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St. Croix River Fishing Reports


Joe

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On 10/3/2018 at 7:19 AM, Steelhead Chaser said:

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. 

 

Thanks for the report Steel. I will be out Sunday in the same area mainly jigging but I will check ~23 ft first. Were you getting your bites around the shad bait balls? I imagine the fish are feeding now on them.

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  • 2 months later...

Quite a few out on the Bayport ice right now. Most all are still walking, but did see a couple ATV's out there. Didn't go out myself, but sure am getting anxious to give it a try.

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Went out last night for sturgeon. Considering it was my first outing of the year, I did okay with a couple sub-30" fish. Saw some dandies.

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  • 7 months later...
  • 3 months later...

David Swanson, the man who plowed the ice road across the croix for over 30 years passed away last week. Sad news to hear. I had never known who plowed the road. He kept that road in better shape than the plows in the city keep the streets! And he did it for free! Article said he retired from plowing the road in 2016. I haven’t ice fished the croix in 6 or 7 years, so has there been an ice road the last few winters?

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  • 5 months later...

Anyone hit the river on opening weekend? I did some shore fishing at Franconia today. Water water higher than expected. Higher than last week, even though gauge online said otherwise. Didn’t look like anyone was catching anything. I just soaked crawlers on the bottom. Had planned to use waders, but water was too high and fast. Caught 7 redhorse.

 

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Went sat very slow and a lot of people. Launched at the bluffs got there at 5:45am and didn't get the boat in till 7:15 and got the last parking spot. Probably 20 behind me a lot of tickets given for parking in the lot on top 

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Went to the ferry landing, east of Rush City. Tried wading, but it was tough going in the wind...especially since I forgot my gloves ? this area looks smallie paradise! Will probably be a couple more weeks before they get going though. Lost a couple small bass, and landed 1 pike.

 

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Went back to the croix again today. I was a few miles farther upstream than yesterday. Boy, I sure can’t wait for the water to warm up and get lower! This whole stretch just looks like absolute heaven! Easy wading too...except for the spot where I stepped into soft mud, sank, then fell over into water. Caught 3 smallies, one was 17 inches. Also saw a turkey fly across the river.

 

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Well, thinking the sunshine would turn the fish on, I went to the croix again. This time I just soaked some worms at Franconia, with the kids. Only caught 4 redhorse, including my daughter’s first!

 

 

 

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JB, i know exactly where you are in the pics holding the smallmouth. Locally it's referred to as the washout. A little used spot about 60-70 yards upstream can be dynamite if somebody is already at the creek, you can easily see the current seam created by a rock outcrop.  It's been my stomping ground for quite some time. It's a great spot. Late summer (think after the deer flies start to diminish) wading any part of that section can be awesome. I canoe float stopping at likely spot is great too. 

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Discovered another new spot on the upper croix today. So, last week I was fishing a spot, and made a cast...line snaps! I watch my one and only flat rap go sailing half way across the river! Today, 7 days later, and about 2 miles downstream, I stumble upon this...

 

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As far as the fishing goes...water level was probably the same as last week, but is on the rise. Temps were maybe 2 degrees warmer. Probably needs another 2 degrees for things to really pick up. Caught 6 total. 4 smallies (two 15 inchers), a tiny little pike. And the surprise of the day, a 16 inch largemouth! Also stumbled upon an old homestead nearby the access. Was cool to just stand inside and wonder what was happening there 100+ years ago.

 

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Finally took the boat out for the first time this year! River didn’t seem as high as I expected. But wow has the William O’Brien stretch changed since last year. Sandbars where there have never been sandbars before, backwaters smothered in silt, even a couple new little islands. Wind was brutal. Fishing was decent. Caught 13 total. Equal mix of white bass, pike, and smallies, plus a bonus walleye. Had a lot of white bass follows, but they weren’t very active.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Went wading on the upper croix today. Started at my secret spot, but high water made it tough to get around. Fish were fairly active though. Caught 5 decent bass and a little pike. Zipped up to highway 70 bridge and gave that a try. Caught 2 really nice walleyes here. But like the other spot, high water made wading not possible. Might come back here with my boat though ?

 

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Well, the highway 70 access won me over yesterday, only to break my heart today. I should have seen the warning signs at the start of the day. Get to the launch, get everything ready, about to put boat in the water...forgot the life jackets! ? I drove to the Walmart in Pine City and bought 2 life jackets! Finally got on the water. Was a nice boat ride upstream. Was hoping maybe to make it all the way up to the mouth of the Snake River. Probably made it halfway before it got too shallow. I most likely could have made it through had I had more ambition, but we needed to start fishing. Hooked into a few fish right away, but lost them. I’m pretty sure one was a small muskie. Ended up drifting all the way back to boat launch, and only caught 2 fish! And both were just a couple hundred yards up from the launch! Was a smallie and a little walleye. So yes, slow day indeed. Looks like a nice trail system at the access though. Might have to plan a hike there this summer.

