St. Croix River Fishing Reports

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Bite was much slower this weekend compared to last weekend. Rain and cool temps dropped the water temps back below 60 degrees, previously temps were pushing into mid 60s in places. Im guessing that's playing a part in the slowing bite. Still caught some fish but no keeper 'eyes pulling rigs this weekend. I was seeing some caught but it appeared they were being caught by minnows.

[Walleychaser]

Fished last night for a few hours on a beautiful night. Caught 4 eyes and a few other species to make it enjoyable. Most were on clown or firetiger in 13-17 feet. Looked like some other boats had some luck as well. hopefully the warmer weather coming up helps kick on the feedbag.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Had a couple of keepers last Thursday evening. Chartreuse jigs with gulp alive smelt bouncing off the bottom in 20-25 feet. 

[Steelhead Chaser]

Fished the Hudson area yesterday morning solo from 6:00 am to around noon.  Total of 8 walleyes and sauger between 12 and 16 inches.  No other species caught.  2 were above 15 inches.  All on troll-to-15 raps using snap weights.  Nothing to big, but some action anyways.  All fish came in 18 - 21 feet.  Speed 1.9 - 2.1.  All the fish were returned to fight another day.  Good luck out there.

[Walleychaser]

Nice post Steelhead! Glad you had some luck and thanks for sharing the info.

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

I hit the St. Croix Thursday from early morning to 2:30pm.

 

Water temp was 62-64F.  I caught some Sauger and a lot of White Bass.

Here is a picture of an 18" White Bass, 1/2" short of the MN State Record:

 

 

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Hit the lower Croix again Monday.

 

Water Temp = 64F.

 

Caught 22 White Bass.  It's great to report there's LOTS of small Walleyes, so hopefully the upcoming years will be good!

 

 

[Steelhead Chaser]

Made it out for about 4 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon/early evening in the Hudson area.  Pulling raps with snap weights again.  Managed 5 saugers, but they were all small under 15 inches.  No walleyes or bigger saugers to be found.  At least for me anyways.  Big bait - small fish lol...  No other species caught which is the usual based on how and where I was fishing.  Nice night on the river anyways.  Good luck out there.

[CranktheTank]

Steelhead, were you north or south of the 94 bridge?

I went out this morning from 6-10a with the girlfriend and dog in hopes of boating a couple, however we were skunked.  I neglected to note the water temp on this trip, but it was a nice sunny morning with a bit of a breeze.  We targeted steep break lines along the shoreline on the WI side south of the bridge and fished anywhere from 8-30 ft with changing presentations including jigs and crawler/leech, spinners on a bottom bouncer, and ended pulling cranks on 3 way rigs.  Not one bite! My first thought was that I wasn't getting my bait down to the fish, but that was ruled out after repeatedly pulling debris off my baits as well as snagging the bottom several times.

I will say though, I am as much of a newbie fishing on the river as I am on this forum.  I plan to spend time learning river techniques this summer and will report back my success's and failure's!  Planning on heading back out tomorrow evening and over the weekend for some quality time on the water.  

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Hey CranktheTank, I've been on the Croix a lot since the early 1970's. If you're marking fish and not getting any, switch it up. Frequently.  Leeches & Crawlers can be great when coupled with Red hooks.  :-) 

 

 

[Steelhead Chaser]

CranktheTank.  Send you a PM.

[Walleychaser]

Fished south of 94 for a couple hours yesterday and like Steelhead I only managed small fish under 13". Caught mostly walleye but some really small saugers that hit cranks almost as big as they were. Had the most luck at 20' give or take a few feet. Did'nt note water temp but will try to get it on future reports.

[Steelhead Chaser]

Fished out of the Hudson area with a partner today from 6:00 to 12:30.  Caught about a dozen or so eyes and saugers. About an equal mix.  Majority of the fish caught on raps with snap weights, but also busted out the live bait rigging for the first time (leaches).  This seemed to be just as effective.  Also hate to admit it but also caught 3 sheepies.  Caught fish from 15 to 21 feet.  Normally catch and release for me, but partner is a meat eater so kept 2 eyes and 3 saugers.  Keeper eyes were 16 and 17 1/2.  Trolling speed 2.1 to 2.3.  Perch and Firetiger raps.  Nice morning on the water with some fish to boot.  Good luck out there.

