Hotspotoutdoors

HI guys,

Been a long time since I have hit the river. Is the Hudson bridge area still productive or should we target further south?

I launched at 5AM & fished most of the day Saturday.

Fished the I-94 Bridge area hard, the east shore of the "lake" section & Kinninkinnic.

Did not catch a walleye.

Did not see a walleye caught.

Used 4 colored jigs, crawler rigs, leeches, minnows.

BUT, the WI CO's in the unmarked Crestliner pulled a single guy over who was fishing 2 lines in a small boat in the Kinni. They checked him and he must have had one too small. They took the walleye, brought it in their boat, measured & took a picture. Then they released it.

05/24/09 St. Croix River smallmouth bass are open for fishing. This spring many reports of huge bass have been noted by fisherman, and my boat has been no different, we have landed and released 21, 20, and several 18 to 19 inch smallmouth bass. Look for a great smallmouth bass season this year on the Croix. Topbaits are Gitzit tubes on jig heads (1/8 to ¼ ounce), Rapala DT10’s, flukes (jerkbaits), and buzzbaits. It is no secret smallmouth like rock, however early in the season they are also on sandpoints. (Please release all smallies, they are very slow growing, white bass, walleye, catfish, northern pike, and sauger all eat better).
St. Croix River walleye are showing up in their summer locations and locating on shoreline structure from shallow depths 8 to 12 feet to 19 to 21 feet deep. Walleye are on the move and more difficult to locate than previous weeks. Fewer anglers are getting limits on the St. Croix, but as walleyes locate into their summer haunts fishing should improve. Lindy rigging with nightcrawlers, leeches, and fatheads in the above mentioned depths are catching keepers. Trolling Rapalas are still putting fish in the boat as well, shad raps (SR 07 and 08 shad, yellow perch, and firetiger), minnow raps (MR 09), and original floaters (F11).
Freshwater drums (sheephead) have been biting like mad. I had a trip with a great customer of mine, Mark Cavaleri where he battled a ten-pound sheephead, and that fight in the pure sense of a fight between fish and man was the best of the day, the river holds many surprises (btw Mark won). Sheeps are caught by most without intention while fishing for walleye. Catfish are starting to be reported and should get going strong as the water warms a local expert has already landed a massive 46 pounder. White bass are also in walleye spots with sheepheads, walleye, and saugers and are biting at an average pace.
Have fun and good luck.

I was out yesterday with loos15. We did really well. Launched out of the Bluffs at 6 AM. Went to some normal haunts on the Croix and didn't make a lot of fish so we made our way down to Prescott. Hit a spot that has become very hot for me this spring. We spent our whole morning there. Pink and Gold jigs with a shiner and Lindy's with red hooks and a shiner were deadly for us today. We each limited out by 10:30!! Only a couple of walleye caught that were small. Our limit was of Saugers. Couple of shorties at 14.5" but mainly 16-17" saugers were in the boat.

Was a great day. Loos15 got a white bass, but for the first time since I fished with him, not one sheephead in the boat!!

Nice report shane. I'm waiting till I can get out that way and hit the river with you.

5/25 trolling bite. The bite for suspended walleyes appears to coming into full swing. Took the wife out today to try some new spots but do to the wind we found ourselves back at an old tried but true spot. Although 2 colors of lead and a 30 foot leader of flourocarbon took the bigger fish, a #5 glass shadrap trolled 75 to 85 feet behind a planerboard was responsible for the majority of the boated fish. We were fishing a flat the ranged from 14 to 18 feet deep. Natural colors were a decided favorite. Best speeds ranged from 2.21 to 2.6 mph with most of the fish hitting towards the faster speeds. Tight lines.

Got out yesterday afternoon/evening. Got a mixed bag of a few eyes, saugers, a white bass and a 22" Sheepie. Most of the eyes were around 14" and the biggest sauger was 16". I was rigging with whole crawlers ( I use half a lot, but more so in the summer) and they were inhaling them! No subtle bites at all. I was mostly in around 19-23 fow. I also tried pulling some cranks. I got a lot of strikes, but no hook ups. There was minimal boat traffic and the weather could not have been better! Life is good!

