St. Croix River Fishing Reports

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I think there's a LOT less fish in the St. Croix, especially Walleyes, and it declined about 4 years ago. Sure we catch some, but not like 5 years ago & through the past.

But as soon as I bring it up it gets shot down. Oh well.

I could buy into that. I started fishing the Croix with my dad about 10 years ago and the first 4 or so years we caught lots of eyes. The past 3 or 4, like you said we still get fish but not the numbers and somedays we just cant seem to nail 'em down. Though the past 3 or 4 years we have been catching fish a lot larger average size. When we started most fish were 14.5", rarely any bigger ones over 20". Starting around 4 years we noticed we seemed to be catching a decent amount over that 20" mark.

I chalk it up to the population fluctuating...

[cheets]

Anyone have the water temp in the Croix?

thanks

[fishwater]

It was 53 this morning andy's pt going south to hudson.

[Saffer]

It was a windy day on the Upper St Croix River on Saturday but the walleyes were biting. Started the day on Yellow Lake in Webster ,WI but got blown off,so decided to hit the croix at Nevers. The walleyes bit but most all were too short but they were hungry and aggresive. Kept enough to eat. Had pike and sturgeon bite also, overall a good day on the river. One other boat is all we saw, fished from 1-4;30 everything on a jig and minnow, fathead or sucker worked.

[DonBo]

Thanks for the report saffer, sounds like a fun day. Have you been fishing Yellow this fall? Would love to a recent report from there.

[Saffer]

It was my first time to Yellow since mid-June, it was something else to see all the damage to the area from that storm. May try this weekend if it is nice. Good Luck

[Steelhead Chaser]

Hit the river yesterday south of Hudson at the community spot from about 12:00 to 4:30. Ended with 1 walleye and 4 saugers. Nothing huge, but all nice eaters. Missed several others also. Walleye came on small rapala in 40 ft of water. However, all of the rest of the action on firetiger jigs with fatheads in 39-45 feet of water. Nice not to have all of the boat traffic out there. Probably the last trip of the year.

[Dale Rueber]

Fished last Friday and again on Sunday with Andy. Water temp was 43 on Friday and 42 on Sunday. Found lots of Saugers in the 14" to 16" range plus an a couple of Walleye. A few of the fish were caught on plastics but dragging Rapalas was the clear ticket to putting fish in the boat. Usually in the fall, as the water cools, we have found it necessary to slow the trolling speed but lately we have been picking up fish running between 2 amd 3 mph. Strangest part was that almost all of the fish were caught in 32-45 FOW! I seldom fish in more than 30' on the Croix because I have very rarely caught fish deeper but this fall the fish are hanging out very deep. Only tried fishing deeper because that is where I was seeing a lot of bait.

On Sunday we didn't see another boat on the Croix from the Kini to Prescott until we were leaving and there was one boat by Prescott.

Good luck out there and stay safe.

[Never Enough Time to Fish]

Friday 11-25-11, 7 a.m....put in at Prescott and got one 16" sauger on a three way rig in a couple hours of trolling....moved to the Kinni and nothing...moved to a sharp break and found lots of bait fish in 30 to 45 feet....three with a rapala was the ticket...caught about 10 sauger 12 to 14 inches before the day was done at 4:00....most fish came trolling into the wind at 1.5 mph gps speed

was a little disappointed to launch at Prescott because the Bluffs road closed sign to the launch was up earlier in the week.....only to see trucks & trailers parked by the Bluffs launch on my way north to the Kinni

is the Bluffs launch still open?

[AsianSensation89]

How's the ice been at Bayport? I've been dying to get out to Bayport, just not sure of how the ice has been yet.

[Turk]

AsianSensation89,

I have found from 8 to 10 inches.

Turk

[SouperStar22]

hey Asiansensation ice are about 9" when i was out there last week it should be good we had a good day overall and also people were riding atv with trailers out there already

[pigeonator]

How is the fishing out there? And how deep ppl are fishing? I never had the guts to venture out there this year, I drove by it one week before my co-worker invited me out to the st.croix but I kinda use my wife as a excuse and headed SW for some ice fishing instead. So i was just curoius what ppl were catching that was worth venturing out on the st.croix. thanks.

