10'' perch?

[b1gf1sh1]

anybody else getting 9-10'' perch? casting a countdown and got about 20 of them. never seen so many larger perch, or any even. i'm thinking mabe the overflow of shad and the extra weeds might be letting them get bigger. also got a 10'' bluegill. i've got them before but not in the open river. weird. and right along with the walleyes too. hit a decent 35'' northern too. even jumped. lol

[fellowx]

10" perch, that's awesome! i'll be going out sometime next week. Either Monday or Wednesday. Launching at the Wisconsin side by Hudson. Care to help set me in the right direction? I'm really looking to get in on some whitebass and sheephead action. Walleyes would be a huge BONUS

[rosspj59]

I usually get a few perch every year out there, but rarely more than one an outing. It would be really cool to see a good perch population get going on the st croix.

[DetectDave]

Fellowx, my bro and I were out Wed and hit some nice whites just south of the turn bridge in a spot that jumps up to 10 from about 13' or so. We were trolling deep diving brown Rapalas w/a curly tail white jig in front of it. I landed a 2.2# and lost 2 more bigger ones wrapped around the motor.

[b1gf1sh1]

have'nt had a chance to reply lately. sorry if it's a little late. but if you don't fish the croix a-lot you may not know it but... i could tell you 1500+ spots inside 500 different areas that produce. but on any given day you never know what one(s) are gonna be hot. mabe none that you fish. it's not like a 100 acre lake where you fish it enough and soon your boating fish all the time. that takes years of fishing it. if i go for a certain kind of fish i've found it can get frustrating. but when i change my tactics to just fish and be happy with anything i catch more fish. i'm rambling again. just a few tips on the keys to look for. waters abnormally high right now so that gives fish more places to go. as a result they are generally more spread out. fishing near shore(or off it if possible) at spots that were exposed prior to the water rising with sandy bottoms are good. humps that ''were'' 3 feet deep are now considered underwater islands, and they may be good. the water is faster so fish at the edge of current at any break exposed or hidden. backsides of islands,front side, pillars, points, dead water zones, directly inside the fastest current you can find. THE MAIN CHANNEL, never overlook the main channel,never, never, never. i could go on for a week but just concentrate on a specific target area type and fish it.good luck

[UncleKes]

I just got back from the Croix. Spent a week fishing from around Hudson to St. Croix Falls. The water was quite high and the current was very fast. I had trouble getting the anchors to hold but I found that by being patient and just accepting that tough conditions mean you have to alter your game plan throughout the day you CAN get fish. We got 4 nice walleyes from 19 to 23 inches. Got out limit of White Bass almost every day and some decent Smallmouth. Never got any Sheepies though! My buddy caught some nice Northerns.

They are still biting, but like I said its very high water and fast current especially around the Rail Road Bridge at Hudson. Try a 3/8 ounce Marabou Jig tipped with a fathead along the edges or something like a Road Runner. Just to be different I broke out a Silver Heddon Blade Bait (something I have not used in years and years. Actually I forgot it was in my tackle box and found it while looking for a hook sharpener and decided to try a few minutes with it with it) and ended up catching the biggest Walleye of the trip on it . Fish along the edges or any place they can get away from the current. My buddy was catching White Bass on small Rapalas and Shad Raps and also on plain Red hook tipped with a fathead. The Whites are auicidal almost any time you get into them and will take almost anything that comes by we found. Good Luck! Tight Lines!

[b1gf1sh1]

nice time i see. too bad no sheepies though . such a nice week to be ruined that way. bummer how big were 'da norderns'

[UncleKes]

The Northerns were all in the 3-4 pound range' I fried them the next morning in a light cornmeal batter after grinding the filets in the blender. You end up with fish flakes and you use the corn meal to bind the fillets and make a fish patty out of the filets. (Grinding the fillets gets rid of the Y bones.) then I served them for breakfast on toast and poured cream peas over the fillets. This is the way my Grandmother used to make them back in the day. Mmmmmm good!