Was out yesterday morn. with my five year old grandaughter, she caught a few small eyes, many sheephead, and a few small cats and We had a Blast, cause when I'm with her I know It's all about her and it should be. What a great day :-).

HTB

fished this morning from 6-9:30 AM 2- 14inch eyes, 1-6inch eye, 1-13inch sauger, 1-14inch sauger. trolled the afton shore with crankbaits. Not great but a beautiful morning.

May 31, 2009 St. Croix walleye fishing is improved from the previous week as stable summer like weather arrived. Walleyes have been caught from 6 to 21 feet of water on split shot rigs, livebait slip sinker rigs, three ways with or without spinners, and trolling cranks. Best bait depends on whom you talk to, however recently crawlers and leeches have been best for my boat. Others have had success on fatheads or shiners. Livebait slip sinker weights from 1/8 to 3/8 are proper for the depths listed above. Rapalas are the ticket (shad raps, minnow raps, and shad rap RS, also jointed Raps have been reported hot, with the clear water you would think natural colored crankbaits should be best, but firetiger has been a great color so has shad (go figure?).

Smallmouth continue to bite well and caught on same presentations as last week.
Top lures are Gitzit tubes on jig heads (1/8 to ¼ ounce), Rapala DT10s, flukes (jerkbaits), spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits. It is no secret smallmouth like rock; however early in the season they are also on sand points. (Please release all smallies, they are very slow growing, white bass, walleye, catfish, northern pike, and sauger all eat better).

Freshwater drum and white bass are also hitting. Channel cats are not starting to bite yet, in my boat hasn’t seen one yet. Sounds like the big flatheads are on the chew…

The St. Croix River is very low and is 675.55 the river is also as clear as I have seen it, with minimal debris. On a side note and friend of mine reported sight fishing for smallmouth, in the river that is a rare event.

Keep Catchin! and enjoy.

I am going to be fishing the st. croix for the first time this week and was wondering where i should fish for pike and smallys? I was gonna launch down by hudson or if theres anyone that would want to go fishing I would love to come learn how to fish the st. croix. I usually fish lakes and about the only river i fish is the rainy river in the slot season in april

Thanks
Joe R

Was on the river this morning. Started out pretty brutal. We boated one 14" eye in the first three hours!! We rigged, jigged and did it some more. About two hours in we started handlining with cranks. We went from Pool three in Prescott all the way up to the Bluffs and didn't even mark any fish. Got a call from River Dan and he told me where he found them yeaterday. We went over those spots for a while and couldn't mark one fish. I've been on the river a long time and I've never had where I couldn't even mark fish.

We went up to one of my tried and true spots and I marked a few. We started riggin' there and low and behold we ended the day with six eyes in the boat (only one keeper though), Five Smallies and two rock bass. Turned out to be a decent day of fishing, but man it took a while to find them and many, many spots that normally produce that didn't to day.

Key thing today was to move a lot until we could mark some. If they didn't bite within 15 minutes, move on. Leeches on red hooked lindy's were the ticket today. Couldn't buy a bite on minnows or any color hook but the red.

Sandman, my experiences lately on the river have been exactly what you just described. Spots that produced fairly consitently last year have been producing zero fish. I would expect to at least catch a few small sauger in these areas but nothing?
I was out last Tuesday and yesterday from Noon to 7:00PM. Both days I jumped from spot to spot and did not get on any Walleye/Sauger until around 5:00PM on both days. I'm not sure if that was just the time that the bite picked up or if I just found the right spot around the same time of day. Both days I was on very different spots when the bite picked up so I'm leaning toward the time of day being the primary factor. Most fish were caught on handline on Tuesday and on Sunday it was all about live bait. Hooked up with a nice 8 lb catfish on Sunday and was very pleased by how my new Limit Creek Smoothie handled a larger fish. I have been working live bait a lot more this year on the Croix and have been having a blast. One thing that I have learned since running live bait more is; Sheepies like minnows, Sheepies like leaches, and Sheepies really, really like crawlers.

