Snake River

[Mnfisher]

Any ideas on fishing the Snake this opener? Level's should be down so fish might be easier to find.

[NBK14]

Mn, have you had any luck this year and is the river high now?

I was wondering if there are shore fishing areas between Grasston & Pokegama? 

[JBMasterAngler]

There is a shore fishing spot right at the bridge crossing where pokegama connects to the snake river. It's weedy, but can be pretty productive, especially if the boat traffic is low.

[NBK14]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. 

Yesterday I went to check out some areas and ended up where she meets the Croix. Fishing was slow or maybe I don't know what I'm doing and all I could catch was a single smallie. That area looks nice and I kept thinking I need a canoe with a trolling motor, OMG that would be sweet. 

[JBMasterAngler]

I used to fish that spot a lot, but in the summer it gets crazy busy with people swimming, camping, and grilling. Hopping twister tails off the bottom used to get me a good mix of smallies, walleyes, and pike. But you lose a lot of tackle also. It's doable in a small boat, but I've never had much luck up or downstream.

[NBK14]

Thanks.

I wouldn't try there during summer and could easily see it being crazy. I like your thinking, tails & swimbaits were all I used and really like them for river fishing. Losing lead & rubber is a bummer but not as bad as $6 cranks. Had to retie like 5 times on the Snake and 0 on the Croix so it wasn't too bad and it gave me a reason to change colors.:)  

Not sure if I'll fish there again this spring, the lower Croix and MN are calling. 

[Mnfisher]

NBK...sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you.  I guess I just haven't checked this thread for awhile.  I haven't fished the Snake yet, except for the spot JB mentioned to you under the bridge.  (No luck).  I fished the Rum on opener and then have been going out to Rush quite a bit.  Another very good spot is the Walleye landing approximately half way between Grasston and Pokegama.  You'll see a public landing sign.  Actually there are two roads off of Hwy 7 that lead you to the Walleye landing.  People fish there for mostly cats, I think but I have caught a couple of eyes there also.   I had a huge fish, mostly likely sturgeon on last summer and fought with it for about 20 minutes.  It jumped out of the water on the other side and upstream from the landing so I didn't get a real good look at it but the jumping leads me to believe it was a sturgeon.  Finally broke my line.    You can also fish the Snake close to where it goes into Cross lake at the north end of Pine City, just off Hwy 61.  Nice public landing.  Also...just up a little further downstream on the other side of the river there is a very nice pier for fishing and I know they catch walleye there.  You have to go east out of downtown then take a turn to the left somewhere.  Good luck.

[NBK14]

Oh snap, no worries man & Thanks Much for the info. The Snake seems like it would be a nice river for wading also,  

[JBMasterAngler]

That it is! I used to throw the flip flops on and fish below the cross lake dam a lot. However, as summer progresses and the river turns green, it seemed to slow the smallie action. Smallies dominated the catch, but I caught a little bit of everything down there...pike, largemouth, rock bass, sheepshead, even caught a little muskie once. Redhorse are thick in that stretch also. Except for people dunking worms right below the dam, I've always had the river to myself. You'll get a kayaker or 2, and maybe a few people tubing, but it's nice and quiet.

[NBK14]

Nice and quiet is usually what I'm looking for and if I get bit it's a bonus. On tuesday evening we checked out the Sunrise area for the first time. My wife held down the fort with cutbait and I was chucking plastic. Nothing happening, but I didn't loose any jigs & it was a beautiful evening to be out of the house. It was quiet there also, a couple were leaving as we were heading in and 2 kids were already drowning crawlers when we got there. On our way past them we stopped to chat but they seemed like they didn't want any part. Actually I think he was annoyed that they weren't alone anymore. You know the story, teenage couple hanging out on a river bank shortly before sunset....., What could be better? Then wham, here comes a middle aged couple moseying down the bank just in time to ruin all the fun. Best part is that when I got to the end of my mosey, I was thinking the same thing.  

[tunrevir]

NBK,  You should take a look at the Rum river.  With a kayak or canoe you can do some pretty awsome floats and see nary another person all day.  Good smallie and walleye action and small pike to be had and you can get by with casting beetle spins or twister tails and manage to catch all three.  Topwaters are a good option for the smallies.  Simply find a map, decide where to put in and drop another vehichle at your take out point a few miles downstream and you can enjoy a scenic day with very little competition on the water.  3-5 miles by road can be a 5-7 hour float due to the winding nature of the river.

Tunrevir~

[NBK14]

Thanks for the heads up tunrevir, I have to get a canoe or find a pal with one.