Muskie/Pike

[Guest]

Hey all.

I was just wondering if anyone was starting to get any pike or muskie on the croix yet. I was thinking about getting out this week with the stable hot air that we have been having. I am not looking for specific spots unless you want to share but just general areas techniques. I have never fished pike on the river. I am mostly a eye man on the river and pike in lakes but I want to find some pike of the croix. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any help.

[southerner]

FishHunter,

Most of my fishing is for pike & bass on the Croix, and I luck into a few muskies every now and again, so I hope what I say helps you. I find the upper Croix (Taylors Falls and above) is generally a bit better fishing as there are plenty of established, visible weedlines to choose from. Cast a large bucktail of your choosing (I usually prefer darker colors unless the water is exceptionally clear) in and around those submerged weedbeds. Early morning usually produces well with somewhat weedless (ie buzzbait or large unweighted slug-go) topwater baits in the same locations. I'm not much on open water pike fishing so I can't help you there. Also try to find some cold water streams flowing into the river and you're likely then to find the bigger fish. I read about that in a book by Dick Sternberg and I'm here to tell you that if you take the time to find these spots you can pull out some real monster pike.

As far as muskies go, I don't know if I have much to offer. In the past I've caught them up to about 42" on the Croix but in no particular pattern, and not meaning to catch them. However, most of them were caught on big bucktails while fishing for pike. I'll be going out w/Terry Hagstrom (moderator of this forum) for muskies this week so if I come up with some info to pass on I'll do just that. Maybe somebody else can assist?

Good luck.

So'ner

[Turk]

Good post Southerner they only thing I'd addd for the Lower St. Croix is to work the shallow bays and flats that have weeds as well. I've found that later into the season July on, that the notherns can be harder to come by, in these areas though. Maybe a cooler water situation. The nice thing about northerns is that they'll hit it all, striking out at lure " just because it's there". Marinas are also good choices to work. Keep catchin'
Turk
www.croixsippi.com