St. Croix River Fishing Reports

[Mons]

Has anybody been catching fish around sundown or after dark?

[RiverChuckNorris]

Bite dropped off a little after 4 for me

[fivebelow]

this year has been a late morning bite ...not much early and not much late in afternoon.

[eyesonly]

quote]

this year has been a late morning bite ...not much early and not much late in afternoon.

This has been my experience for pretty much all the years I've been fishing down there.

[fivebelow]

bite has completely been non-existent last few trips out. anyone else experiencing difficulty getting anything to bite since the snow/cold came.

[eyesonly]

Still pretty slow today. Just One small sturgeon , 30 inches or so and an 11 inch crappie with lots of wind.

[budboy]

Any new reports and are they driven out or how thick is the ice?

[DonBo]

Any new reports and are they driven out or how thick is the ice?

http://fishingminnesota.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3313016/st-croix-ice-thickness-report

[RiverChuckNorris]

Any new reports and are they driven out or how thick is the ice?

I was out last Friday (Jan 2nd) in 29 fow, had 9" of ice and caught 4 crappies and a silver bass. After about an hr, had a guy come set up 10 yards away from me. Another hr later, had a guy with his whole family set up 10 yards behind me.

I know it's their prerogative to do so, but man, WHY do so many folks insist of competing for the same fish? Why is it going to be more productive? Not to mention, leave no room for a guy to relieve himself without putting on a show! LOL

Oh well, metro fishing I guess.

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

I was out last Friday (Jan 2nd) in 29 fow, had 9" of ice and caught 4 crappies and a silver bass. After about an hr, had a guy come set up 10 yards away from me. Another hr later, had a guy with his whole family set up 10 yards behind me.

I know it's their prerogative to do so, but man, WHY do so many folks insist of competing for the same fish? Why is it going to be more productive? Not to mention, leave no room for a guy to relieve himself without putting on a show! LOL

Oh well, metro fishing I guess.

I know... Even posted a thread on it before.

Absolutely drives me up the wall when people set-up SO CLOSE!!

S - p - a - c - e people........... Come over & visit of course, but please give us s - p - a - c - e.....

Thank you.

[DonBo]

Okay guys, that's enough complaining. Does anyone have any actual fishing reports they'd like to share?

[old timer]

Okay guys, that's enough complaining. Does anyone have any actual fishing reports they'd like to share?

My sentiments exactly.

[iiccee63]

Right....

[john.wells]

When you need to do what nature requires, just go ahead and do it while looking them all square in the eyes without saying a word. Remember, for any action there is an equal and opposite reaction

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Fishing reports..... Fighing reports.....

We need some fishing reports!

[hookitguy2007]

Tough day today at crappie town. Marked a few but no takers. Only tried crappie minnows.

[Tdubbers]

I had a similar experience just south of shanty town yesterday, only I tried about everything in my tackle box to no avail. Seeing more shacks farther south towards the bridge this year, wonder if they are having better luck....

[old timer]

Slooow for us too. Caught 2 white bass. 37 fow fishing between 36 fow and 21 fow, wherever the fish were marking. We were checked by the Wisconsin CO. He reported a total of 3 crappies starting at the very south and working north. (We were about halfway between crappie town and ferry landing). He had not yet worked his way all the way to crappie town.I personally plan on fishing Waconia until it picks up on the Croix. Good luck to you all.

[ESSGuy]

Honestly haven't had luck on the river in years. Way more pressure now than ever, may be a factor. Poor fishing on the soft water for the last 10 yrs also. Maybe the river is like grouse and is just in a down cycle?

[iiccee63]

No it's been slow for 10 years because of over fishing. Never was like this in the late 80's when I first started fishing down there. Too many people keeping too many fish. We never keep fish. Our stance on that... It's getting over fished....

[eyesonly]

I have not seen a down turn in the soft water fishing for walleyes/saugers . I think if anything it may have gotten even better. But yes, I agree. I struggle down there on the ice and have for a while now.

[SteveD]

I find the complaints about overfishing on the St Croix interesting. Just stop for a minute and think about how much of the total river from Taylor Falls to Prescott, WI never sees a hook from ice up to ice out which is about November 1st to about April 20th or so (that is almost 6 months of the year).

The Bayport Pool gets hammered because there is easy access and it holds safe ice to drive on for a few months. From the high lines north to Taylor Falls there is sketchy, unsafe ice and very little to almost no fishing activity until ice out. The same pretty much holds true from the Hudson Swing Bridge to Prescott – again it is due to limited access points and sketchy, unknown ice conditions. There is some ice fishing to the south but it is not talked about much and few know where and how to access it. Which is probably good for the river.

So when you really think about it – the only area of the lower St Croix that really gets fished and fished hard for about 8 months of the year is about 3 miles of the Bayport Pool from the High lines to about Mallalieu Dam. Most of the river and its healthy fish population spends about 6 to 8 months of the year in peaceful bliss and seldom hears or feels fishing pressure from humans.

I don’t know why I wrote this other than to add another perspective to fishing the St Croix. I’ve been fishing it for over 38 years and consider it my home water. Try and find a place that has a diverse fishery like the St Croix provides. From muskies, to flatheads, to walleyes, to sheepshead and silvers, to channel cats and mudpuppies. Its got it all. See you on the water.

[john.wells]

Well said, Steve!

[Sinker]

Fished today from 9 am to 4:30 pm. South of the shanty town. Pretty slow. One crappie and three white bass. Fish on the flasher but most were lookers.

[fishtolittle]

Why do I see very few people fishing south of the I94 bridge? I have fished between crappie town and the railroad bridge by Hudson with very limited success. I feel this is due to fishing pressure in that area which could result in lower numbers of fish in that specific area, I have seen that happen many times on lakes. I also believe that fishing could be better in areas that are not fished as hard.

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Why do I see very few people fishing south of the I94 bridge?

VERY inconsistent ice. If you don't know it, stay off.

Also where are you talking about? How far down from the bridge??

[fishtolittle]

Anywhere south of the bridge to Prescott. Have not fished any of that water. Any good ice fishing spots in that area?

[DonBo]

Anywhere south of the bridge to Prescott. Have not fished any of that water. Any good ice fishing spots in that area?

Unstable ice conditions and near zero access is the reason you rarely see people fishing here.

[SteveD]

Anywhere south of the bridge to Prescott. Have not fished any of that water. Any good ice fishing spots in that area?

No accesses for cars and trucks. Everybody wants to drive right up to a spot and drill a hole. There are a few walk on access points but you have to be prepared to drag your stuff along with you - few people are up for that much work.

Some people fish downstream areas but they keep it to themselves. If you talk about it especially on here you will have company close enough to share your FL8.

Why don't you go find a spot and let us know how you do. Be careful in the neckdown areas (Hudson, Afton, Kinni, Prescott) - the current flow makes for unsafe ice. Wear a PFD and let your brother-in-law lead the way.

[DonBo]

Wear a PFD and let your brother-in-law lead the way.

Especially if he's a bit heavier than you.