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St. Croix River Fishing Reports


Joe

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Out yesterday 4 inches of bad ice with a layer of water then 7-8 inches under it. Needless to say tracking around drilling holes looking for fish with my 12 yr old was a chore. I small sunny, marked several in 15 FOW but suspect they were small sunnies. One ATV stuck in some nasty stuff and one fool hadry person stuck a wheel on the WI side only to immediatley back off.

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Welcome Ted, and thanks for the report. Sounds like conditions are the same on both sides of the river. frown

Dilleyo, bet your bud had fun catching that huh?

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I wish it was me, but it was my buddy I was with. Still a blast though pulling it through the hole for him. The bigger ones are a little tough to get the heads positioned right to bring them up. They look like sharks under the ice, pretty cool though.

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nice catch dilleyo. Was out all weekend also and they sure turned off. Caught alot of smaller walleyes and crappies. Managed to catch a few nice crappies including a 15 incher thats back in and swimming. Fished in 25-30 ft of water. will be out again tommorow, being unemployed sure has its ups and downs wish i could make a living fishing the river, geez.

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cool

Yeah I know, but I will one day laugh

Did ok today on the river. Caught 6 crappies and 3 walleyes. No size to the eyes and only 2 crappies 10-11 inches. Turned back into just being lookers. Time to give them a new presentation.

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Just a lot of lookers and non keeper crappies today. I only mangae 4 decent crappies and a sauger.

Luvin2fish were you fishing on Mn or Wis side? Yep time to switch presentation.

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How are the conditions for running a sled on the river? Any snowmobiles been running about? I don't want to get stuck in slush! grin

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Haven't really seen any snowmobiles out lately. Seen a few atvs "try" to drive on the slush and i'd say they don't get too far. Dragging a sled around is probably the best way still.

With the slush i've been fishing the minnesota side from 20-30 fow and like i've been saying, the fish have really turned back into the same ol normal bayport fishing(SLOW). They chase, they look, they look, they look, they run.mad

Been averaging 3 10+ inch crappies per outing. I tried to downsize and slow down my presentation with little success. Buckshots seem to scare off more fish than attract them in. Understanding which column of water I should fish has been my key to catching fish.

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First outing on the river this year had about 5-6 inches good ice and 5 inches of slushy honeycomb fishing 36ft had two crappie and a stripe bass lots of fish on the marcum really finicky though fish came off minnows and no bites on spikes... Is anyone seeing baitfish at a certain depth? thanks for your input...

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I've been seeing baitfish swim through 15-8 ft of water but less and less everyday. Caught four crappies 10"+ and two white bass yesterday. Once crappie measured a hair under 14"(released) and the white bass were 17" and 19.5"(Kept). Thought the 19.5" white bass was going to be a monster crappie, boo. The fish were again slow but did turn on at certain times of the day.

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First time out to the river this year today. Got on the ice around 10am and fished the MN side. Started in 35fow and got 2 crappies, a 3lb white bass and a nice sized cisco from 10am-1:00pm. Moved at 1pm and got on em good in 27fow. Ended up with my limit of crappies with all but 1 being over 10in and the biggest being 12.5in. Released another 15 or so in the 8in range. The bite was so hot for awhile i had to pull my deadstick line because i couldnt keep up with the doubles. Got the majority of the crappies on a #4 fiska jig tipped with spikes.

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19.5" White Bass beats the state record by 1 full inch!! If you haven't cut it up, you might want to put a scale to it whistle

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Congrat's Jiggin

Were you using a spring bobber with the #4 Fiska's?? I have yet to make it down to the St Croix this year. I'm getting itchy....very itchy. Currently my freezer is void of fish. :-(

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Were you using a spring bobber with the #4 Fiska's??

Yes. A spring bobber was very helpful as many of the bites were subtle.

