Lake Saint Croix
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Lake Saint Croix Fishing Reports
Stay up to date with the latest fishing reports from Lake Saint Croix. Reports are submitted by local anglers, fishing guides, and our team of fishing experts.
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- Species
SturgeonTechniqueLive Bait RigsSeasonSummerStructureRiver ChannelsThe sturgeon bite is starting to pick up and will only get better as the water temperatures start to cool into fall. Fresh gizzard shad are the bait of choice on a 6-8/0 circle hook and 2oz slide sinker. Get your cast net and DNR application approved to catch your bait! https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/fishing/bait/castnet_app.pdf. Gizzard shad pods are relatively plentiful in Andersen Bay in Bayport, MN. Use your electronics to find the pods and throw your cast net over them. Don't overthink the sturgeon fishing strategy. Sturgeon roam featureless bottoms. During late summer, I fish relatively shallow open channels 12-20 ft deep. As fall progresses, I move deeper a bit deeper (25-40 ft). If you can't get shad, fatheads and crawlers work fine. The best time of day to fish is when the massive yachts anchor/beach or go back to port. Bobbing like a cork after one of those things chugs by at 10 mph (which is way worse than 40) isn't fun.
- SpeciesSturgeonTechniqueLive Bait RigsSeasonSummerStructureRiver Channels
First time out Sturgeon fishing this year. I usually net shad which is the preferred bait for Sturgeon fishing on the St. Croix, but populations seem down quite a bit this year. Very few pods observed on the electronics. Been that way all summer. We'll see if they all of a sudden show up in fall. Instead we just used crawlers and actually got into a few fish and one nice 52 incher. Usually I start shallow in 12-20 ft of water early in the season and fish deeper as we get deeper into fall. BTW, the hot bait is bogus because I couldn't select anything that I actually used and its a mandatory field.
- Species
Smallmouth BassTechniqueWacky RigsSeasonSummerStructurePointsMy buddy and I got out today and found the smallmouth bass on points using wacky rigged Senkos. We tried crankbaits, Ned rigs, drop shots, and swim jig paddle tails, but they only hit the Senkos.
SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueFinesse Hair JigsSeasonSummerStructureSubmerged VegetationLeague TOC, ton of smallmouth in the system, ours mostly averaged 16". Fished around small points and docks. Vegetation in semi slack water produced the most
- SpeciesSturgeonTechniqueLive Bait RigsSeasonFallStructureOpen Water/Basin
Water temps are still very warm and the fall bite might come a bit later this year. Still, there are fish being caught. In about 4 hrs of fishing in 13-20 ft of water, we caught 2 small sturgeon, 37" and 41." A smaller size structure seem to dominate catches early in the season. Larger fish become more common once water temperatures drop and turnover starts. I usually target shallower habitats early in the fall season (12-20 ft) and then move deeper once it gets deeper into fall. Get a cast net permit from the MN DNR and catch shad for bait. Sturgeon AND catfish love shad and your odd of catching more and bigger fish are much higher with shad compared with night crawlers or other cutbait. Don't pay any attention to structure or fishing dropoffs or points or whatever. Trust me, it makes no difference. Go to the flatest most random spot at a chosen depth and just plunk down. Your odds of catching fish there are just as good as anywhere else. Good luck. It should only get better once this hot weather gets behind us.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueWacky RigsSeasonSummerStructureRock Pile
I caught 4 smallmouth bass on the Saint Croix River today. The smallies were around 10 feet deep off of underwater points.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Prop)SeasonSummerStructureOpen Water/Basin
Caught both in one cast. Not big but fun!
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueNed RigsSeasonSummerStructureRiver Channels
Use your electronics to locate the bass. I found them where the channel pushes up to shore in 15-35' of water.
