St. Croix River Fishing Reports

[billy mitchell]

yeah because your a violater..hell you fish with fives lines in minnesota..lol

[meat hammer6l6]

if you are a wisconsin resident you can fish three lines. minnesota resident two lines..... ive been checked dozens of times over the years and never had an issue!

I'm a WI resident and I've alway's fished three lines on the Croix and got checked numerous times by the DNR and never had a problems either.

[goingdeep]

I was stopped by the WI warden on Monday just south of the High line and he told me that follow the rules that apply in the state that you live in.. Now for the summer time He stated that you can have 1 on the MN side and 3 on the WI side. I have a difficult time believing that, he was very hesistant to explain this to me.. I think that he might have been a little unsure of him self..

[DonBo]

if you are a wisconsin resident you can fish three lines. minnesota resident two lines..... ive been checked dozens of times over the years and never had an issue!

I stand corrected. You guys are right. Mostly.

I just spoke with a Wisconsin CO. He said, if you hold a WI license no matter what state you live in, you can fish 3 lines, ON THE WISCONSIN SIDE OF THE CENTER OF THE VAVIGATIONAL CHANNEL. He said they will most likely give you the benefit of the doubt if you're fishing near the center of the river, however if you're obviously closer to one bank you need to follow that state's regulations. Therefore, if you are fishing on the Minnesota side, you can only use two lines.

He also said they have found that many of the GPS Mapping chips have the channel in the wrong location so that may not be the best way decide how many lines you can use. He also told me that a Minnesota CO SHOULD be on the same page. They can not go onto the Wisconsin side of the river and try to enforce Minnesota laws.

Hope this clears thing up.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

News to me, thanks for clearing it up.

So the way it sounds to me is the Mn officer cant patrol the Wi side and Wi cant patrol the Mn side? Thats stupid, its a border water with the same regs for both mn and wi residents (other than lines) right? Why cant they patrol the whole river it would benefit everyone?

[ZNG_VUE]

hmm... all i have to say is, when the fishes start bitting.. u only need 1.. =)

[DonBo]

News to me, thanks for clearing it up.

So the way it sounds to me is the Mn officer cant patrol the Wi side and Wi cant patrol the Mn side? Thats stupid, its a border water with the same regs for both mn and wi residents (other than lines) right? Why cant they patrol the whole river it would benefit everyone?

No, no. They can and do patrol both sides. But a MN CO can not enforce his two line law on the WS side of the river, unless of coarse, you don't have a WS license.

[meat hammer6l6]

That explains it for me, I've always fished on the WI side of the river. It's kind of common sense though, I don't think I would go over on the MN side and start fishing 3 lines if I wasn't sure.

[AuggieDawg11]

Nice to get a clear answer about how many lines we can use. Thanks DonBo. I just got off the river an hour ago and had a decent morning. Fished from 7-11 and caught two waldos both shorts. Had what would have been a keeper up to the hole where it got off. Started fishing in 17 fow and moved out to 30 fow. Fish were caught in around 25 fow. I was using a glow white jiggin rap tipped with a minnow head. Had a lot of follows using a rattle spoon but no takers. Maybe this weather has triggered a little something?

[Pumkinseed]

I have also got checked on the croix with three lines down and no problem I'm not sayisaying its legal but in the book its boundry waters so St.croix county's limit on panfish is 10 now and the river is still 25 right boundary waters if u get checked by Washington county dnr your going to hear 2 lines if you get checked by St.croix county. Dnr your gonna hear 3.

[iiccee63]

I think this topic would best be in it's own separate subject matter seeing this is the "fishing report" heading. So, here is my fishing report as promised from Thursday....it STUNK! Where is the fish? Fished from noon - 5:45pm and got one bite. Fished by Shanty Town area....going out Friday all day. Why? I don't know! lol! Good luck everyone!

[meat hammer6l6]

I think this topic would best be in it's own separate subject matter seeing this is the "fishing report" heading. So, here is my fishing report as promised from Thursday....it STUNK! Where is the fish? Fished from noon - 5:45pm and got one bite. Fished by Shanty Town area....going out Friday all day. Why? I don't know! lol! Good luck everyone!

You're right iiccee63, I'm heading out there on Saturday morning. Hope where I'm thinking about trying will produce a couple fish or so. I'll post on Sunday.

I haven't been out there in a couple of weeks, is the ice still holding up out there pretty well?

[St_Croix_Banks]

Seems like the bite has been 11am-1pm and then shuts off.