Last Week Report by redLundrebel:
6/6 from 5-8 pm - caught 1 19" walleye north of 94 bridge. Caught ots of smallies south 94 bridge Mn side. Lindyrigs with fatheads.

6/7 from 5am to 1030am, fish with loos15. We caught a total of 6 saugers. Loose15 caught 4 i think combination of jigs and rigs by Prescott area using fatheads.. Was slow and rainy..

6/8 from 330pm to 615pm caught six saugers by prescott area with rigs using fatheads.

Thats it folks.. If you see me on the river stop by and say, "Hi"
Have a good day..

I've been finding that sheepies like crankbaits too.

I don't think theirs anything that sheepies don't like. Though yesterday we caught zero for the first time in a long time.

June 8, 2009 St. Croix walleye fishing is good with action in 8 to 17 feet of water. Livebait presentations either light line with light weights or power trolling spinners has been productive. Power trolling is a method of fast trolling spinners on heavier weights (like a three way or bottom bouncer). Leeches, crawlers, and minnows are catching fish. Trolling cranks in the same above listed depths are also productive. Walleye continue to be taken on Rapala shad raps. This bite continues much as last weeks bite. The one difference is larger walleye have been biting at a better rate and 22 to 26 inch walleye are being caught at a higher rate than normal. Many of the sub legal walleye that were caught during the opener of early may are now just over the 15 inch legal mark. The river is extremely clear and water levels low, the recent rain the lower St. Croix has received will likely not darken the water much, as the rain was a soaking rain.

Smallmouth bass are still found in the same rocky shorelines. Top presentations are Gitzit tubes on jig heads (1/8 to ¼ ounce), Rapala DT10s, flukes (jerkbaits), spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits.

Channel cats are now being found in my landing nets and these tough fighting fish are always a good scrap. We accidentally take them on walleye presentations from livebait to trolling Rapalas. Freshwater drum are still active and white bass action is a liitle slow.

Have fun fishing!~!

We picked up 3 channel cats (one was 29 1/2 inches and really fat) and a 30" northern on cut sucker monday night between 8:00 and 10:00pm. Water temp was 59 degrees, down almost 10 degrees from about a week ago but it hasn't hurt the cat bite. Beautiful night on the water and hardly any boat traffic - the evening temp was cool and some fog was just starting when we ran in at 10:30. Warmer weather in the forecast should keep the channel cat bite going.

fish from the bluff all the way to prescott from 8-1130AM today, and all i caught was one cigar size sauger..

Glad I am not the only one with luck like that recently.

I made it out yesterday from about 3-9, caught about 20 eyes and a few saugers, put 3 in the box, the rest were all between 14-15"... again with all the shorties. A good time again!

Oh yeah, if the 2 guys who got a talkin to yesterday about cutting me off while I was bass fishing reads this, I apologize, but I would think that while you idled by me 20 feet away you would have noticed that I was pitching tubes to the bank and would have at least went about 200 yards past me, not 20, before you dropped your trolling motor and did the same....so, again I'm sorry I let you know my dislike for that move, but I couldn't let that one go....

Ditto.....

Did that on Sunday and almost gave up but just couldn't. We hit a couple of more spots and found them. Lots of shorts but still got some fish. Just have to keep hitting it, they're still there.

Got out yesterday and ran hot & cold. I got quite a few eyes, but the majority were just under 15". I was able to at least get one nice one for the box. I started out trolling leadcore with a firetiger shadrap and got two right out of the gate. Then it died down and I switched to rigging leeches. The bite really picked up at dusk.

+1 to that. I was out yesterday afternoon as well. Went through a pile of bait from 8pm-9pm.