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19.5" White Bass beats the state record by 1 full inch!! If you haven't cut it up, you might want to put a scale to it whistle

Wah? You got to be kidding me, gut it up already but might just scale it once i defrost it. Fiskas and spikes ey? I've been havenin the complete oposite of luck, dead stickin a small minnow was the only way I was able to make these fish bite. Caught 5 crappie today 10"+, 1 16" eye, and another 17" whitebass.

I've been fishing the same school for a while, tommorow i'll go do some exploring

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What is the ice looking like? I normally don't fish the croix until march, but there's no reason I can't make at least 1 extra outing out there. Last year I caught my 1st whitie and smallie through the ice on the croix...it's nice to get surprises like that wink

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JB, I was out yestereday for a bit. Ice actaully looks better than it did 2 weekd ago. A good 8 inches and seems like some of the slush is starting to harden. Hopefully not to much rain Thursday.

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That is the ticket!

I used the old legs today started in 25 ft drilled five holes toward 15 ft and found the Blue gills right away. Caught 5 off the bat then they moved on me followed them to the 15 ft. I was busy catching from 2 to 5 when I left. Really got going at dusk had to quit because the hands were a hurten. 20 gills 3 crappies and a perch. Kept 8 keeper gills and the 3 crappies. All caught on a green glo 4mil fiska with a clear red micro nuggie.

Did loose a bit of time messing with sufix magic ice line, that stuff is junk. Coils up and has a nasty memory. Happily I had another rod set up with some #4 ASSO "ice heavy" yellow line Fluorocarbon. First time using both and I love the ASSO line didnt coil stayed soft with no memory and sank fast.Oh! St.Croix legend with spring bobber what a set up got to get another one or at least the spring bobbers to go onto the premiers if that is possible!

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Got back from Bayport and caught 6 crappies and 1 perch. Marked a ton of fish but few takers. Quite a few guys out there and also heard 2 group of guys going at it. Seems like they were going to fight or something. Fished in 25-30 FOW no keepers.

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I missed two groups going at it would have been fun to see. Did you happen to see the 10 deer in Anderson bay at dusk.

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Croixflats I totally agree with you on the Suffix. I bought two spools this year and they didn't even make my fourth outing on my rods. I am heading up to LOW next week and after that I am on the river for the first time. I am trying to catch some other fish (white bass, catfish, mooneye, etc.) to help with my state fish catch list.

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Guys fighting and deers running around today huh? Didn't see none of that but learned a good leason today: Its not that all thhe fish in bayport turned off its just that the school of fish i've been fishing turned off on me probably due to constant pressure(yes i fish everyday). Great day to venture around, did some exploring targeting steep drop offs and found a whole new school I think. Although they weren't as many as my old hole they sure were more active to my baits. Everytime they schooled in I was able to produce quickly, caught around 15 crappies with 6 of them being 10-11. Again a couple of small saugers but i'mma get a early start on that new area tommorow morning and see if a monster crappie comes through...hopefully. grin

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Mobile is the thing. Don't be afraid to drill holes. You are out there to catch fish. The dummies sitting in one spot you gotta laugh at, Im one of them mid season, even though they blame you for the non bite. They are there but moving is the key, so look for them! Drill holes man!!

You see a guy, pudgy grin, out there with camo upper lower and uppers say high and if you would like a hole drilled just ask or mumble along in the convo and I will offer. I am serious fish next to me or not, just dont make me travel a mile.

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Croixflats I totally agree with you on the Suffix. I bought two spools this year and they didn't even make my fourth outing on my rods. I am heading up to LOW next week and after that I am on the river for the first time. I am trying to catch some other fish (white bass, catfish, mooneye, etc.) to help with my state fish catch list.
The white bass roam all over and like the the cats are hard to pin down. The mooneye i got a fix on, maybe, if you want we can get together to hunt these guys down. Cats can be good early season with a mistaken sturgeon,witch the sturgeon can happen year long, the cats after early season pick up late season but can be hard to find at times. Oh! the St.Croix is a --- but I love it.
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