st. cloud fishing

[huskie0302]

anyone been out around St. Cloud yet? I am itching to get out on the river and catch some cats. I think the river is running a little fast still. Anyone else got some thoughts???

[Dean Schellinger]

Its also really cold water right now, but I would imagine if you found a calm spot you could catch a couple kitties.

[UncleKes]

I used to do real well on Cats when I was attending SCSU, just below the dam near the 10th Street bridge. There was a concrete observation deck I used to fish off of in the back current that ran by there. The Cats used to stack up there in the slack water and were always susceptible to a nice piece of cut sucker?

I have not fished there is about 15 years but if the concrete observation deck is still there ( I heard they had done some alterations as regards access to that area) you would probably do quite well. I doubt the cats suddenly went away. It always was a prime spot for cats back in the late 80's and early 90's.

I was never troubled by cold water. I used to catch cats right up to ice out so I don't think they are affected by cold water that much. If they are hungry they will bite no matter what the water temperature. After all, hot water, cold water, cats have to eat in order to live like anything else, no matter what the time of year, right?

[huskie0302]

Ya we fish a little ways down from the observation deck all summer long. Great Cat and smallie fishing. I have tried many different spots for cats early season but just have better luck when the weather starts to change and the water warms up a bit. But you are right when they are hungry they will eat! Did you ever try Wilson park? What did you use for bait when you were up here. We just use cut bait.

[Stick in Mud]

I've been out catching suckers...no carp yet, though I had one on yesterday that spooled me. Unfortunately, I was lazy and didn't change my line, so the spool wasn't particularly full to start with; either way, it's fun to feel a fish pulling on the end of a "real" fishing rod!

About cats in cold water: I know we catch them out on the Horseshoe Chain in the winter, and we catch them on the Miss in the winter as well, so they will bite in cold water. That being said, I've never caught them as fast or as furiously in cold water as I have in the middle of the summer, so it might be a little more tricky this time of year. Certainly not impossible, but it might be a little slower than usual.

[REDGammi1]

fast water is quite good for catchs below the dam.... i would suspect that they are biting right now below the dam..... should do alright on crawlers or cut bait.... maybe chicken liver if you can get it to stay on.....

[UncleKes]

Huskie: For Cats, I just to catch a carp and chunk it up and freeze the chunks in baggies. Then when I wanted to go catting I just took a baggie or two out of the freezer and let it thaw for a few hours. A good friend used to take one of those vacuum bag machines and he would keep chunked carp or sucker for months and months that way.

There used to be a sunken fence near the observation deck. I think it was part of a wing dam or something? Sorry, been too long since I was up in your neck of the woods. Anyway, the fence formed a sort of chest high deep pool and I just slaughtered Walleyes late at night with a lighted bobber in there.

Also, I got snagged on the fence one night so I waded out to unsnag myself and found the fence covered with rapalas, Banana Baits, spoons, jigs, hooks, sinkers, leaders, and Buzz Baits. I must have spent the next 45 minutes with my fillet knife in there cutting about $250.00 worth of tackle off that fence.

Of course. I had to replace a lot of rusted out treble hooks over the course of a winter but I still have a lot of the tackle I cut off that fence. A little paint the stuff is still catching fish.

I'll bet that fence is still a magnet for lots tackle. If your tackle box is low and you want to replenish it you might try wading out there and feel around with your hands and a knife.

For smallies I used to fly fish them with a muddler minnow or a top water bass fly. I also used to wade out in the Sauk River just down stream from the Dam a bit and cast jig and plastics or jig and port rinds toward August. For some odd reason I found they loved a Foxey Jig with a white pork rind trailer toward dusk

around late July early August and all they way into the middle of September.

Be aware though that the rocks down from the dam are a real bother so take care if you have to wade out int he middle of the river and try not to let the jig touch bottom. Swim it back and about every 10-12 feet let it fall back a foot or two then swim it back some more.

I have caught up to 50 Smallies in 1 night just down from the dam in about waist deep water just casting a jig of an summers evening.

