11/14/04 weekend report

[southerner]

What a great weekend on the Croix! Big thanks to Walleyefanatic who served as my guide Saturday. I look forward to sharing a boat again! We spent 8 hours on the water and boated a couple dozen fish. No piggies but the action was consistent on plastics and leadline trolling cranks. Seemed to me the best action came on ringworms held steady a few inches above bottom. Didn't even bring minnows, though I did see a few guys picking up some fish on meat around Prescott.

I got out for a few hours again Sunday and ended up HAMMERING the sauger with a walleye kicker on jig 'n ringworm. Seriously, I've never had such fast action on the Croix. My fishing partner and I boated several dozen fish in about 2 hours time using the aforementioned technique of hovering the plastic near bottom. I can't give any specifics re: location but we were the only ones there for most of our time at this spot. BTW, it wasn't the "honey hole", Walleyefanatic.

This week, just like last week, I think it'll be difficult to get out after work due to lack of light and the fact that I'm not all that comfortable on the river after dark. In any case I'll be back on the water both days next weekend come hell or high water as the saying goes. Good luck until then.

Southerner

[TrollerX]

Southener, I ask this question at the risk of sounding like a moron but here goes? What is a ringworm?

You had quite a different experience than I did this weekend on the Croix. I have been hammering the Eye's all summer but this Fall thing has tricked me up a little. I too will be back at it this weekend. Thanks!!

[southerner]

TrollerX... Sorry you weren't as successful in your adventure on the water. To answer your question, ringworms are basically 4" plastic worms with pronounced ribs protruding from body of the lure and a small curly tail on the end. Simply thread one on a jighead and fish it like you would a jig 'n minnow. Simple. I'd suggest searching for a picture on a search engine like "Google" to get a visual on my description. You can purchase these @ most of the local sporting goods stores and baitshops.

I should mention that up until about 3 years ago my one and only river walleye technique was the classic jig 'n minnow. After hearing so much about fishing plastics and seeing reports on the web, I had to give it a try. Since then I haven't looked back when fishing cold water river 'eyes. More times than not the fish absolutely hammer my plastic lures. Great fun! I've found them to be most effective when the water temp is mid-40s or below.

Good luck!

[walleyefanatic]

Thanks goes out to southerner for sharing the day on the river with me. Enjoyed a beautiful afternoon and some great conversation, I only wish I could have put you on more active fish. I went to the hole again Sunday in the morning and only caught a half a dozen fish in and hour so we decided to head to Prescott and troll leadcore for a bit since I had to be off the water by noon. Couldn't buy a fish on a #9 SR but we did catch 6 on #7 blue GSR (2 of them in southerner's confidence location). As always all the fish are still swimming for someone else to catch another day. Just as a side note the Optimax that I have complained about so much for the past 2 years has run flawlessly for the last 6 outings (knock on wood). I think this is the longest period of time the motor has gone without making a visit to the shop.

[TrollerX]

Southener,

Thanks for the tips. I have typically trolled almost always. I also fish live bait rigs a fair amount. This late fall thing is new to me. My wife will be glad to know that I have another reason to head to the tackle shop. I am going to fish sun up til dark on Friday. I will try the new approach. See you on the water sometime. I drive a 1750 FH with a Yamaha on the back.

Thanks Again!

[southerner]

Good luck out there, TrollerX. Sounds like you've got a knowledge of the trolling technique so I'd suggest doing a bit more of that if you're headed down near Prescott. Leadline trolling cranks s-l-o-w-l-y upstream and just a bit quicker than the current downstream has produced fairly well for me recently. W-fanatic can also attest to this technique's effectiveness as you've seen from his posts. I'm not much on 3-way rigs but that's another option of course. The only other recommendation I'll make, one that you likely already practice, is to find those distinct current seams and hit 'em hard.

I'll be in the blue/white Nitro bassboat more than likely. Not the best rig for fall 'eye fishing but still earns its keep as my multi-species rig. Look forward to seeing you out there. The bite will only get better as the water cools.

[walleyefanatic]

I also plan on heading out to the river on Saturday. I plan on doing the normal Prescott then work my way upriver until I find some fish. If anyone is interested I'll have an open seat in the Tundra. Sounds like it's going to be a great weekend to fish. I think I heard someone mention the four letter word "snow". Mix a little rain and wind with that and there should be nobody but diehards out there. Break out the snow pants and the mucklucks, we're going fishin.

[76k20]

Looks like Im working on saturday but Im gonna hit the water on sunday. Ill be the guy with holes in my pants shivering uncontrollably.

[southerner]

I'll be out for a couple hours tomorrow afternoon and will post my results. W-fanatic, I'll be hitting a spot you and I fished last week. Won't be the honey hole but will be close by (hint hint) . Pretty good action there last Sunday.

I'll compare notes w/you on Saturday. Hope to see some of you other muckluck-clad FMers on the water. The bite's good and is only gonna get better.

[walleyefanatic]

Southerner, did you catch any fish of any size last Sunday at your hot spot (20"+)?

[southerner]

Yo W-fanatic... Yes, there were a couple piggies in that mix. Most ran 14-18" but I did see one hawg sauger and later broke off on a very nice fish . I'll be heading out there in a couple hours to give 'er another try.