 

[CranktheTank]

Finally got out again this evening from 6-930p to enjoy the beautiful weather and wet a line.  I tried north of the 94 bridge, trolling original floating raps in firetiger, perch, and clown colors on a 3 way rig.  I tried depths anywhere from 15-30 and in the time frame I had I got up to the swing bridge, trolled the MN side up to the first main point then swung over to the WI side and trolled back to the swing bridge.  I didn't catch a fish doing that, but when I got back to the bridge I tooled around some of the rocky shorelines in and around the bridge and finally boated a smallie!  I ended up catching a handful of smallies and two white bass on a jig and leech and also casting a firetiger rippin rap.  Funny highlight of the evening was my dog starting getting stir crazy in the boat and wanted to chase the rap when I casted.  Long story short the meat head jumped over board ha!  This ended fishing for the day and headed to shore to run the dog.  Planning to head out in the morning again with my gf, will report back with results.  

[CranktheTank]

Hit the river up on Saturday morning from about 8-230p.  Pulled a variety of cranks in different sizes, colors, and styles, and finally picked up my first river walleye!  It was only one walleye, but darnit I finally got one!  I also decided to give the jig and leech a whirl and caught a few drum but that was it for fish in my boat. I fishing both north and south of the 94 bridge and noted water temp 67-68.  I have to wonder if the labile weather patterns have had an impact on fishing success.  Does anyone have any insight on how the weather effects the bite on the Croix?

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Yes, the bite usually lets up for a couple days after big storms roll through.  

You can still get some though!

 

 

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Monday 6/8 Fishing Report:

 

Took my Wife out and it was somewhat slow, but we did get some Crappies in 24' for our Dinner.

Water Temp = 68F.

 

Crappies DID NOT Lay Eggs yet!  

Here's a pic of a 13 1/2" Crappie with Eggs from another Crappie besides it.

 

 

 

[tunrevir]

Was on the upper Croix this am and found a variety of willing biters.  Short walleyes taken on cranks while trolling in 10-15'.  Crappies, perch and sheepshead in the 6-15' depths on a jig and minnow.  Smallmouth on poppers and cranks casting shorelines with rocky and woody cover with many of the fish right tight to the shoreline.

Tunrevir~

[NBK14]

I was hitting up shore spots yesterday as well from 7am till 8pm and fished half a dozen areas. The Snake River confluence was the furthest north traveled and there was plenty of time hiking also, so it wasn't like I was pounding the water and casting all day. For me the catching was poor, but the experience was a blast. There have been areas that I've wanted to check out and finally did, the weather was nice and I only found a few ticks to boot. Curlytails & Swimbaits in various colors, weights, and sizes were my weapons of choice. Didn't matter 1 lick though, none of them worked and I just had a few strikes, 1 10" smallie, and fat 27" pike. The river was pretty busy and I really had to hike to find some peace & quiet which was actually ok cause at times I was in the mood to chat.    

[CranktheTank]

I got out last night from 5-9 pm and fished just north of the Prescott area trying a variety of  leech/crawler presentations including jigging, pulling spinners, and cranking.  We picked up our first walleye on a gold spinner with a crawler, then after a period of no luck we switched over to cranks.  We were able to catch 4 more walleyes and 1 sauger.  Colors that worked were blue, pink, and shad.  I was marking a lot of fish but couldn't seem to entice them; the best depth for us was 18-22 fow.  The fish we caught all measured 12-14 inches, so they went back to fight another day.  Ran into another fella who was having trouble catching fish so we told him what we were doing (even though it wasn't hot and heavy we still caught some fish).  He disclosed that most people he has spoken to have only had luck catching shorts and that this time of year was kind of hard to find the nicer eyes.  Does anyone have any input on this?  