[SouperStar22]

We were out there this past weekend and ice was about 8 to 9 inches and also we were catching crappies and couple eyes and they were in 24 to 30 FOW

[AsianSensation89]

Thanks guys! Looks like it'll be Bayport for me this weekend then. Hope to see you guys out there if you go too. Look for a dark blue killzone popup shelter.

[J2M]

I've been out a couple times within the last 2 weeks. The bite imo has been pretty good. There seems to be an hour window in the mid morning and late afternoon where it really picks up. In between that, the fishing is kinda slow but not dead at all. 85% of the crappies we caught last Sat. were in the 9-10", with the biggest going 13.5. Landed 2 whities (12&14")with the other 2 lost at the hole. They show up as red blobs and they really chase your jigs. I get them to come up 10-15 feet, pause and then they just slam it. A few sturgeons also, biggest was a 41". Most fish caught on a crappie minnow. Head, tail dorsal hooked, it really doesn't matter. I really don't think they're being picky at all, with the only exception that red colored jigs seems to have a slight edge. Forage minnow, Bro's bloodworm, scudbug, and my personal favorite that's tied on full time, glow red/orange Demon jig are all working. Once it's dark I'd deadstick but once that slows, switch to jigging. Not near crowds and fishing from 35-39 fow. Whatever, just get out there and enjoy it!

[DTandMZ]

ice fishing out on the croix has been great. as of right now there are many people driving out there. Ice is fairly thick from what I remember it was about 14-15 inches. It might be a little thicker now. Over all crappies are 9-11 inches and once in a while you'll land a nicer 13-15 inch crappie. Any thoughts on anywhere to fish on the croix? I was thinking north of the group that fishes on the wisconsin side of bayport.

[wisconygirl]

Hi All I'm new to this board and were thinking of heading out on the Croix today after 3p. for newbies heading on the croix were would you suggest to park and try for the first time? I'm in WI and my friend is in MN so either side just need to know were to park and try. Was thinking bayport area?

[Jarrid Houston]

Sconnie girl, last year we parked by the beach and walked out about 5oo yards, and set up in like 35 fow. We did good on crappies, and I even landed a 40" sturgeon. I am sure there will be others out there too! Good luck, and make sure to report your experience here on teh forums, and welcome to HSO!!!

[Jarrid Houston]

I meant to say the Bayport beach! You will see where people are parking Good luck and tight lines>~!

[DonBo]

Hey wisconygirl, welcome to the forums. Here's directions to the landing on the MN side:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1765774/Directions_to_Bayport_St_Croix

Here's directions to the WS side:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...s_a#Post2756879

[DonBo]

WOW! That's a huge fish right there.

[wisconygirl]

Thanks to all that replied. I found the place to park and ended up driving out since they had bigger trucks than mine on the ice and 16 inches of ice. We had no luck not even a bite. May give it a try again sometime. Friend of mine that was right next to us caught many crappies the day before.

[DonBo]

Friend of mine that was right next to us caught many crappies the day before.

Ah, the old "Shoulda been here yesterday" line. That's the way the Croix is.

Some days are definitely better than others. Some days you have to search harder than others, some days it just don't happen. Some days you'll catch 5 or 6 different species.

Keep at it and you'll probably have "one of those days".

[DTro]

Crappie fishing no doubt.

[Croix1959]

Holy smokes!

[tunrevir]

Jarrid, the pict was deleted at the request of one of the individuas in the picture. Definately a beast of a fish but he requested to not have his photo on here. The poster also stated that they were not fishing for sturgeon and knew that the season was closed. I suspect that he wanted the pic deleted so that the debate didn't get started about angling for fish out of season. Thanks!

Tunrevir~

[JBMasterAngler]

Tried fishing the MN side for the 1st time ever today. Had something on within seconds of my bait hitting the bottom, which I suspect was a mudpuppy. Do they fight or just feel like dead weight? Anyway, it got off after a few turns of the reel. Fished from 10 to 35 ft. Caught a little perch and a thick 12 inch crappie. Missed several more hits. All the action came in about a 20 minute window. The other 3 hours were quite uneventful.

[hookitguy2007]

I fished out of the park near Prescott this morning. I was marking fish consistently but they would not even nibble. Anyone tipup fish for pike in this area?

[Mojoe]

Crappie fishing no doubt.

Dont suprise me that some are so quick to assume. Suppose you never fished the st croix river over hard water before so can understand the easy assumption.