Snake or Kettle

[T-water]

Hey Folks-

Looks like the rivers are uncommonly (unseasonably) low. I think I'm going to take advantage and try to pop some pike and walleye this weekend. has anybody been out? I'm also considering the willow (with my canoe). Seems like the state park might be a place to start. Let me know if anybody has any ideas.

[macgruber]

floated the snake last weekend on opener..... put in at the horseshoe right at the bridge below the lower falls and floated to the old log dam, fishing the whole way...... caught 2 walleyes, 1 smallie, and 1 pike- broke off another pike.... caught them all right away and at the tailouts of the riffles, so i might fish the upper areas rather than downstream closer to mora (or fish below pine city i suppose)...... the river is low, though i don't have a frame of reference as to what it normally is...... that was my first float on it..... we had to walk the canoe down most of the riffles as we got stuck in the low water...... we did have extra camping gear along though, so you might be okay with just two guys and fishing stuff...... minnows and crayfish plastics seemed the ticket.....

[sparcebag]

I always did the Kettle put in at sandstone and parked a car,Truck down stream a few cross roads or we'd take 2 days and went to state park on St.Croix.Great fishin first 1-2 miles all the eyes or smallies you want for supper.Down a ways a sandbar with a quick right straight away for 20yds and quick left with a camp spot up high on right deep water caught big eyes huge cats and sturgeon threr you cant miss that spot! its a great short trip all this I believe was before the co.rd.48 bridge where you could park 2nd vechile and a plus when we went 2 times a year for 15 years we very seldom saw anyone!!

[T-water]

Went to the snake on Sat. Fished one of the upper sections did okay with pike probably about 10 mostly small to mid-size. Caught several 1 1/2-2 lb walleyes very agressive fish, one of them had an eel stuck on his back.

The cold fron came in while I was wading dropped close to 30 degrees before I got out. I also had an awesome pike lunge at a topwater, really big fish missed. Lots of fun despite the fact that I was almost blue by the time I got out of the water.

[NorthWoodsGuy]

Hey T-Water. If you ever need some company, I'd be more than happy to tag along. I won't even bring my GPS!

I always fish the North/South Fork of the Crow and it would be nice to try some new water.

abuck10 at yahoo (Contact Us Please) com

[EBass]

Quote:

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one of them had an eel stuck on his back.

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Lamprey? Are they in the croix? Did you take that leech thing off and kill it?

[sparcebag]

I think there American eels their common in St Croix And tribs.Bronze colored and smaller.

[T-water]

The eel looked a bit greyer than the ones in the pictures I've seen online. At first I thought it was a leech but once I got it in I knew what it was. Unfortunately I scraped it off and it swam away.

[T-water]

Here's the best info I've found the MN DNR has a great site.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/mayjun06/mp.html

[macgruber]

if he was stuck to the back of a walleye, it was a lamprey...... the only question is was is a sea lamprey (nasty invasive) or a brook lamprey (native and relatively harmless, though disgusting and an annoyance)....... if you thought it was a leech, i'm guessing it was a brook lamprey and most likely not doing much harm to the fish...... most of the fish i've caught with sea lamprey bites have marks around 1-2" in diameter, suggesting a lot bigger eel than that.....

american eels aren't parasitic, but probably get mistaken for their nasty cousins and get killed for it.....

[EBass]

Yeah an eel wouldn't latch on to a fish. I sure hope it's not one of them Lamprey's (sea lamprey) as they are destroying lakers and whatever else in Superior. Well next time kill it. I take off the blood suckers on some of the fish I catch and crush em with the pliers. I feel for the fish as I saw the move Stand By Me and then lived that ordeal on Twin Lake when I was a kid. I hate bloodsuckers!

[South_Metro_Slayer]

I was up fishin the kettle on memorial day weekend, me and my two buddys caught about 20 smallies, the biggest about 4-4 and half pounds. slip bobbers leeches and fatheads, crawlers, picked up a few snakes to, and a couple of hog gills. my buddy who lives in sandstone now, claims the kettle river to be the best smallie river in the state. but i doubt that.

[Fish_YU]

Has anyone fished the Grantsberg area for smallies? This weekend my buddies, and I are Floatubing the Upper St. Criox, and we've had luck in the past. I just want to hear the latest. Also, an update from the Snake River of the same area would be helpful.