Where to catch the 'eyes?

[WalleyeChaser]

Hey, just found time to join this awesome site. Just wondering when and where my dad and i can find some good eatin, wallys on the river. Justed started fishing it this past fall. fished south of the hudson bridge but that is all open right know. Mainly interested in tip up fishing while running a jiggin pole for panfish. any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again. I'm sure i will have many more questions as the seasons progress.

[croixeyes]

River-newbie....

Welcome to the forum.I wish I could put you on a hot bite but right now I cant access enough of the river to give you much help.The ice conditions as you may have heard are not the greatest.The two places that are most fished are the area north of Prescott and the Bayport area.I havent heard any news coming out of Prescott,so I have no idea how the ice is down there.There is a baitshop in Stillwater just before downtown on hwy95 they should have some info on how fishing is in Bayport.

Sounds like there might be a gathering of FMers in early Feb out on the Croix,I would suggest you come out.You can probably pick up some good info from these guys,But bring your waders it may get deep..

[Willy-C]

Newbie,

I'm new to the hard-water season on the St. Croix too, and have found it challenging so far, but still fun. I've mainly focused on the area right off-shore from Bayport due to the better ice conditions and accessibility.

From what I've gathered the best fishing is found in the deeper water (30+ feet of water). A few guys on this site have reported nailing some nice sized crappies, but I haven't heard of any walleyes/sauger being pulled in consistently as of late (then again maybe they are catching them and I just don't know about it). It seems your best bet is to find a piece of structure, such as a rock-pile, and focus your attention there. However, the trick is finding the structure, which I have yet been unable to do, but there are a few seasoned vets on this website that might point you in the right direction...hint, hint!

By no means have I had stellar luck so far this season, but I've found small jigging spoons tipped with a minnow head to be the best for crappies, and small jigs with maggots or waxies have produced mainly white-bass, with an occassional sunfish and mooneye thrown in the mix (although I have caught crappies on this combo too, or a mudpuppy if you let it sit too long on the bottom).

Yesterday I was out from noon-2:30pm (study break) fishing in 32-FOW and landed 8 small white-bass, 1 chunky sunfish, 1 small crappie, and 1 very fiesty moon-eye...which put up a heck of a fight on light line. I didn't mark a lot of fish with my Vexilar, but the ones I did mark came up off the bottom and responded well to my bait.

Anyhow, that's about all the help I can give you because basically I'm still too new at this to be of much help!

Best of luck,

Chad

[Turk]

Nice report Willy-C!

I love white bass, and they are good eats as well. I find the eyes on the sand structure from 17 to 25 feet around dusk. The bite isn't consistent but that's fishin'. Also when you hook a nice pole bender don't think trophy yet... it might turn into a sturgeon.

Keep Catchin'

Turk

[Willy-C]

Turk,

Thanks for the tip! I'll give the 17-25 foot depth a try the next time I'm out on the river instead of the 30-34 foot stuff.

I grew up fishing the St. Croix up by Rush City and would hook into a sturgeon every now and again. In fact, just last summer my Dad and I both landed one within a few minutes of each other, which was fun. However, I can't imagine landing one through the ice...that would be a blast!

Cheers,

Chad

p.s. By the way, great website! Your fish photo's give guys like me hope!