St. Croix River Fishing Reports

[cheets]

Set up pre dawn on the Wi. side north of shanty town across from Bayport. We were well away from the crowds in 40'. Had some lookers but couldn't trigger any bites in 2 hrs. Walked up half way to the high wires and set up in 24'. Fish were much more active but only caught a couple of silvers & a dink crappie. Ended up in 11' on the point & caught 5 little perch. Pulled the pin at 1:30. Very nice morning even though the fish didn't show up. I was a little surprised the ice was only 5"-6" thick. Good solid ice though. Was on Mille Lacs last weekend & had 13" of ice.

[croixflats]

Looks like you were searching pretty hard hopefully things will turn on soon.

Mille lacs probably had ice longer the river has only had ice for 11 days. I hope we dont get this snow their forecasting that's going to really to slow it down.

[Turk]

...White bass ...I also found them to be very tasty minus the blood line.

Agreed!

[ChompChomp_YANK]

Got out on the river for the first time this year. We finally got set up @ the crack of 9 ( my buddy was dragging his feet I dont think he really wanted to go ). First spot we set up in was 38' we got 3 silvers then it shut off so I started hole hoppin, found some fish in 29' moved the shack and we picked up 10 crappies and 2 more silvers. The smallest crappie was 10" and the largest was just under 12". We had fish on the graph all day but they would just look at it and go back to the bottom. Jig spoons produced the fish during the day but the dead stick cought all but 1 fish after 3pm. The best action was from 3-4:30pm. Our last fish was @ 4:30 we stayed till 5 and called it a day. All fish were released.

[AuggieDawg11]

Sounds like a good night, Chomp. I have the day off tomorrow and will be out there most of the day. If anyone else is going to be out, stop by and say hello. I'll be in a Clam 2000.

[AuggieDawg11]

Went out today for a few hours and came away with one nice crappie. Wasn't marking many fish at all 30+ fow so I moved it in to chase after some walleye. Set up in 18 fow before dark and had a few bites and missed one at the hole. Buckshot rattle spoon tipped with a minnow head or tail got many fish to follow but not commit. Got real frustrating seeing them come off of the bottom, raise them up 3-5 ft and not have them take it. Really hoping all this snow doesn't ruin the good ice we have.

[meat hammer6l6]

Anybody get out today? I wanted to but I had stuff to do. A little windy out there.

[ChompChomp_YANK]

I got out on wed fished from 10-4:30 cought 9 crappies and 1-14" sauger and no silvers. Missed at least a dozen, they were just not hitting it like the other day. I lost most of them on the dead stick-they would pop it and I would let them take the bobber down 1-2 feet set the hook and nothin!! I didnt catch a fish until about 2:00 and it shut off at 4:00. I started in 18' and stopped in 32' Jig spoons out did the dead stick today. I also tryed the camera today but couldnt see anything until it got about 6" from the bottom.

[AuggieDawg11]

I had the same thing happening to me on tuesday with the dead stick. Bobber would go down about at least a foot, I would set the hook and nothing. Glad to know that I'm not the only one that was happening to. They are biting super light also. Spring bobbers are almost a must.

[chrisonice]

fished the river on Christmas morning from 6-11am, around 35 feet of water. Caught about a dozen of mooneye, one 12" crappie, small sauger and a whitebass. Had about 7 1/2 to 8 inch of ice and a lot of slush.....the mooneyes bite are so light, can barely feel it but ill be fun for the kids to catch

[AuggieDawg11]

that's a lot of mooneye! Sounds like you had a good time.

[chrisonice]

yeah next time ill get some pictures, i might go out tomorrow night

[cheets]

Fished 34' near Anderson's point. A few fish would rocket off the bottom and look at the bait without biting. Lost one walleye at the hole. Good ice (8") & not too sloppy.

[jericks]

where are the up to date reports ?

[croixflats]

Been using the "Reports ?" thread

[DonBo]

where are the up to date reports ?

We seem to be useing "Reports?" these days. It's here:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2106356/Reports

[DonBo]

Much better ice conditions than expected. All the snow turned to slush, to ice. 6-8" everywhere I was today, no snow on top of ice. Saw one small mini-van on the ice , not NEAR enough for that yet.

