2024 St. Croix river reports

What’s the word?

I was able to scrape up a few eaters last night, along with some decent white bass on the lower end. Long-lining and casting cranks from 3-8 fow during low light.

Saw a few other boats out but 95% were gone by dark.

Didn’t someone say the no-wake starts at around 683? Looks like we’re there now and rising.

Was hoping to get out tomorrow afternoon but I have a season pass at the bluffs and don’t necessarily wanna make a big run at 5mph. I know there are fish to be caught nearby but that’s where most people will be, especially on a Friday.

I’ll be out Saturday. Haven’t fished in 2 weeks but did get this 26.25” fish last time I was out! 15 fow on a crawler harness

Would be interesting to hear how others are doing too. Moving around to find fish will be tougher with no wake.

That’s a nice walleye for the St Croix!

-J.

Thanks! I was pumped. Overall this year even the eaters seem a little chunkier than usual too

VERY nice croix fish, phoyem.

Say, does anybody know if st croix bluffs tends to shut down when the Hudson launch does? I checked their website and it says open but I want to be sure. Thanks

Thanks! I don’t know; but I think Hudson is the first to close down. Bayport is essentially always open btw.

Hudson will close at 84 feet. Should be opened back up by tomorrow or Thursday.

Anyone fish the southern end? Any tips?I’ve never been out there fishing. Is the St Croix bluffs park launch good?

TIA –

Baitwaster wrote:

Anyone fish the southern end? Any tips?I’ve never been out there fishing. Is the St Croix bluffs park launch good?

TIA –

Yes, the bluffs launch is very nice. Protected cove, good ramps, good depth and plenty of docking available. Plenty of parking too. I want to say it’s $12 or so for a single launch and $30 for season pass.

Lower end is good fishing both to the north and south. You can also hit pool 3 from there.

Very steep drop offs, so sometimes trolling can be a challenge trying to maintain consistent depth. Say you’re trying to troll 12 fow, ten feet to the right you’re in 187.5’, ten feet to the left you’re in 3’ with rocks and/or thick weeds. Exaggerating of course but you get the (drift?).

Lots of very deep water and the fish seem to use every bit of it. The biggest challenge is finding them. There are great fish of just about every species and size class. Croix is a fantastic fishery.

Good luck.

P.s.: don’t go wasting any bait out there. If the fish don’t eat it, I’ll take it

Thanks LD!

Anybody been out lately? Was able to get out on shore a few times lately and have caught a couple walleyes and a bunch of smallies but nothing crazy.

Was kind of expecting the river to come up a bit with all the rain but it’s pretty much been consistently and slowly going down?? Weird.

LabDaddy1 wrote:

Anybody been out lately? Was able to get out on shore a few times lately and have caught a couple walleyes and a bunch of smallies but nothing crazy.

Was kind of expecting the river to come up a bit with all the rain but it’s pretty much been consistently and slowly going down?? Weird.

It bottomed out today and will be going back up again with a what will be the highest crest of the year. How high that is depends on how much more rain we get, would not be surprised to see it hit close to major flood stage.

This past Tuesday for our league it was a little slower for most, but most were able to measure 3 fish for the 3 hours of fishing. It is cancelled again tonight so we are 3 for 6 on the year. Usually this time of year is the best fishing for me.

Dang, bummer!

I’ve noticed on the Mississippi(my home waters) the fishing generally slows down when the river is rising, especially fast. The bite is usually better with stable or falling levels. Is this generally the case on the croix as well? I would assume so but curious what the guys in-the-know have to say.

Thanks for the input Justin.

LabDaddy1 wrote:

Dang, bummer!

I’ve noticed on the Mississippi(my home waters) the fishing generally slows down when the river is rising, especially fast. The bite is usually better with stable or falling levels. Is this generally the case on the croix as well? I would assume so but curious what the guys in-the-know have to say.

Thanks for the input Justin.

I would agree with this on the Croix too. We haven’t done very well on the Croix the past couple weeks. We got our 3 fish last week in league in a 5 minute period but didn’t catch another walleye after that. Caught 3 short fish trolling Sunday. My bro fished Monday and he struggled also.

I heard from a seasoned Croix river rat years ago you want to be out there the moment it starts to go down.

Good(and bad) to hear I’m not the only one.

Suzuki, interesting. Be cool to test that theory.

Has anyone been out lately? Looking to possibly make my first trip out there this year on Thursday. Wondering if it would be worth the time

SoDakangler wrote:

Has anyone been out lately? Looking to possibly make my first trip out there this year on Thursday. Wondering if it would be worth the time

If your looking for walleyes, this time of year is not the best. We will see what are league results are from last night, but is struggle right now to find over 15 inch fish at least for me. There are better fisherman then me though in our league.

Saying that it is always nice to get out there especially when the weather is like it is right now and there is always something to catch. last night in three hours we got 3 white bass, 2 Mooneyes, 2 perch, a sheepshead, a sturgeon, and 4 walleyes, but only one was over 15 inches.

Can’t catch walleyes sitting at home so might as well give it a shot. Will be a beautiful day at the very least

Ill be out there tonight on a small dinner cruise. First time. It will be weird.

suzuki wrote:

Ill be out there tonight on a small dinner cruise. First time. It will be weird.

I can think of worse ways to be tortured!

It was the Lady Chateau. Pure class. I was super impressed with the boat and the service. A real treat. I highly recommend her if you get the chance.

Tight lipped is an understatement considering how many boats I saw concentrated on the Croix last Friday “near” Hudson…..Something is/was up.

Anyone know water temps? Fishing starting to pile into bottle necks yet?

I was out of Hudson on Monday midday, water was ~61F south of the bridge. Bite was decent, fish were scattered for me though, both depths and location.

I might make it back out Sat afternoon, good luck if you go.

Thanks for the report. I’ve been beating up pool 2 pretty good lately. Think I’ll head down to the croix this weekend and see if I can round up a few.

suzuki wrote:

Tight lipped is an understatement considering how many boats I saw concentrated on the Croix last Friday “near” Hudson…..Something is/was up.

Guessing it is the Sturgeon guys out there now.