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Posted

Time to start a new thread...

I spent 6 hours on the lower St. Croix Saturday and another 3 hours up by Taylors Falls Sunday. Thanks for the trolling tips from last week, fellas. Leadcore trolling was the hot ticket for us down by Prescott. Seemed like every trolling pass we made downstream, weaving in and out of the 20 boats jigging or deadsticking, produced one or more sauger. Upstream trolling was more of a chore and, as it requires more line out, and because there were so many other fisherpersons on the water with potential to snag our lines, we'd simply motor back up and troll downstream again. Walleyes were hard to come by but the sauger were generally of keepable size ranging from 14 - 17". We got away from the crowds later in the afternoon and hooked up on another handful of sauger in the 20-25' range north of Prescott. Jigging @ the Kinni was slow, with only 1 sauger making it to the boat for an hour of effort. As I said, there were a ton of folks on the water and it certainly was a nice day.

Today I thought I'd go to a more secluded location near Taylors Falls which has produced well for me in the past. We didn't land 'em hand over fist but didn't do badly, pulling in a mixed bag of walleye, smallmouth, and rock bass. Jig 'n minnow was the ticket in the eddies and current seams. Not great size to the fish but we caught enough to keep the afternoon interesting. It was quite peaceful on that stretch of river as we were the only boat on the water.

Not enough daylight after work these days to make it out so I'll give it another try next weekend. Good luck until then. Any other reports from this weekend?

Posted

I was out from 10:00 to 5:00. We only caught 3 suager. Had a lot of short bites. I had 6-8 fish get off half way up. I was using an 1/8 oz jig and still having problems hooking them. Has anyone used stingers on the St.Croix or is the water too clear? I use them down @ Redwing but never have on the St. Croix. Any help would be great.

Posted

Jig and minnow is my preferred presentation and I almost always use stingers on the Croix.

Posted

Had to complete the honey-do list on Saturday but I did make it out Sunday. After two passes of trolling and fighting the wind in Prescott and catching nothing I decided to visit the honey hole. This proved to be a good move as I ended up catching 25 walleyes and saugers between 14 and 23 inches. All the fish were caught on plastics and they were just hammering em. I caught 4 fish that were no longer than 15" that had completely swallowed the 5" plastic I was using. The great thing was I only missed 2 fish; it was definitely a slam and hold environment (no need for stingers at the honey hole). I'm going to skip out of work early Tuesday and hit the hole again. I hope the big girls find there way to the hole.

Posted

Walleyefanatic, you're hurtin' me with that report!!! grin.gif Sounds like a very productive day for you. I look forward to your report from tomorrow. Who says the plastics bite isn't on?!

BTW, surface water temp on Saturday in Prescott was 50.5. Sunday in Taylors Falls read 43.5. I have lots of theories as to why this is the case but don't know for sure. Sunny and warm day on Saturday and cooler Sunday may have affected surface water temp... Perhaps Lake St. Croix offers the water a chance to heat up on its route south to Prescott...

Posted

Southerner, I think your idea about Lake St. Croix keeping the water temps on the lower Croix higher might be right on. I know the water temps on the Mississippi have consistantly been 5 degrees cooler than on the Croix all fall. Right there is a prime example of why you are such a stellar fisherman and I just stumble on fish here and there. I plan on heading out on the river again this weekend also (in case mama has another honey do list for tomorrow) so if your interested in catching some eyes and /or sauger let me know. If we visit the honey hole you'll be sworn to secrecy though.

Posted

Well, Walleyefanatic, I'm not so sure about stellar performances every time out crazy.gif but seriously I'm always willing to scratch my head, hypothesize, and learn from others. With all the variables in fishing, it makes it very satisfying when one puts the puzzle together. Enough philosophy though...

Count me in for this weekend. I've got an open calendar, am willing to dress for any weather, and am itchin' to get back out there. You're the captain so I'm just along for the ride, and sworn to secrecy! grin.gif Lemme know when and where and we'll nail 'em.

Posted

Let's plan on Saturday morning (8am)at the Prescott launch. The plastics that seemed to be productive last weekend were 4 and 5 inch twister tails in chartreuse. I was also using some heavy jigs (1/2oz) and plan on going through a lot of them. My cell # is 651-303-2757.

Posted

You guys are too funny. nice reading!!

Posted

grin.gif Thanks, Ebass! I'll be W-fanatic is out there pounding them right now in fact. Others of us are sitting in our offices wishing we were elsewhere.

Prescott @ 8AM it is. I'll be armed with an arsenal of tips, techniques, and tackle. Hope to see some of you others out there too. The late fall bite has just begun!

Posted

Fanatic, Any advice on depth of your honey hole. Not trying to find it just noticed you saying your using 1/2 ounce jigs. Must be deeper spot. It seems depth is one of the most important factors when fishing the croix. Thanks for the report and helping me believe there a good numbers of good sized walleyes in the croix again. I have had good luck lately in 24-26 feet for numbers of sauger and few walleyes in 20-22 feet.

