Here Kitty-Kitty

Went out after sturgeon this morning and ended up with catfish and a few sheepshead. Lots of fish surfacing, and by the looks of the sonar, we were in the correct locations, but only the occasional channel cat would attack our gobs of crawlers. Tried the heads of holes, bottom end, and main-channel breaks, as well as no-man’s land areas where there seemed to be some serious clouds of bait with some deep-riding larger fish on the prowl.

Great day on the river, a bit too warm if I can complain at all, and the boys had alot of fun playing with roughies and channel cats in the livewell. Some good memories and hard naps on the way home were my reward.

Joel

You didn’t want to get Jon into too big a fish anyway. LOL!

What was the catfish bait of choice today?

Looks like a fantastic day to be out there.

2 crawlers in a gob were preferred over 3. Freshly threaded of course.

3/0 VMC sport circle hook with 4oz weights on the business end. Impressive how well circle hooks do on all the fish we caught today. Nothing came un-buttoned, and hooks were buried in the corners of jaws.

Not that we got a chance to test it out on sturgies, but we’ve had better luck on the Rainy for Sturgeon with mono of all things. Not sure if it’s the way the current moves it up there, and if that comes into play on the Croix or not, but I opted for some stretch via a 30lb mono leader. Maybe I’ll get a chance to try it out again this fall, but would like to see if there’s a difference. Then again, I’d best not over-think drowning gobs of worms!

Joel

I know Sunday we seemed to be marking a lot of fish too. I don’t know what the deal was, maybe the blue bird skies and water temps still being quite warm? I’ve heard the night bite has been much better.

In any event, it sounds like a good time.

Great report. Kids smiles are awesome.

I’ve had most of my luck From sunset to midnight.
Been using 4 and 5/0 hooks. Using scissors to cut fatheads in half and worms into 1″ sections. Makes for a great scent trail. I’ve also been running only 1/2 oz sinkers right under the boat with about 18″ from the swivel to hook.

Way to get the kids on some fishing!

Been staying out of the crowds too

Best day ever…

Conditions:

Slight breeze out of the NW
Partly cloudy
Water temp 58
Oct 13 2005
Slice of sucker.
Middle of the afternoon

Quote:

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The action was so fast, that I literally couldn’t open my Pepsi…one fish after another! It was amazing! At the end of the day, (Steve) we had three doubles and one triple and MANY right after each other. I think I described it best when I said “They are biting like Sunfish!”.

When all was said and done, the tally for three and a half hours came to…

31 sturgeon…and two channel cats in the boat.

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Been trying to replicate that day ever since.

Best day ever for me on the Croix. This is from memory though.

Calm
Clear sky
8 am-noon
High temp low 70s
Water temp ????
Fatheads and crawler combo. Nothing crawler alone and many fish on just fatheads.
Fish count 25
Biggest 54″
Average length 40ish

This day actually happened twice exactly one week apart. Had to quit both times because we were out of bait. 3 scoops of fats and 3 doz crawlers. Couldn’t keep 3 lines in the water.

So far, I very much prefer calm, clear days. I’ve even noticed that this year as well. The more wind and clouds, the fewer fish.

I had a 50 fish night 2yrs ago .. still chasing that night.

I know what you mean bk. Same conditions as you described

Went through a coffee can of worms and 4 scoops of fatheads… had to end my weekend trip in the first night because we ran out of bait. Put a newbie on that spot a week later and they repeated it! Good luck guys. See ya out there

No wind is nice for sturgeon. Its hard detecting a sturgeon bite with the boat bouncing and line going slack.

I did test out holding my line in my hand the other day. It worked very well, just not for sturgeon. I was able to manage keeping the line tight and felt the slightest peck.