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Sept.


Turk

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September Points
The sunshine bronze water of the St. Croix River hold an abundant population of the Minnesota state fish, and walleye fishing remains the mainstay quarry year after year, though crappies hold the popularity crown over eyes when cars drive on water.

The fish’s popularity stems far back in history to days when prized meat meant the definition of immediate happiness. Currently the challenge of hooking the elusive game fish with favorite lures and friends, teamed with gastronomic intentions explains much of the general pursuit of walleye.

Catching fish - Early September marks a transition period when walleyes instinctively gear up for approaching winter. Seasons past indicates the transition of walleye from mid season deep flats to the deep and steep points of the Lower St. Croix.

All but rookie anglers know points are classic fishing areas. Quickly summarized early season fishing finds many fish in shallow water on points; later in the year depths that fish generally relate to are deeper especially on the Croix.

Points come in all shapes and sizes. Some are gradual tapered while others are stubby and drop off sharp.

Generally the relatively larger and gradually tapering points hold most fish of all species early in the year. In lakes, long tapering points have much more shallow weed covered bottom. The weeds produce the snacks and munchies that baitfish love.

For some reason or the other, Fall marks a period where the steepest drop offs produce walleye at a better rate than the gradual bottoms. Places on the St. Croix that are have productive fall points to name a few, are Black bass, St. Mary’s, Charlie Point in Bayport, and Afton’s famous Catfish Bar.

Steep points must be vertically approached and jigged for best results. The reason being is the fish are relating now to the steep sides and not the tops of the points. Trolling lures is a lesson in futility when trying for these fish.

Lures - Standard jigs and bait are in order for these deep point fish. The key factor however will be boat control. A fast drifting boat will not allow the jig to stay in the fish zone for the needed period of time. One second the boat is hovering in 18 feet of water then within ten seconds the boat is in 50 feet. Well when the fish ID marks from the sonar are in 29 feet of water that jig never even came anywhere near the fish.

Proper boat control either by electric motors, anchors, or by back trolling a small gas motor, all are great tools to keeping the boat lined up straight over those marks. Often new anglers do too much and try to fish and keep the boat controlled at the same time. Naturally an angler wants to fish a line but sometimes "taking one for the team" is the way to go.

The St. Croix River is a wonderful resource that keeps producing prized walleye year around; keep up with the times and stay ahead of the game.

Keep catchin'

Turk
www.croixsippi.com

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Thanks Turk,
that is a GREAT POST!!!

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Turk,
Boat control? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!
Thanks for the wonderful reading!!
Now let's see if you can get me on that sow white-tip!
Jim W

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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