walleye's and smallies on St. Croix

[liphooked]

i am thinking of heading out on the St. Croix on Saturday. Where has the walleye and smallie action been? i would assume large minnows are working the best? are the walleye's in the rip rap and/or along drop off's (15-20 feet) or have them moved up shallower heading up river? Any updates would be greatly appreciated.

[walleyefanatic]

I was out this weekend for a bit and it was a tough bite. Caught 2 quality fish (1 walleye and 1 sauger) both 3 pounds. The sauger was caught trolling a shadrap in 12 feet of water and the walleye was caught jigging with a 3/8 oz fireball and a fathead in 14 feet. Tried dragging a small sucker (can't find chubs in the east metro) with no success. Still slow down there but the water's still warm (57 when I was there)

[TG]

WF, what part of the river do fish? I fish between Afton and Kinni area. I usually try for smallies and do OK.

[walleyefanatic]

TG, I try to stick between Hudson and Prescott. But seriously I have so many spots I try on the river I'm never in one spot too long unless I start slaughtering them. This time of year I'll start out in Prescott and work my way upriver from there. I try not to spend too much time around other boats but sometimes it can't be helped. I have a feeling I'll be virtually alone this weekend if the weather reports are accurate. If you see a red Nitro be sure to say hi. I have no problems with informing other fisherpeople about what I've found the fish are or not doing.

[TG]

WF, Thanks for reply. I come out of the Hastings landing and usually start in Prescott, and work north.Do you use the same landing? I may be out Sun. morning.

[TG]

How is the Bluffs landing theses days? Does your trailer still bottom out on the frame? My last inquire about the landing said it was good. I would like to use it also if I won't have any problems.

[riverman]

I launched last week at tyhe Bluffs and did't have a problem. Well I guesse I had one problem and that was with the fish.

[walleyefanatic]

I will be using the Hastings launch on Sunday if I can find some quality fish in the southern section of the Croix (South of the Kinni) on Saturday and more importantly if the boat comes out of the shop. It has not been a good year in terms of keeping the goodship out of the shop. It's been in there 3x since April for the same thing, and that's after having the powerhead replaced last fall. If the boat is finished and the fish are active North of Kinni then I'll launch at the St Croix Bluffs Regional Park. I'm planning on bringing some minnows to drown, followed by plastics, lastly pulling cranks. If I can't find any fish after all that I'll go out and drink some barley pops and try and develop a new game plan for Sunday.

[Dan Wood]

I was out the day before yesterday... The ramp at the Bluffs is not real good right now with the low water. You can still launch, but you need to be careful and not back in that far. It drops at a steep angle very quick right at the waters edge - it makes it pretty tough to launch larger boats without bottoming out some. The ramp seemed a little better on the inside lane - next to the dock.

[walleyehawk]

The access at the bluffs has been that way for over a month. I had problems on my Shorelander trailer as I had the skid plate protecting the front set of rollers. That is what catches.

What I did was to flip the ball mount on the hitch over. Instead of a 2 inch drop, I now have a one inch rise and a 3 inch difference. The trailer runs higher and it helps me in those ramp low spots.

I have had no problems the past few times doing this, but I still am real careful.

[Dan Wood]

Yea that ramp hasn't been what I would call good most of the summer. It is a bit worse now with the lower water, but still manageable if you take it slow..

[Guest]

WalleyeFanatic, I spotted you by the Hastings Dam on Sunday afternoon. I was in the little red aluminum boat. We ended up with three nice eyes in the 15 to 17" range. Also, I had alot of nice bites down closer to the public access towards evening.

Worst thing about the trip was that I blew up my 20hp merc. That was why we were tooling along quite slow, using the electric...........sucks!!!

Gary

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[rascalP]

Liphooked,
If you want some action, try right below the I-94 bridge. Drops from 15 to 25 in a flash. I've always done good here for numbers, mostly sauger. There's also a few humps around there worth checking or go up by the R.R bridge. If the plant's running, fish around the discharge --- you never know what you'll catch.
rascal

P.S. you can put in right at Beanies, 7 bucks or so, and be right at the bridge.

[walleyefanatic]

Big G-, I was down there on Saturday but since the fishing was so slow I decided to earn some brownie points with the better half and stay home and work around the house on Sunday. I think a lot of brownie points were earned because on Friday I recieved the OK from her to fish Saturday and Sunday. One can never have too many brownie points because like my wise father taught me when I was young, if mama isn't happy, nobody's happy. On Saturday I caught 2 small sauger (maybe 15" each) that ended up back in the water. I couldn't buy a bite up by the dam. Must be something about them darn mercs because mine has spent more time in the shop this year than it's been in the water. Does anyone know if Minnesota has a lemon law for consumer goods other than autos.