[odieman7789]

went out today caught 4 big crappies. they bite from 7:30 till 8:30 and then shut off. talked to another fisherman who had 8 smaller ones same area. Bayport west and north of shanty town.

[AuggieDawg11]

Was humbled by the might St. Croix today. Didn't get out until 11 and caught a mooneye right away. First mooneye of the year for me. That thing hammered my jig. 10 minutes later caught a nice crappie. From then on to when I left, I could not buy a bite. Marked lots of fish in 35+ fow.

[iiccee63]

Got back today from the Shanty area south and got one 12" crappie and tiny sauger in 7 hours. Missed a couple bites.....this is getting old. Hope it picks up soon!

[shimano]

hi everyone, yeah it's still slow out there but give it some time...was out last monday got an nice 17"sauger and a few crappies. Just be prepare to use every thing in your tackle.

[odieman7789]

any fish reports today from the croix. thought the rain might

start them biting.

[AuggieDawg11]

I see that there are some people way up by the point across from Sunnyside. It also appears that they are driving on from somewhere near Sunnyside.

[odieman7789]

Caught 13 nice crappies and 2 walleye keepers. fish were tight to bottom. such a nice day. will not get another chance to fish the croix this year good luck everyone

[AuggieDawg11]

Caught 13 nice crappies and 2 walleye keepers. fish were tight to bottom. such a nice day. will not get another chance to fish the croix this year good luck everyone

Any hot lures/baits? Presentations?

[meat hammer6l6]

Hey AuggieDawg11, was out this weekend I picked up some of your Skandia Jigs and did fairly well. I got 3 jumbo perch a bunch of small silvers and a couple of nice crappies, Missed quit a few too! I switched back and forth using euro larvae and the wedgee tails on the Skandia's and they all produced.

I was using 10mm with white and red with the black stripes, Fishing in about 24'. My buddy got a nice sturgeon on a Minnow and Chartreuse jig. Gonna head out today for a few hours with my son. I'll report later on tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for the tips though!

[odieman7789]

AuggieDawg I use the oldest method. #10 gold treble hook with 2 split shots about 12"s above hook the minnow under dorsal.

I also only use 6" long spring bobber. Try to locate fish with vexilar. If I don't see any I bounce it off the bottom and let it set. As soon as I see spring move I set the hook. Don't miss many. Good Luck

[sausageman]

The last few times out I only fished one line. I may have to get a second hole and try a set line using that treble and minnow technique.

Some days they want minnows some times they want...... Thanks for sharing.

[AuggieDawg11]

Thanks for the help odieman! I too have only been fishing one hole at a time lately because I have been moving so much. I am always willing to try new methods. Especially the tried and true ones!

[AuggieDawg11]

Woke up early this morning to go out and went back to bed because it was nice and cozy. After running a few errands through the morning, I finally made it out just before 1pm. I only drilled two holes because I was going to set up my portable and try to stay warm. I wasn't expecting much for the day. I set up my dead stick and went to grab my other pole and what do you know, my bobber is down. White bass to start. Get my line back down the hole and the fun kept going. It wasn't non-stop action by any means but I caught close to 15 fish. I kept 3 silvers, 4 crappie, and one sauger. Most of the fish came on the dead stick but I can't complain. I also tried a new jig that I picked up at Thorne Bros. and it worked great. Once I figure out the name I will let you guys know.

[mhmklein]

nucleus jig?

[fishwater]

Jalapeno jig?

I've loaded up on those and the tungsten pill jigs JR's is making. Thanks for the reports guys, I've been having an awful track record of making it down to the river this winter. It's good to read the reports. Sounds like we did pretty well yesterday despite the cold!! Keep up the good work..

[Craigums]

Went out with a couple friends last week in the rain and tried to put us on structure. Drilled holes and hopped around looking for any action, most spots I didn't even mark a single fish (blue), in a couple of spots I marked fish which came off the bottom but could not get them to bite (red). and in one spot I stopped looked away from my hole that I was jigging to talk to somebody out there and while I was talking I got a bite (green), I swung and missed on that one though. ended up spending about 4 hours out there, nobody caught a fish. here is a look were we fished, hope somebody finds it helpful.

In hindsight, We probably should have moved the shack deeper into the 30+ fow away from the structure but we didnt

[APCfishing]

I too was out there in the rain last weekend.

We were fishing in 25 feet and experienced the same thing, tons of bait fish mixed in with plenty of sniffers. I did manage to hook into one but it got off at the hole, never saw what it was pretty frustrating...