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St. Croix River Fishing Reports


Joe

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I had some pretty good fishing on Sunday morning. Trolling with lead core, caught 6 walleyes with 3 under 15 and 3 over 15. Biggest was 22, and also got a nice northern, maybe went 6-8lbs. 

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Sorry for the really late report.  Was out last Friday morning and fished the Hudson area for about 5 hours.  Community spot for a good portion of it.  Managed to land 9 walleyes and 1 sauger.  4 of the walleyes were keepers between 15 and 17 inches.  Fish were caught between 18 and 20 feet of water. No other species caught.  The usual program of cranks with snap weights.   Good luck out there.

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Fished the Kinni area yesterday afternoon/night solo.  Lines in the water at 2:30 and done by 6:45.  Fishing was pretty good, by my standards anyways.  Caught 12 walleyes and 3 saugers.  4 of the eyes were between 15 and 17 inches.  Fish caught from 15 to 20 feet of water.  Water temp was 57 to 58 degrees.  No other species caught. All fish returned to fight another day.  Same program of snap weights and crank baits.  Good luck out there. 

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The Croix has not been good to me so far this year. Went out of William O'Brien on Friday, thinking the white bass (or anything for that matter) would be active. Nope! Caught 1 smallie, and 1 whitey. We did, however, get attacked by a giant prehistoric sized beaver. Gonna give the river a break for awhile. Maybe go back to trout fishing. :whistle:

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Can't let SC get all the glory, so here's a pic of our haul on opener a couple of weeks back. All caught north of Stillwater using jig-n-min and 3-ways with original Raps in 15-23 FOW. Since then, all success on 3-ways, but soon will switch over to snap weights with Shad Raps. Also, I just ordered some Scatter Raps due to SC's success with them and will report back with results soon. Good luck! 

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Great report Gimp.  Thanks for the info.  I have found the Scatter Raps to be as good and sometimes better than the normal Shad Raps, but that's just me.  I get the Deep Diving ones - think on the package it says 8 - 11 feet and then add snap weights to get down to desired depth. Of course Firetiger has been the best color by far. Look forward to more reports.  Good luck out there.  Haven't made it out recently due to the poor weather.

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SC - Yeah, I'm excited to try the Scatters. The three colors that always produce (if there is any bite at all) are fire tiger, perch and chartreuse so that's what I loaded up on. Perch has been hot as of late. With all the rain, things are on hold--same as you. Will hang out in garage and fry up some SCR walleye, have a couple beers, watch some hockey and look forward to clear skies.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Herky Jr. picked up a couple nice white bass, one trolling and one jigging. We turned them into delicious fish tacos!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since the water is still fairly high and full of a lot of debris (at least north of Stillwater), I haven't tried the Scatters much lately. Instead, going with the tried-and-true method of jig-n-meat combo. Was out Saturday late afternoon for a few hours and bought home one short of a SCR limit using leaches. Largest was 20" (biggest I'll keep on the river unless it's a lifetime trophy). Even north of Stillwater, the river is nuts with pleasure boaters galore, but a guy can still find some solace in spots and catch fish. Good luck!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Was out Friday, June 30 and got into them on jigs and crawlers. Brought ten home and released a 27" beauty. 

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Wow.  Looks like a great day on the water.  Awesome job.  Thanks for the report. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Everyone, a couple of questions, I know there is free public boat ramp in Stillwater just above the lift bridge. Is there another public boat ramp further down river? I thought I read somewhere that Beanies is or was becoming a free public boat launch. Is that the case? Also, I am thinking of heading there on Monday to try my luck. Any tactics/depths/areas that have been producing for anyone?

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Beanies is a privately held beach and company. There is no way they would become a free public launch site--unless they sold to the DNR. I know nothing of that happening.

However, if you're patient, the DNR is building one under the new HWY 36 bridge with 35 trailer parking spots to be completed in late fall 2019/early spring 2020. Here's the article: http://stillwatergazette.com/2017/03/20/dnr-plans-boat-launch-next-to-st-croix-bridge/.

As for fishing, right now with the hot weather and the recent mayfly hatch, it's been a tough bite. Fish drop-offs or channels and try everything.

 

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Thanks for the info guys. We did end up going and launching at Beanies. Ten bucks to launch. Not too bad. There is a for sale by owner sign posted there but it's obviously private for now. As for the fishing, it was slow. Pulled the plug at noon and headed for the Mississippi. Did much better there.