Posted

Ross, I was fishing relatively shallow (especially for sauger) at between 10 and 15 feet but when the big girls show up they're most active in about 6 feet. The reason I went so heavy with the jigs is I was having a tough time feeling the bottom and if the jig sat on the bottom for any period of time you would get bit by a rockasaurus. They must be huge because you can't even get them off the bottom if you get a bite(I'll bet I broke off a dozen jigs fighting the mythical creatures).

Southerner, Be prepaired to share lots of your knowledge, I'm like a sponge when it comes to learning about fishing; I pick it up fast but if you let it sit for any period of time the knowledge just disappears.

Posted

Thanks for the info fanatic. Post some pics if you get some big ones. I have to go with the wife to Two Harbors for the once a year wifey thing this weekend, so no fishing for me. Good luck saturday.

Posted

Was able to sneak out for an hour yesterday but only caught 2 fish (15" sauger and a 16" walleye). The sauger was very pale but the walleye was a beautiful bronze color. Once again the fish were caught on plastics (one on a 5" Kalin the other on a big tube jig). I just love fishing for pressured walleyes with tubes; just like fishing for green carp only these fish are good for something. smile.gif Looking forward to hitting the water on Saturday; if this weather keeps up I may have to put the heater in the boat. I'm such a panzy when it comes to cold weather.

Posted

Looks like a nice weekend ahead of us, fellow fisherpersons. May be a bit chilly in the morning but I'm betting the bend in the rods and the zing of your drag will warm you up quickly.

I noticed a skim of ice on area lakes today, even in the afternoon when it was relatively warm and sunny. I believe we've breached the edge of primetime walleye river fishing. Lookin' forward to your reports. If Capt. W-fanatic grin.gif puts us on fish I'm sure a synopsis will be posted soon. I have a feeling this weekend will be V productive, maybe not for gettin' those honey-do items accomplished, but those can wait. *Thinks - Bathroom needs to be painted, carpets need steam cleaning, need new furnace filter...* See y'all on the water!

Posted

i've got a bit of butchering to do bright and early but hope to launch the boat around 11 ~ 12 o'clock. See you on the water.

Kyle

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • rundrave
      that just gets you hdmi out to broadcast to tv otherwise its the same transducer  
    • leech~~
      Yep have one that's been sitting for about 4 years now about to get shipped off to the grandsons to play with.  It was fun for a while, the last time I used it was on a few trout lakes and to fish my digital camera out of Red Lake when it got bumped off the table!  🙃
    • Wanderer
      Yeah but I’ve come to hate using cameras anyway.  Too much hassle.  I have 2 that I could easily be talked into selling.  I rarely even think about em anymore unless something gets dropped down the hole and you want to make an attempt at getting it back.   Like our daughters cell phone last weekend!
    • leech~~
      Kind of like a old school, cheap camera. 🤓
    • Wanderer
      I like seeing what direction they’re going and that I can usually ID fish by profile, movement and speed.  Not 100% but probably 75%+ positive ID based on location and presentation.   I can set the one transducer to cover all the lines fished in the house, see if they’re all set at the depth I want and see how many looks the baits get before being hit - or not hit.   Sometimes it’s the first bait a fish comes to no matter what, sometimes they come through and check em all then go away.  Sometimes they check em all then turn around and go pick the one they liked the most.  Move it or leave it alone?  Are the minnows swimming hard?  Are they crossing lines?  Will fish lift up to check the high sets?  Do they do that more aggressively?  Is a high set a trigger or do they want it low so they can just swim into it?  Is the fish that bites the one closest to the bait or is it one that rushes in from further away to steal it?   That last one has been an eye opener for panfish.  So many times you’re working one fish that won’t go but it’s one that bum rushes the bait from 10’ away that you catch.  All the while with regular sonar you think finally coaxed that first one to bite.
    • leech~~
      You should have bought the $5,000 make um bite Garmin, instead of just the $2,500 look at um Garmin.  🤣🤣
    • rundrave
      It’s so rewarding to see them come in and everything comes together and equally frustrating to see them come in and do nothing lol 
    • Wanderer
      This was our overnight, last night.  The smaller perch were kept because of barotrauma.  
    • Wanderer
      2/3 houses were running them.  And one of them had both a Mega Live and Garmin going at the same time last night.  That house did the best.  We did well.  The one without only got a few fish.     I think there’s also some of this going on.  We just see more.  That’s all there is to it.   I’m always wondering the fish are sensing them too and avoiding or not biting as aggressively but I would shut mine off for periods of time and our catch didn’t go up.  It really went down, but that could also be because the bite shut down and I was tired of looking at a blank screen, hoping they would come in with it off.   Now to say the house with most FFS power won because of that?  I don’t think so.  They were probably on a little bit better spot but they’re also very good fishermen.   The house that had none and did the worst was put ON the spot that did the best last year.  They were also the greenest fishermen that had a loud generator and may or may not have rigged their lines correctly.   What FFS has told me so far: there are no absolutes and things happen differently than we assumed in the past.
    • Kettle
      I think we're just seeing fish we previously hadn't seen. I've realized a lot in the boat on clear lakes in shallow water a fish won't let you get within 50 ft. Last opener i was catching walleye in 4 ft. If the boat got within 50 ft the fish were gone
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