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Wild River State Park

smallies24

By smallies24
in St. Croix River Fishing Reports

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smallies24 Collaborator

smallies24

Posted
Posted

Hey guys,

I'm going camping up in Wild River in a couple weeks and think I'm going to bring the duck rig along for some fishing. I've never fished that section of river and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations. First and foremost, is there anything I should be aware with the higher water. I have a 14ft with a 9.9 and a 42 lb cable driven trolling motor.

If I get out, it will be for a half day or so chase some smallmouths around. Thanks!

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DonBo Grand Master

DonBo

Posted
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The water's coming down, but is still pretty high. Lots of rocks in that section, bring shear pins. smile

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CHEX1982 Apprentice

CHEX1982

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Went to St. Croix state park past Saturday. Similar stretch of river (I believe?), rented canoe for 4 hour trip, never felt unsafe. Saw three boats on the way back to landing, one of which zoomed past at over 30mph so it's either safe enough, or he's got big balls. Another Tracker boat had a couple and their child with them.

BRING DEET!!!!11!1! 20% FOR THE MORNING, 99% FOR THE MIDDAY, AND 40% FOR THE EVENING AROUND THE FIRE. OH MY GOODNESS I have never seen it this bad without going deep into the woods for squirrel hunting. Every denim shorts chick had red blotches you could see from 30 feet away...not that I was looking.

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smallies24 Collaborator

smallies24

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Thanks for the info guys. I could've seen myself completely forgetting bug spray.

Perhaps the best part is the girly wants to chase some bass. I might just get out some hiking yet, and if the bugs are bad...the river should be a decent place to be... grin

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john.wells Proficient

john.wells

Posted
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work the shore lines and current breaks with stick baits and you will get into smallies. Depending on which landing you use, the river has a split personality in the area around the State Park. Downstream you will find slower water and deeper pools, mid park and upstream is classic fast water shallow stuff. Any break in the current you find, as well as any little pool, will harbor fish of all species. Good luck!

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Skeeter21i Apprentice

Skeeter21i

Posted
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The high water is pretty much just a memory already other than the muddy water. The river has dropped considerably in the last week and is just about down to the normal summer level which means plenty of rocks and shallow areas. The bugs have been a non issue on the water but as soon as you hit the bank it is a different story. I live a mile from the park and we can hardly be outside. I may drag the jon boat down there tomorrow and see if anything is happening.

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smallies24 Collaborator

smallies24

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Thanks for the additional info guys. I'm hoping to run up river from each access, if possible. I prefer to do that so in the event you do run into issues you can pretty much float back to where you started. We'll see what happens.

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  • 2 weeks later...
smallies24 Collaborator

smallies24

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We only ended up getting on the water Saturday, but it was decent. We ran from the access to the north of Sunrise up a couple miles and concentrated on rocks adjacent to deeper water. We didn't get too serious about it, but managed to boat a handful of 14-18 bronze backs and a couple northerns before leaving for the shelter of an air conditioned bar. It was a nice stretch or river and only saw one other boat north of the access.

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  • 2 years later...
MN BassFisher Experienced

MN BassFisher

Posted
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Me and the lady have a site reserved this weekend on the river bank this weekend. I wish the forecast looked a bit warmer but it is what it is. We will have our kayaks and plan to fish quite a bit. From the sounds of it I will probably target smallies on moving baits and see what bites. Hopefully the cold weather doesn't shut the bite down too much. Never been on the river on this stretch so we'll see.

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john.wells Proficient

john.wells

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The cold weather just might work in your favor. At least the front plowed through a few days ago, so any negative impact on the abrupt change should be tempered by now, and they are talking about a slow warm up. I am personally aiming on getting out there tomorrow smile

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john.wells Proficient

john.wells

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Hopefully you will be bringing something to make coffee in-nothing better on a crisp morning after the shock of getting out of that nice warm sleeping bag! Good luck, I have feeling the smallies will be on a bite...

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MN BassFisher Experienced

MN BassFisher

Posted
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Well we didn't get into any fish. First time fishing a river in our kayaks and probably won't do it again...haha. Unless there are some productive backwaters nearby OR we bring two vehicles. Paddling up river is a PITA. The flows were much greater than I anticipated and each day the water dropped significantly while we were there. Beautiful scenery, I just wish we could have slowed down and fished some of the laydowns more meticulously. Weather was great, I love fall camping. Waking up on the river bank in the wood to some hot morning coffee and breakfast burritos over the fire is tough to beat. How'd you do john.wells?

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john.wells Proficient

john.wells

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I didn't make it out, chores got in the way. I did get out to a couple of the dams on the Sunrise for some shore fishing before the game on Sunday, and caught a bunch of dinky sunnies. I can only imagine how fast the Croix was running considering how high and fast the Sunrise was. You should consider running those Kayaks out of Osceola, there are some easily accessed backwaters not too far from the park...

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MN BassFisher Experienced

MN BassFisher

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That's great to know, thanks! The area is beautiful and if we had a shuttle I would have loved to travel more of the river. Backwaters always intrigue me!

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