Fishing still slow. Lots of lookers, very few takers.

[chrisonice]

Same spot today, 3 to 6pm, caught 5 whitebass 2 of them were big, an 10" and 13" crappie, a crappie and whitebass on deadstick, the rest jigging. No mooneyes this time ..... KEY stay away from the crowds

[AuggieDawg11]

Going to give it a shot tomorrow morning. Thinking about making the trek out to the deep hole and see what I can find.

[DonBo]

So, was anybody out this morning? Was thinking about playing hookie this afternoon if this weather change has has made the bite pick up any.

[Ice em]

Went out yesterday and caught a few nice crappies and a 38 inch Sturgeon! What a fight that thing was took me 10 minutes to land the fish and would barely fit through the hole. I would say overall the fish are finicky and biting very lightly. Green demon has worked the best for me.

[eyesnfries]

Don Bo - I'm heading to shantytown tomorrow a.m. Got a kitchen pass for the whole day. Are you going to be out? I'm taking a snowmobile across from Bayport. Is the ice safe to cross? I'm in the X2 with the '97 polaris XLT.

Paul

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

eyesnfries!!!!!!!!!! How ya been?

I'll be out with my Asian Fiance for her 1st trip ice fishing (ever) in the Chisago area.

Let us know how ya do & we'll see you out there soon!

Tim

[DonBo]

Don Bo - I'm heading to shantytown tomorrow a.m. Got a kitchen pass for the whole day. Are you going to be out? I'm taking a snowmobile across from Bayport. Is the ice safe to cross? I'm in the X2 with the '97 polaris XLT.

Paul

With the bite tonight (non-existant) I may find another slab of ice to try tomorrow.

There are ATV's and sleds everywhere, no problem. 8" of good ice.

Good luck! We'll meet up sometime this winter.

[eyesnfries]

Hey Tim! Congrats and Good luck! See you soon!

Paul

[eyesnfries]

Yeah, now you got me thinkin I should go elsewhere. I'll sleep on it. Thanks for the ice report. I'll see you down there sometime I'm sure. Good luck!

[croixflats]

Caught 6 10inch crappies 1 14inch and 1 16inch wally today, really had to work for them. The 14 inch crappie and walley caught on a bronze jigging Rapula. The other crappies differant lure for each one.

Surprised to see 10 to 12 inches of ice where I was at. What are the ice depths being seen out there

[sausageman]

I had one of my better outings this afternoon. Started off catching a 11" crappie in the first 5 minutes of fishing on a set line and minnow. Then for about 1/2 hour I was off and running with a gold buckshot rattle spoon (1/16 oz) and a minnow head. Iced 3 keeper crappies (10" +) and a few short crappies 7" to 9". Then the screen went blank.

Moved to more of a walleye area and immediately started catching a lot of big white bass. (14" to 17") Action was almost non stop for about 45 minutes. All were caught on the same gold with glow red back buckshot rattle spoon. I then pulled my set line and started jigging two lines both with buckshot rattle spoons. One gold/red glow the other a green/red chub glow. Around 3:50pm I iced my first keeper walleye (17") then a 15" and another 15" walleye. This is where it got interesting. After the last walleye, I caught a mooneye, another white bass, a 12 1/2" crappie, and a 22" Catfish. Gotta love the river.

Sidenote: While I was reeling in the white bass I was standing up and looking down the hole...to my surprise I see a huge flathead Catfish pass about 5 feet below my hole just as I ice the white bass. That was exciting.

From 4:30 pm to 5:30pm I caught 6 more catfish. The largest being 23" and the smallest 17". Every one was caught on the green/red glow chub with minnow head.

I planned on fishing Mille Lacs this weekend but I'm having second thoughts. Why travel 2 1/2 hours when the river is starting to turn to the positive. SM

[Craigums]

sausageman. if your bringing a portable up to mille lacs drop me a line ill be up there tomorrow, if you decide to stay on the st croix let me know i live in woodbury and have only fished the st croix a few times I would love to learn more about the river

[AuggieDawg11]

Went out for the evening bite yesterday and did fairly well. Went out for eyes and succeeded. One 16" on a dead stick and a 15" on a glow green frostee spoon tipped with a head. Felt nice to get out for a few hours and have success. Was off of the ice by 5.