I never did check out Wilson Park. Is Wilson Park the land they have on the East side of the river just down from the dam? I forget? Or is it that city park just north of the dam on the East side? Sorry been too long? Anyway if it is the land they had south of the dam, the college owned it and would not let anyone in there back in my day. They were trying to preserve it and keep it wild. That plus the access to the river took you through about 200 yards of Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Brambles, Thistles, and a steep bluff that had no access down to the river from it.

Take care;

Tight Lines.

Uncle Kes

[huskie0302]

Ya maybe I was spoiled last summer and i'm biased towards fishing the river in the summer time. I think wading those islands in the summer time is best smallie and cat action I have ever seen. We actually would walk the river bank for crayfish and use those for bait while we were out there. I have never seen a smallie his a bait as hard as they would do a crayfish. Wilson park is the one thats north of the dam on the east side. I have had my best luck early season with using cut up suckers or shiners. Not so much luck with carp, but we only used it twice. I walked down to the pear yest. and saw a couple of guys throwing jigs with fatheads on. I wonder what they were fishing for!!!

[Sartell Angler]

yeah, weird...happens every year

don't raise too much stink about it though because guys will defend it to the death..."they're fishing for crappies"

of course, the big ol' river crappies can inhale a big ol 3 inch fathead on an 1/8 ounce jig with a 4 inch twister no problem! LOL

I'll wait until the walleye opener to start fishing for walleyes...

[Stick in Mud]

This isn't much different from the guys out in the lake throwing big spinnerbaits before bass opener...they're out there targeting only the 16'' crappies...Don't want to mess with any of those smaller ones! Your story, Sartell Angler, reminds me of my own adventure yesterday down on the river--a guy was fishing a jigworm, not a jig and grub, for what had to be smallies. It looked like a four inch finesse bait, but there was no way he was out for crappies. The other day I saw a guy with a very expensive rod and reel fishing "crappies" in some pretty fast current. It looked like a nice smallie or walleye spot to me, but maybe he knows something I don't. It'll only get worse, too--I've often thought that bass opener on the river is really walleye opener because there's no way to tell if someone is really fishing for walleyes or bass, unless he's fishing a topwater, of course.

[Dean Schellinger]

Yeah, you see it way to much. I mean you can target gamefish for 10 months out of the year, but these clowns feel they have the right to do it 12 months out of the year. Sounds like they would be strong supporters of that idiot Congressman from the cities, Sauveteer Challuay or however you spell it, who has come out with all kinds of stupid anti-outdoor bills.

[Royce Aardahl]

I thought eyes loved topwater . Minnesota should have catch and release on eyes and smallies in the sippi. I've fished crappies for years this time of the year with flu flus and fatheads. If a smally or eye or northern hits it the fish will survive just fine.

[huskie0302]

Made it out to one of my early season river spots. I had 3 hits, one cat 26 inches. Not bad for only 1.5 hours of fishing. I went to stop light bait and they still don't have any sucker or shiners to use for cut bait. I think we need a week of solid warm weather for the fishing to heat up. Anyone else having any luck???

[Stick in Mud]

You can just catch suckers and use them, right?

If that's legal, the suckers are running like Kenyans at a marathon...just go get 'em!

[huskie0302]

I haven't caught one yet this year.....any suggestions???

[Royce Aardahl]

Hers a few that I got on the river today. The biggest carp went about 15. Raining like crazy and I got soaked but what a hoot. European nightcrawlers and a brown hook. Kinda blurry, I blame the rain. All were released.

[AceintheHole]

Very nice fish looks like you had a good day in the rain.

[50inchpig]

Carp are all over the backwater areas now and we got some cats in the calmer areas earlier this week before the carp showed up, all on nightcrawlers. Huskie if you don't have a boat and want to meet me next week around 5pm I'll be carping almost everyday.

[Tippman]

Great to hear about the carp showing up. When I was out about a week ago had a tough time finding any concentrations of them. Now if only I didn't work the next 6 days.