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Time To Switch Areas....


croixeyes

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Well Ive seen enough of the crowds this weekend so Im pullin up stakes and headin elsewhere on the Croix.Seems like with the bite as good as it is,the old Bayport area is takin a beating.Im not saying the fish arent still gonna be there cause they will,but I dont fare well in crowds.Plus theres to much river that isnt being explored,so Im gonna start to search for that next hot bite.Thats what I like best about fishing,The Hunt grin.gif.I guess the catching is pretty fun too though...Good Luck Out There........

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I hear you there croixeyes!! I have a shack on the river and there were people everywhere around me. Which brings up another point. Have respect for other people. I beleive the regs say you own 10 feet around you shack and people should respect at least that ten feet!!! I have had guys set up less than 6 feet from where my shack is, so i just want to say have some respect please. Good Luck everyone

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BFD, I don't believe the 10' rule is 100% applicable on the croix, them cheesers don't have rules from what I heard (I'm kidding).. I agree the villages get crowded with folks stacked like wood, one would think (hope) common sense and courtesy would prevail rule or no rule.

Croixeyes is a whole nother story, from the little I know, he isn't happy if someone is close enough to determine the color of his truck... grin.gif

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I was out there on Saturday with the wife. It was her first time out this year and I was so mad. We drove on and made the turn to go north, all I could see was people. My spot was taken over by about 30 people all squeezed in. I saw at one point 8 shacks surrounding one permi. So we tried a new spot, and within ten min we had 5 people move right next to us. Probably didn't help that I had a monster on the ice within a few minutes. Just thought that the fair weather fisherman were very rude and didn't respect fellow fisherman.

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Hey guys I agree with all of the above. I will say that fishing the river system either through the ice or open water is a totally different animal. I personally fish primarily on lakes and thank god I have been able to hook up with a river rat (blue)to teach me a few things, otherwise I too would be one of those guys in a portable all bunched together. You also have to remember that a lot of these guys are probably weekend warriors and don't have or maybe want to take the time to do a little exploring so they let the crowds dictate where they fish. I know that this probably gets very frustrating for those of you that are very knowledgeable and spend a lot of time fine tuning the river but unfortunately this is what happens. I will say that I have really enjoyed learning some areas of the river and look forward to fishing it more and more throughout the years. Just my two cents.

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Boy i wonder why it is so crowded????? maybe posting on a site that gets 1000's of hits a day that you are catching limits of 12+inch crappies, and then taking pictures of them next to gatorade bottles because you are so proud of yourself. The river goes in cycles the bite was this good 4 years ago but we kept it ourselves and acted like we had ACTUALLY caught fish before. Too bad it looks like the crappies will be fished out for a long time now......

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So what does posting pictures have anything to do with people coming up and drilling a hole 5 ft from you? If you think that the river is going to be fished out then contact the DNR and tell them to drop the limit from 25 to 10.

We were not complaining about people being out on the river at all. In fact I think it’s great to see that this sport is still very popular. We are saying that it was very rude of people to fish so close to each other when there was plenty of room for everyone to fish comfortably.

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yea your right, there will be plenty of fish next year.......I doubt many people are taking 25 crappies in a day. But that many people even taking 10 will devistate the river. It never has been and never will be a place that has tons of crappies, just good size. It is a dead point anyway all these posts have killed what was a nice place to fish, now it is full of guys like your talking about drilling a holes 5ft from your shack. it is too bad.

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I will agree with you on that one. It is a shame that there are people out there like that, but only a few times this winter will that happen (at least to me). If you go out there on days like today you will only find people like me and a few others that are willing to brave the cold temps. That’s when I love fishing the river. Not only is it beautiful, but its quiet, no one is driving 50 mph 10 ft from my shanty, and I can sit and enjoy what god has blessed us with.

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TRZ I feel a bit offended by you saying taking pics with fish by a bottle. I only give reports because for the longest time no one was even posting reports or anything for the Croix hardwater season. I don't see nothing wrong with reports because its not like guys will give you exact gps points. Why do you come to this site? Without reports this won't even be a fishing site. If you think winter get hits hard, try fishing when its soft water time.