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Crank, yea, there's lots of shorts in the river now.  Sure, there's larger ones, but we do have a nice crop of ones coming up for healthy catches in the coming years. Definitely looking forward to it!  

 

 

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Fishing report:  Hit the lower river yesterday (Thursday) 5:30am to 2pm.

Water Temp = 72-73F.

 

The major spots that held fish are not holding fish now.  Bite is slow & I only saw 1 other small Walleye caught among all the other boats all day.

 

Managed to get 1 Walleye, 1 Sauger, 1 Smallmouth & 1 Sheepie.  That's it.  Hit it hard too.  Hopefully it'll pick-up soon! 

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2015 by Fisherman For a Lifetime

[CranktheTank]

Hit the lower part of the river again this past Friday from about 5pm to dark.  Trolled both sides of the river focusing on the 15-25 fow range.  Pulled cranks in a variety of colors, the best being some sort of blue or bright color.  We were able to pick up a combination of 15 walleye and sauger which were all under 15 inches.  I mark a lot of fish but have not figured out the best method to get them in the boat yet, hopefully next time!  

[CranktheTank]

Got out again this evening from 6-9 pm.  Tried trolling cranks in the 15-25 foot range and picked up one small sauger.  When I started marking fish more consistently I decided to slow down and try leeches and crawlers on a lindy rig.  I managed to boat several drum, a couple perch, and a 14 7/8 inch walleye.  The best range for me running the lindy rigs was 16-22 fow.  Even though the fishing wasn't hot, it was a beautiful night to be on the water with the dog.  How is everyone else doing out on the Croix?

[Tdubbers]

Thanks for the reports crankthetank!  I've been out about 6 times in the last few weeks mainly fishing 94 bridge to the train bridge, done a lot of trolling with a variety of cranks, 3 ways, and spinner rigs with little to show for it. My best luck has been fishing close to rip rap throwing cranks and a crawler on a floating jig. Most fish caught this way are smallies, but I've managed some eyes and sauger.

[NBK14]

I hit up a shore area yesterday morning near TF & got me a big ol Goose Egg, snapped off a few jigs, then took a spill on the rocks. At least I didn't break my fishing pole or drop tackle box in the drink! It was a nice morning to be hiking and chucking.

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Fishing Report:  We hit the Lower St. Croix yesterday (Thursday) early morning to mid-afternoon.  Tried many places and many rigs and only caught 1 little Walleye.

Did not see one single fish caught out of all of the boats we looked at either.

 

Beware the "Dog Days" out on the River - until we get to late August, when the action heats back up again!

 

 

[fishdaddy]

Was out of Prescott July 3rd, fishing was slooow. As night approached the mayflies began to swarm. Fishing might be slow for awhile. My boat was filled with them and so was my garage after parking boat. 

Good luck!

[Tdubbers]

Been out a few mornings this week mainly using jigs at wingdams and deep drop-offs, I've only managed a few sauger doing this in 28 to 30 fow. My first thought is I'm fishing too deep since I'm catching sauger not the targeted species walleye. Been seeing a lot of bigger  marks (wich I think are eyes?) in the 18-20 fow too but can't get them to bite. I'm a novice at jig fishing but I want to add it to my arsenal of tricks. If any experts have river jigging  advice for this greenhorn I would appreciate it.          Got this 13lb bonus kitty on a jig and leech this morning!

[rickh1981]

I would love some advice and techniques as well I am new to fishing in the saint croix river. I been fishing over near sunnyside marina in stillwater by the new bridge construction. my targetted species are walleye I only got one this year i been using crappie minnows (all the gas station near me sells) leeches and night crawlers, I have been unable to get anything on green worms. when iuse jigs or crank baits i get no bites at all. live bait has been mostly getting me bass with some carp and a few panfish. I am also hoping for a few sturgion (catch and release only for me) as well as some good size cats. last night those mayflys were swarming so i got no bites at all

Edited July 19, 2015 by rickh1981