks. Let me know for sure and we will work out details.

IceTroll

OZZY · « **Reply #87 on:** Jan 05, 2007, 06:33 PM »

Is Ft. Peck in Wyoming?

Hellsangler · « **Reply #88 on:** Jan 05, 2007, 06:39 PM »

Eastern Montana .

OZZY · « **Reply #89 on:** Jan 05, 2007, 06:44 PM »

Quote from: Hellsangler on Jan 05, 2007, 06:39 PM

Eastern Montana .

Thanks man, that looks like one awesome trip!!

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Author Topic: Ft. Peck 2006 (This is big in more ways than one) (Read 20915 times)

perch@pans

perch@pans

perch@pans

PIKEGUY