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Shhhhhhhh! There aren't any fish in the river. Crappies are just speckled sheepshead in disguise. Let the newbies catch a mudpuppy or two and then see if they come back. Don't get bummed by the pressure get motivated to try new spots. There are always fish to be had somewhere........just where exactly is the question.

Tunrevir~

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Ouch!!!!I really just started this post to tell you folks that its not a bad thing to go exploring when things tighten up with pressure.Fishermen catch fishermen,It has been this way before the invent of the confuser,and it will always be this way.I dont think these POSTS are the complete reason for the added pressure the Croix has received.I use to sit in the baitshop in Stillwater and listen to calls coming in,asking how the bite is on the river.Baitshops are a good resource for info like this,and Im willing to bet alot more folks than you think use this avenue to check things out.

Lets look at a couple of other things that can draw crowds to the Croix.Im sure people have felt the crunch at the gas pumps and may not want to drop a 100 bucks on gas to venture north.Maybe someone has only one day to fish out of the weekend so metro water is close.And im sure the river wasnt the only body of water getting pounded last weekend.These are a couple of contributing factors,as is posting info on a fishing forum.I think the river is healthy enough to sustain a very good population of all species of fish.Look at the area being fished,If you think that all the crappie in the river are just in those few spots,Ive got some swamp land to sell ya!!!Alright then,Im dun with my rant tired.gif

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Most of the crappies in the lower St.Croix river DO migrate to that area, if you go north you will catch very few and they are small. I'm sure the bite will die off again it always does. The reason there wasn't any reports the past 2-3 yrs is because the fishing was terrible in the winter, hence no pressure. I just wanted these boasters to know they were the reason they can no longer fish their spots because they are overrun by weekend warriors. Of course next year when you can't catch a cold it will be quiet again-it will happen-the river in the winter is all cycles and number of baitfish, even the power plant does not ahve much shad this year, and many of my bigger crappies this year have been full of sheephead-not a desirable baitfish for any species. have fun and enjoy the crowds-i won't.

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Half of the fun of fishing is the exploration...It does bother me that people follow others and my fellow group of buddies are no exception to that rule.

I want to explore, but when I get outruled 6 to 1 I guess we'll all just camp where everyone else is camping and try our luck. It's more annoying when we group fish and then some body has to come sneak up right behind me or into the middle of our group and set themselves up. That's too close when you're about 10 feet away. Racking up a clamor of noise and conversing sooooo loud. Please shut the boom box!

I was elsewhere exploring, but warm weekend was like fishing tournament atmosphere. That sometimes I do better when it's frigid negative cold. Less peeps. If anything else, I'll enjoy my adventure more.

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I hate to drag this conversation out any longer or to beat a dead horse but I think that there are others factors not mentioned above that cause the masses to attract to the croix. First, even though I was attending college away from hudson I still managed to fish the croix alot, and I can tell you from my personal expericence that the winter craps' bite on the croix has been consistent for me over the past five to ten years. Also I think the fact that St. Croix county has very few lakes to begin with, and the few that do exist I can tell you first hand don't rate anywhere near the croix. I don't know how many lakes are on the sota' side and there quality but I think that is a big factor why you see many WI fisherman on the croix in the winter. Other than that I agree local baitshops info and possibly a bar bragger here and there can greatly increase the number of fisherman on the croix. The river is so BIG if you don't like the crowds(I don't either) put your time in looking at your GPS or lake map and find a new honey hole, I have found them and if I can find them anyone can! One note is a wheeler or a sled is helpful in getting to those quiet honey holes. Good luck to all, I'm comin back to Hudson this weekend to find that black cloud on craps' on the croix!

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  • 2 weeks later...

anyone heading out for an exploratory expedition friday a.m. on the st.croix in search of those beautiful white crappies and perhaps some eyes.

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I think this weekend would be a good time to find some new spots because they are saying 30-40 deg. by the weekend. Get your spot early its going to be busy!!!

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I am planning a thur night run. Then Sunday, if everything works out. Me and the old man should have some fun regardless. Hope everyone is having fun out there!

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