[TrollerX]

Ringworms, Jigs, and cranks are tied up and ready to go baby!! It is going to be a rainy, quest for Marble Eyes tomorrow. I hope to get the better of the battle. If anyone is out make sure that I am not frozen to my seat. See ya on the water!! Yeah Baby!!

Troller X -

[southerner]

Just got in from the river. Not a bad outing. My 2 fishing partners and I arrived on the river @ 3:15 and fished 'til 6PM. By far the best bite was in daylight hours from the time we got there 'til about 4:30. The bites then became few and far between.

We boated about 15 sauger ranging from 13-21", and a handful of 'eyes which were cookie-cutter 18". Not bad. Ringworms were the lure of choice, followed closely by superdoos, both in darker colors. Covering a depth range of 14-32', we found the best bite in 18-20 FOW. Very few other boats on the river this afternoon/evening.

Several fish absolutely inhaled the ringworms while others felt like weight on the line with no noticeable thump. Just had to pay attention to what one was doing. Big fish of the trip was a true piggie sauger, fat and hard fighting. I love it when they simply don't want to rise to the boat.

TrollerX, I believe you're right... looks like it'll maybe be a bit wet and chilly this weekend, however, as the saying goes, the best time to go fishing is anytime you can. See y'all out there!

[TrollerX]

Pretty slow and wet day today. I think a total of 10 or so Saug's and one really pissed off Sturgeon. I think it was the first time in 3 years that I have gone an entire day on the Croix without seeing another rig. Kind of nice really!

I tried the Ringworm both jigging and steady off the bottom. No takers. I am not sure I am patient enough for this fall gig. I am going to try again tomorrow out of Prescott. I am not familiar with the area so any tips would be great. I will be putting in at first light if anyone is around. I hope it is dry!!

[southerner]

Yeah, it was kind of slow today for me and my fishing partner also. We did manage a dozen or so saugs, a couple 17" walleye, and a smallmouth kicker. Not too many guys on on the water is right! We visited Prescott briefly and only ran across one other boat. V unusual.

Ringworms did work fairly well for me today. Again, the "do nothing" presentation took the fish. I did see some other fellas taking a few saugs on jig 'n minnow, and we got a couple on jig 'n crawler. In all it was a relatively lame fall fishing day. Maybe tomorrow will be better. I may or may not be out there, all depending on the domestic committments.

TrollerX, around Prescott alot of guys drift w/the current under and around the bridges. Action usually isn't hot but there are generally some takers. There's a nice rockpile coming from 30' up to 16' between the east-most bridge pilings (automobile bridge and RR bridge). This spot is worth trying but be careful for those "rockasaureses" as W-fanatic eluded to in an earlier post. That location really eats jigs. Trolling between the bridges w/leadcore should also be productive. Good luck!

[TrollerX]

Saturday was a better day than Friday. It was dry first of all. I did try under the bridges both with plastics (Ringworm and SuperDoo) I think a total of 3 Saug's in that spot. I did the troll on both the MN and WI side of Prescott. Pretty fair looking on the graph but no takers. I then found the sweet spot north of Prescott. But, I have a couple of very important questions:

What is the proper response to the very soft tap, tap while vertically jigging? You cannot really set the hook because you will come up with a half of a minnow. You cannot do nothing because you will be robbed and laughed at. Seems like a sure way for Marble Eyes to send you home crying like a girl!

What size jighead do you normally use in order to stay vertical in the current and wind? I have seen Turk mention the importance of being vertical when jigging over 20'. He is right. I never got a bump unless I was nearly straight up and down. Do you ever use a bottom bouncer and a floating jighead?

I cannot make it out again today. Too bad because it may be the last fair weather day this year. I will keep the key in the ignition for a few more weeks and hope for the best. Thanks for your help.

Southerner - What kind of rig were you in Saturday? I launched out of Prescott and fished bridges and north the entire day.

[76k20]

Saugs are notorious short biters when water is around or under 45 degrees, even more so than walleyes. About the only thing to do if thats the bite is tie on a trailer/stinger hook and hopefully cross some eyes. you might get a few more foul hooks but it should really help your hookup rate. Im gonna hit the water with my dad around 10 this morning to give the sun a chance to clear the frost. brrr hope its a good bite today.

See ya on the water,

Kyle

[southerner]

Hey TrollerX... I couldn't agree more re: the importance of remaining as vertical as possible. Although I've had days where I could "drag" jigs and still get bit, I have greatest confidence in staying as vertical as possible. To answer your question, I use jigs up to about 3/4 oz when trying to angle in high wind or current situations. Saturday was one of those days. I have a theory that the bigger the jig the fewer hookups I might get but that seemed to be disproven today when several fish absolutely inhaled my 1/2 oz leadhead. Just about couldn't get it out using pliers!

I was in the good ol' Nitro bassboat Saturday but actually spent more time on the Miss River fishing wingdams and other spots than I did on the Croix. Again, action was a bit slow but fish were to be had if you worked at it.

Regarding your question about light biters, I don't have any better answer than 76H20 (?) -- use a stinger. I generally just convince myself that they're sheepies down there so I don't want to catch 'em anyway. Yeah, right. Today was a better day. Check out my post on the 11/21 thread.