Lake Saint Croix
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Lake Saint Croix Fishing Reports
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Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Wacky Rigs
Structure
Rock Pile
Forage
Minnows
Water Temperature
62°
Species
WalleyeSeason
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Trolling 10-19'
Structure
Boulders
Forage
Perch
Water Temperature
65°
We trolled for walleyes without any results, although I lost a nice one at the boat. We caught some nice smallmouth bass, though.
Species
WalleyeSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Trolling 10-19'
Structure
Ledges
Water Temperature
66°
Fish are everywhere in current and ledges on the Croix as seen on the ekectronics, but the frustrating thing is you don't know what they are. A drop shot with chunk of crawler or minnow however is always good at enticing multiple species to bite. In this case, drum were everywhere and guess what, they look and behave just like walleye on the electronics. To top it off, walleye and drum freely mix in the same habitats and you'll catch 5-6 drum for every walleye. Still, trolling with lead core and flicker shad crank baits at 20ft depth was the best tactic to get a better ratio of walleye to drum. We caught a handful of walleye and sauger but they were almost all less than 15 inches. Trolling success should only get better during the next months as walleye move into late spring/summer pattern
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Pre-Spawn)
Technique
Wacky Rigs
Structure
Rip Rap
Forage
Minnows
Water Temperature
61°
Species
White BassSeason
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Hard Jerkbaits
Structure
Open Water/Basin
Water Temperature
62°
Fished the Saint croix river at William Obrien state park. Slow day but was able to catch 10 using the mega bass 110 jr jerk bait. Cast down stream and jerk it back upstream. Seems like most of the fish are post spawn now. Catching mainly males.
Species
WalleyeSeason
Summer
Technique
Trolling 10-19'
Structure
Ledges
Walleye are on the chew if you can precisely dial in their behaviors and get the right bait and presentation in front of them. Trolling flicker shads with 200 ft of braid on a line counter or 100 ft on lead core banging the sand bottom until meandering off shoreline ledges has been productive. The walleye sit on the ledges looking up for bait fish swimming off the ledge and then attack! No other live bait technique has been producing for my party lately.
Species
WalleyeSeason
Spring (Pre-Spawn)
Technique
Live Bait Rigs
Structure
Ledges
Forage
Minnows
Catching Walleye on 14' ledges with Lindy Rigs with a leech. Slow dragging along the 14' contour lines.
Species
WalleyeSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Crankbaits 7'-12'
Structure
River Channels
Forage
Perch
Water Temperature
58°
We trolled the river channel with number 5 and number 7 Berkeley Flicker Shads. Five walleye above the 15 inch minimum were landed. All five fish were between 15 1/2 and 16 inches.
Species
WalleyeSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Crankbaits 13'+
Structure
Reef
The 2017 or 2018 year class of walleye is now quite prominent in angler catches. In early spring 2020, many anglers are catching many 13" fish...2" below the minimum size limit on the St. Croix. Anglers can look forward to much success in years to come as this year class achieves "keeper" size. Other size/year classes of fish have been hard to come by thus far, but the season is early. Water temps as of today (5/9/2020) are only 57 degrees. I caught several 13" and some scattered larger fish in depths of 13-18 ft dragging 6ft, 6lb single hook lindy rigs with a crawler chunk. For whatever reason, crawlers seem to outperform any other live bait on the St. Croix for Walleye. The action is also heating up with trolling crankbaits at the same depth (both lead core and braid/mono leader). Again, those 13" are eager to hit a 2 3/4 Flicker Shad. You might get lucky and hook up to a more respectable fish as well. The walleye fishing should remain solid in widespread 15-20 ft areas from Stillwater to Afton until the water starts warming up in mid June. This is the time when weekend warriors like myself can randomly pick a community "hole" and pick up a few fish without working too hard. Once the summer pattern sets in, the walleye go to their secret places that I have not been able to find. That's when the kitty cats and bass start calling my name!