 

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Launched out of Copas today. Got beat up by the wind pretty good. Caught an 18.5 inch largemouth, and a 17 inch walleye. Then it was a looooooong time in between fish. My son found a brief bit of success when he started jigging a small paddle tail and caught his very first sheephead. Then I had him jig one of those gulp minnow things, and he caught a 15 inch smallie. But that’s where it all ended. After we loaded everything up I threw him in the river ?

 

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Hey JBMasterAngler I see you are very framilar with the St Croix I live near White Bear Lake could you recommend some shore fishing spots on the river thanks!

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Franconia or Somerset landings. Quite a bit of fishable shoreline at both spots. Boomsite wayside is fishable too, but there’s always way too many people down there, and too much boat traffic for my liking. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, the fishing has come to a screeching halt! Fished yesterday out of Rush City and only caught 2 little bass and a little pike. Today tried the mouth of the snake river, and got totally skunked. River is very low and running clear, but goodness! I thought I’d catch a couple by accident at least! Weekend wasn’t completely uneventful...I sprang a leak in my waders ?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Launched out of Copas today. Water is really low. And the wind was really blowing upstream (what else is new? ?) I had to run my outboard in reverse just to drift downstream in some stretches. Fishing was really slow. Caught 2 little smallies and 32” and 29” pike. Pike are sitting right on the bottom where cold springs are entering. Tried trolling the main channel, but didn’t catch anything.

 

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Took my wife above the dam today. The slow fishing didn’t score me any points. Just 2 little bass, and 2 little walleyes. Also didn’t buy me much time. I would have normally just kept going farther and farther upstream, but her patience is very thin if the fish aren’t biting, hence the reason I’m posting this at 4:30 ?
 

 

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I launched at Franconia waiving a white flag! I made the decision to use live bait! And the fish treated it as though my bait (fathead minnows) had no hooks! Me and my son (mostly me) lost at least a dozen fish! We at least got to see most of them...smallies and pike. In the evening we switched to casting rapalas, but took advantage of the border waters and let minnows dangle under a bobber on opposite side of boat. Only landed 1 little pike and 1 little bass. Highlight of the day was the Taylors Falls Princess referencing us on the loud speaker.

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  • 6 months later...

Made a last second decision to fish out of Bayport today. For awhile, it was looking like a bad decision. Had only caught 1 little white bass all day. On a hunch, I set up in a spot I thought might be good for the evening. I was right! Caught 3 walleye, 1 sauger, 1 perch, and a slab crappie. Also lost one (probably a walleye). Marked quite a few others. Everything out of the same hole. Deadstick didn’t produce anything. Gold frostee spoon with minnow head was the ticket!

 

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  • 3 months later...

Finally took my boat out for first time this season. Everything works! That’s about the only highlight of the day. Water was probably over a foot lower than last week at the somerset landing. I think may have been a degree or two cooler as well. Caught 4 little smallies, 3 small pike, and a decent white bass. 

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Launched at Somerset landing again today. Man, is the water low. If you launch at William O’Brien, don’t go downstream! You might not be able to get back up! Saw lots of bigger boats trying desperately to find a way to get upstream, about 1/3 mile upstream from somerset landing. Even in my little boat, I discovered several new sandbars. Fishing was pretty slow. Whities still haven’t moved in for spawning. Caught 12 total, 5 different species (6 if you include the clam my son caught). Daughter caught her first white bass, and it’s her favorite fish now. Hopefully the forecasted rain is a significant amount.

 

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  • 1 month later...

A few days ago I went out on the croix from Prescott looking to catch anything. Nice size white bass were jumping everywhere chasing schools of minnows to the surface. The two of us caught about a dozen each over 2 hours. The best results were with really fast retrieve of floating or shallow crankbait. The same fast presentation pulled in a couple nice smallmouth as happy accidents.

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typo
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  • 8 months later...

This was the first winter I had the appropriate gear to target sturgeon through the ice out of Bayport. I did not catch any! Based on reports, it was really slow for everyone compared to last year. It is cool marking fish on the croix though, as you have no idea what it will be. Ended up catching 2 sauger, 2 mudpuppies, and a rock bass (first I’ve ever caught through the ice).

 

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