I must be the most unlucky fisherman…

Fished the St croix anywhere from windmill marina down to st croix bluffs from 10-4pm yesterday. Not a single bite.
I could see fish on my sonar and SI, but not a single bite.
Presentations were: long line deep tail dancers, lindy rig with 1oz sinker crawler and minnow, 1 1/2 oz dropper on three way rig with a variety of cranks, slip bobber minnow and crawler w/ and w/o jighead, bucktail jig w/ and w/o minnow…
Depths were anywhere from 5-50 ft

The only thing I didn’t try was plastic but man did I get skunked.

I come on here, and read that everyone’s catching fish but me!

I did not do very well today either. After I found out my garage took one for the team this morning, a few hours on the croix brought much more wind than predicted, one small walleye, with 3 small white bass…. all caught on a simple live bait rig with minnow.

As usual, a couple boats were anchored on the breaks…

I didn’t even get one bite from anything. I was going after walleye but still expected something. All I caught was maybe a cold, along with a branch and a clam/mussel.

The wind made it tough this morning to fish where I wanted, we also had to be off the water by 10. Still was nice to get out and brought a couple sauger and crappies home for dinner. White bass were sure on a tear though. If you aren’t marking them move to the next place.

Some days that darn river will just shut you out. Enjoy the scenery and the fish will come.

Upper river was not all that great today either. Fished north of Osceola. Got on the small walleyes right away. Head to some shallow wood and found no eyes. Then worked some current seams at the cliffs and ago slow go. Did manage to put some crappies together and a few more small eyes in the end. Suckers where biting today. They are always fun.

Saturday was tough out there

must be my luck and poor choice of days to go. This is my second time on st croix and got skunked the first time too, a couple months back. i guess i’ll be giving her another shot next weekend.

I spotted the fish, most were all on the steep breaks, a couple big arches were suspended. Just not a single bite.

I am THIS close to giving leadcore trolling a shot and seeing if I can net some river walleyes.

at least you are out. my boat is winterized and in stoarage! praying for ice!!

We did great on lead line Fri, Sat and Sunday by Prescott. Using jointed raps and flicker shads

Sunday was tough for me too.
Managed 2 small ones (10″ ers) and not another bite.
Was nice out in the afternoon though.

This thread makes me feel much better. I got out on Sunday and had action most of the 3 hours I was out. Walleyes and sauger was all I caught. Lost 3 16-18 inchers right at the surface after a good look at them. Switched to a bigger hook and some more in the boat.

Vertical jigging was good to me. Did not matter much what I jigged.

When you guys are trolling lead line, are you adjusting your depths to where you mark fish or are you trying to tick bottom?
Lead core seems to be the ticket but threw way rigging should be just as effective.

I’ll be giving her another shot this weekend. If I get skunked again, the boat is going away until opener.

I don’t know. Think about the commotion a 3-way rig creates in the water. Not very natural. Probably better in murky water. I tried it many times in the Croix before getting my first lead rig.

When I am fishing two guys in the boat on pool 4 we run two leadcore lines and 2 3way rigs. Most days lead will out fish 3ways 10 to 1. There is a big difference for me anyway.

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When you guys are trolling lead line, are you adjusting your depths to where you mark fish or are you trying to tick bottom?
Lead core seems to be the ticket but threw way rigging should be just as effective.

I’ll be giving her another shot this weekend. If I get skunked again, the boat is going away until opener.

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I don’t know. Think about the commotion a 3-way rig creates in the water. Not very natural. Probably better in murky water. I tried it many times in the Croix before getting my first lead rig.

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I kind of thought so myself, but it seems like it works for people. I haven’t had any luck with it so far but figured I’m doing something incorrectly.
The investment into a leadcore rig is just something i didn’t know if i needed or not. so I wanted to try everything else until the other methods fail me.

Another way to utilize existing rods without lead is snap weights. They do work well but you have to play with them to figure out depth. Basically its a 1-3 ounce bell sinker connected to a downrigger type line clip. The same ones used on planer boards too. You let out lots of line to get the lure behind you then snap on the weight to pull it down.

Snap weights work very well and I prefer them over lead core. A line counter reel is nice to have when running snap weights but is not absolutely necessary. For fishing at about 2mph in over 20′ I would recommend a 3oz and under 20′ deep a 1 or 2oz weight combined with a deep diving crank bait. The clips that are normally used are the OR-16 by Off Shore Tackle. Just clip the weight about 10′ ahead of the crank bait and let out line till you are ticking bottom.

On the issue of a 3-way scaring off fish I don’t think it would be much of a problem. I run hand lines and have caught a lot of fish. A hand line has a 1.25lb weight dragging through the water ahead of the crank baits. Many times I have run 1 crank on a hand line and 1 on a snap weight. Usually the hand line will out produce the snap weight.

Thanks guys, I guess i’ll be taking a trip to cabelas tomorrow to check out their trolling combos. If trolling leadcore doesn’t boat fish, I may just stick to good ol’ bass fishing. I don’t eat fish anyways.

You’ve obviously not seen my fishing reports.

No I have not. Maybe two unlucky fishermen = one lucky fisher?

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I don’t eat fish anyways.

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You may want to join the P2 club if just catching eyes is what you want.

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No I have not. Maybe two unlucky fishermen = one lucky fisher?

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I like the logic a negative plus a negative = a positive.

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No I have not. Maybe two unlucky fishermen = one lucky fisher?

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I like the logic a negative plus a negative = a positive.

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But I’ve also fished with Brian, same result.

Negatives attract.

Bah, maybe not the most unlucky fisherman. went back out there and got on them for a good 30 minutes, then died off and back on again for a few more fish until I lost a couple crankbaits.