Hard time finding Eye's

[SS 9 IRON]

Good morning fellow angler's. It's been a while since I've blabbered on about how I can't catch any fish, so I thought I'd help you feel better about yourselves by airing out my deficiencies. I've had several friends and family members in the boat the last few weekends. I've-We.. have hammered the sauger I just can't seem to locate consistent walleye action. I've read wally1's posts and if I get up early enough I would really like to meet up with him and spend some time on the water together. I fish the area south of the 94 bridge to afton. South of that point is new territory. I've had some success in the Prescott area but I attribute that to luck...(which still counts)! What really got me was listening to a fellow angler and his wife talk about catching over 50 fish and limiting out on eye's the same day we were on the water. We worked really hard for the few we got and I saw a bunch of boats working an area I know to hold fish(the same area our man claimed to have put on a clinic)but I opted to work the drop from 20-25 feet. WRONG!!! The fish were holding in 20 feet and apparently had their feed bags on. Now it's quite possible the gentleman and his wife impelished on the quantity of fish caught as some are in the habit of doing (we are fisherman after all) but I believed him and here's why. He had on his boat a little grill and he was firing up lunch while he and his wife worked the drift...Brilliant! I know what's the big deal- hot dogs on a bun but just the aroma of those dogs cooking on the open water got my tummy a grumbling...But we digress. I may not be fishing much the next couple of weeks. My father's health is declining and I will need to attend to his and my mother's needs.

That being said I wish you all a blessed day and enjoy the river and all it's wonders.

[eyesonly]

SS

I snuck out for about two hours last night from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm and had some success catching 3 keepers and 6 shorts in that time - The key for me was a Jig and crawler -Keeping the Jig on the bottom as much as possible was the only way I could get a bite - The entire eastern shore line from the Kinny to Prescott in 20 fow seemed to be holding clouds of bait fish every couple of hundred yards-where I saw the clouds of bait fish I usually at least got a bite.- Wallie1 - where you took the picture for us is where I caught all three keepers. I wish I could get out This weekend

[Walli1]

Sunday afternoon 3oz bottom bouncers with spinners and crawlers worked great, ran the mn side from douglas beach to buffs park, I'll be on the river early saturday and sunday morning just like clock work. Going to do some bouncing on saturday and riggen on sunday! See you on the water!!

[Cbreeze]

SS,

Haven't seen ya post much this summer, glad you're back. I always chuckle with your posts! Anyway, I (unfortunately) have not spent much time on the river this year due to job and family but I do know I did VERY well this time last year pulling B Bouncers as Walli suggested. I usually worked your neck of the woods first (94-Afton) 25-35' of water with spinners/crawlers. Work an area out if you are markin' fish. South of Kinni find the breaks and watch the Finder...you'll hammer'em!!! Good luck!

CBreeze

[croixeyes]

SS....First off sorry to hear about your family issues.Its always tough when the health takes a turn for the worse.As far as finding some eyes during the summer on that part of the Croix yer time of plenty will diminish as the summer wears on.Not that you still cant score a limit but,as bait fish grow to edible size things will start to toughen up a bit.Spinners,cranks,rigging and jiggin will all produce,pick a method and go getem.Alot of people fishing the sunken humps out in the middle of lake St Croix lately,most attention being given to the larger one closest to the Wisconsin side.If pulling spinners is what you like,make sure you experiment with blade sizes and color,and the speed at which your going.Ive pulled blades for eyes at speeds that vary from just barely turning the blade to 3mph.

As far as depth goes I dont think there is any one magic depth that the fish are always holding at.They follow the food,thats pretty cut and dry.And dont feel bad if your just getting Saugers,they put up a nice struggle on the end of your line and are pretty darn good on the table too.Last but not least your not alone on the walleye shortage list,think of it this way,if everyone were bringing home limits I think our fishery would be in big trouble......Good Luck Out There.............

[Ferny]

If your getting saugy's and want walleyes try moving shallower but in the same area. Seems to me saugers are almost always deeper than the eyes for me.

Good luck,

Ferny

[SS 9 IRON]

Ferny, thanks for the words..I've heard that said before and I will have to give that s shot. I might just try 3oz bottom bouncers with a crawler/spinner combo too. Seems to me a fella could cover a lot of water trolling a 3oz weight.Hmmmm. so many options, I'm also tempted to fire up my lead core line. Question: When using lead core line do you guys tie regular line to the lead core and if you do how much do you tie on. I've also thought about using a three way just to get my line down quicker (in tandem with the lead core-or am I just nuts) Anyhow just some thoughts.

[Walli1]

I run about a twelve foot leader on lead core usually 10lb mono, Fishing is easy, its the catching part that a person has a tough time at!!