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St. Croix River Fishing Reports


Joe

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I do know how to get on the ice from both sides but I'm not a fan of driving a 3/4 to pickup across the river from Bayport, I would rather drive around and acess from Hudson if possible. Is the Hudson park acess open?

thanks,

HTB

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hey magic i have an accord which handled fine out there the day after the snow storm so you shouldnt have any problems

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I do know how to get on the ice from both sides but I'm not a fan of driving a 3/4 to pickup across the river from Bayport, I would rather drive around and acess from Hudson if possible. Is the Hudson park acess open?

thanks,

HTB

Open water in front of Hudson park. The only two access points are Bayport and North Hudson. Or were you speaking of the North Hudson park in that case it is open but there are some preasure ridges formed there.
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I went out yesterday from 8:00am-1:00 and caught 3 little ones and kept one that was bigger. nothing hitting minnows. I was using small lures with euro larvae and constant jigging and they would come up for it. when they hit they hit really soft hard to detect.

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Was new to fishing the river in bayport was wondering if anybody had any tips on what depth the fish are moving through and what areas to stay away from thin ice. Any info will help thanks guys

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I have to disagree on the minnows, I was out yesterday and iced 6 crappie all with a small minnow they were not hitting on fixed lines though.

.

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Need2, I generally target crappie 22-44', most often 28-35'. Usually you'll find them lurking around the max depth of the river basin. At times the active ones scoot up a bit along a break, but keeping to the basin edges at the base of the breaks usually works best. If you find them suspending off the bottom and are tight lipped, I've had some luck moving in shallower towards the depth they are suspending at and trying to pick them off there, those guys seem to be better biters if you can move them a little.

There IS bad ice towards the swing bridge to the south and around the power plant discharge open water areas on the MN side. North of that on the MN side are some springs and further north of the Stillwater bridge has many springs and faster current. If you're not sure and don't see others tracks, I'd play it safe and do some drilling.

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Thanks fishwater. Going to head out in an hr or so is there any bite after dark or does it shut down then? Any ideas on good colors for the river crops? Do you use mostly small crappie minnows and maggies also? Thanks for the advice

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need, I think if you read this whole thread you would get the answers to all your questions and get some really helpfull tips. Just gets old typing the same things over and over.

I will tell you the crappie in my avatar came from the river yesterday morning in 38' using a red jig with eurolarvae.

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Sorry Don, Didnt know the bite stayed the same now as it was 3 weeks ago knew to the river fishing used to the lakes but know i know thanks for the advice

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Need2fish I'm not sure when the bite is in the morning, not a morning person, but the bite in the afternoon seems to be around 2:30, 4 to 5:30 and 6:30 TO 7:OO. Sometimes these bites dont last long they can turn off as quick as they turn on.

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need, I think if you read this whole thread you would get the answers to all your questions and get some really helpfull tips. Just gets old typing the same things over and over.

I will tell you the crappie in my avatar came from the river yesterday morning in 38' using a red jig with eurolarvae.

DonBo what were the first words that came to mind when you saw the slab coming up the hole.

You know its big when the belly hits one side of the hole and the back hits the other side of te hole.

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quote] DonBo what were the first words that came to mind when you saw the slab coming up the hole.

You know its big when the belly hits one side of the hole and the back hits the other side of te hole.

Funny, his huge open mouth got caught on the bottom of the hole. The jig came out and he just floated up into the hole so I could grab her. So, the first words I said can not be printed here! blush

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I went out this morning and caught 6 only kept 3 a lot of smaller fish I also lost 3 good size fish. I was using gold with a minnow and a dark red. They were really active at 8:30 this morning and then shut off.

Of course right when I was going to leave I caught an 18" sugar and lost one about half way up. to bad the season is closed.

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Went out tonight caught 10 crappies kept 4 10 inchers caught a few 8inchers and a 12 and a 13 let the smaller ones and the 2 big ones go. Caught all the smaller fish by 5 then a bunch of bass came through must have caught 4 or 5 then the 2 big ones hit after the bass swam through. All fish but one bass one red jig with plastic and maggies.

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Gotta love that red jig/maggies combo. You've been reading these tips haven't you? Good for you.

Welcome to the forums, keep the reports coming.

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Fished 35'of water this afternoon. Caught 10 on plain red wire hook and small minnow. Dead stick no jigging. All fish 10 to 12 in and all females.

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Was out this afternoon with Luck_e1...we caught 4 crappies combined, the biggest was 11.5", smallest was 5"...we also caught a few white bass and this...

After doing some research, I am 90% sure it's a freshwater drum (sheepshead)...the only thing that's wrong with that ID is the color...anyone else have any thoughts?

DSCF0393-1.jpg

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Definetly a sheepshead. Bigger than most, darker for sure but the river is full of surprizes.

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was out this afternoon... caught one 6 inch crappie who wouldnt swim back down the hole... i even brought him up extra slow since I knew he was a little guy... so that was fun bringing him home and fileting 1 tiny fish... are suspended fish more active than the bottom huggers? All I can find lately are the bottom dwelling bait sniffers.

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Went out tonight with a buddy after work. Only got one on a red and gold jig with a waxie. Seemed really interested after dark but couldn't get them to fully committ.

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Freshwater drum for sure.

When IDing a fish color is not important because fish change color often and different bodies of water will have different color variations. Good sized drum for the ice!

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Yup. That's a sheepshead alright. You got yourself a trophy! I think the state record is 30 pounds or so, but the one you caught is way larger than the average size. I bet you were already thinking of a place to hang that trophy "crappie" you thought you hooked on your wall. I caught a couple of big silvers out there last night too that did the same to me. Oh well....you gotta love the river!

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Thanks for the help guys! Luck e 1 was pretty sure it wasn't a crappie as soon as it hit, it was quite a fight for him on 3lb test! When I got over to him, he was just getting it up the hole, and the head was barely fitting, looked like a seal trying to make an escape!

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What's up fellas.I've went out there fishing a couple times this week and only managed to get 3 crappies each time.The last time i went out a caught a ton of Saugers but only 3 crappies and little ones at that.I have been fishing in 30ft of water my question is,have the crappies moved into shallower water? Any info would be greatly appreciated Thanks

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Guys have been fishing pretty much the whole basin area. Fished the middle of it. Picked the area by closing my eyes and pointing at the map on Sun. with the same results as any other area. (2-3 per outin) Checking shallower may be the way to go. Were the saugers decent sized? Figures you catch them after season closed.

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Most of them were 14in. I know it does suck it happened like that but it's ok at least i was entertained for awhile.I think i'm going to head out in the morning and try it.

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