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Fisherjmb - After I posted that, I looked into any news on Beanie's being sold. Here's what I found: http://www.stcroix360.com/2016/09/new-owners-of-lakeland-boat-landing-seek-to-celebrate-god-on-the-st-croix/

The article is from a year ago and I couldn't find anything more recent. Interesting to say the least.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think the dog days are behind us. Peak SCR water temp was about 80 degrees a couple weeks ago. Last night, down to 71. A good bite both on Saturday morning as well as last night. All on jigs and crawler in 12-17 FOW.

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  • 4 weeks later...

With the water receding and the temps dropping, the bite has picked up. Both Saturday and Sunday we caught a lot of shorts, but still managed some nice eaters. The pictures are: my son with a nice 24" (CPR); my buddy with a 20"; my son with a 17.5" & 15.5.  

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  • 1 month later...

Life has kept me off the river more than I would like this year, but with the perfect fall weather day made it out yesterday out of the Hudson area with a buddy from 12:00 to 5:00.  We were able to find some active fish.  Finished with around a dozen fish or so that made it into the boat.  Most of them being saugers, including a few nice ones.  Water temp was 51 – 53 degrees.  Very light wind.  Fished from 21 ft to 28 ft of water.  The 24 – 26 ft depth was definitely the best.  Same program of cranks and snap weights.  No other species caught.  Best days are certainly ahead.  Good luck out here.IMG_20171025_170903334_HDR.thumb.jpg.e96afd76953fd295686314ac19886e1d.jpg

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1 hour ago, Croix1959 said:

How are you rigging your snap weight? 

Croix -

I run braid and have a line counter reels.  Let 60 feet of line out attach the snap weight and then let another 60 feet out.  Speed, type of lure (how deep it dives) and size of the snap weight obviously play huge factors.  Other factors such as diameter of line can play a role as well.  Thinner braid runs much deeper than thicker.  I try to get my lures about 1 - 3 feet of the bottom give or take.  Line counter reels are not absolutely needed.  The amount of line let out can be eyeballed and you can be just as effective.  Doesn't affect if that much if those numbers are off a bit.

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Thanks, I run leadcore but it's a pain to get back out because it spools out so slow. Interested in trying braid with snap weights but have never used them. What brand/where do you purchase them?

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Not sure if I'm posting this right but I was out yesterday (10/30/2017) from 9-430 and the bite was insane! Caught around 100 fish, all saugers and white bass. Kept 5 of each 

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  • 5 months later...

I WAS OUT IN THE BIG WINDS YESTERDAY, HAD TO FISH THE ELEMENTS BUT GOT ON TO A PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL SCHOOL OF PERCH WITH A FEW SAUGERS MIXED IN JUST SOUTH OF HUDSON,  ONLY SAW 4 OTHER BOATS ALL DAY THE WIND REALLY KEPT PEOPLE OFF THE WATER.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

Fished out of William O’Brien on Friday. Water was only slightly high, but the wind was miserable. Spent most of the time drifting upstream. Caught 7 white bass and 1 northern. All the bass were males, so things might really start to pick up in the next couple days when the females show up.

 

 

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Went to Franconia on Saturday. Wind was cold and miserable! With it howling straight downstream, my options were pretty limited, so we mostly trolled up and down the main channel. Caught 1 pike, 2 smallies, and 1 white bass.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Have fished of the Hudson area a few times the past week and fishing has been pretty good. Well for me anyways. Pretty light boat traffic as well where we have been fishing having the area pretty much to ourselves.  As expected the fish has moved away from the early spring spots.  Most recently was out on Sunday with a few buddies for about 5 or 6 hours in in the morning.  Water temp around 67-68 degrees.  We caught about a total of a dozen or so eyes/saugers with about an equal mix of both.  3 nicer eyes between 18 and 20 inches.  Found the fish had moved a little deeper in the 20 - 25 feet of water range.  Crank baits with snap weights now needed.  Speed 2.1 to 2.4.  Buddy decided to keep a few for dinner. Good luck out there.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

How is the late July fishing on the Croix going?

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  • 2 months later...

Fished the Hudson area yesterday from 8 am to 2 pm.  Decent weather and almost zero boat traffic which made things nice.  Had the area we were fishing to ourselves the whole time.  Fishing was very good by my standards anyway.  Managed to boat around 18 walleyes/saugers, a few white bass and a nice crappie.  Nice quality nice as well.  11 of eyes/saugers were between 16 and 20 inches.  Fished with 2 lines.  Water temp was right around 60 degrees.  Water depth fished from 23 to 27 feet.  25 to 26 feet seemed to be the sweet spot.  Trolling the entire time with Crank baits and snap weights.  Speed 2 to 2.4.  Baits about 1 foot off bottom.  Appears the fall fishing has begun.  Good luck out there. 

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