Smallies??

This is basically my first post so stick with me. I’m actually posting with a question on the smallmouth action around the Hudson area. I live in Hudson and sadly, I’ll be heading out for the first time in a long time. I’m going to fish tomorrow and I will post on friday. Does anyone have any advice or tips? What can I expect tomorrow?

I would expect tougher fishing conditions,keep on posting and let us know how it went on Friday.

I know a great place for smallies if conditions are right just down the road from Hudson. I have fished the base of the willow river falls, standing on the rock that juts out on the east side of the falls. I cast a med diver rapala, med size, black, gold or silver and have had HUGE Luck for hours at a time. Also a white mr twister with a spinner works well. Beaware that this is a protected trout stream and you may hook into a trout or 2. Do not bring live bait down there, it is prohibited. I was catching 2-3 lb’ers one after another last time I was down there. DNR does visit often so be on the up and up. Also the brown trout are pretty nice there but you can only take one per day and i think it has to be more than 16 or 17″.

Good luck and enjoy.

I’ve seen slip bobbering crawlers work along rip rap this time of year. The dike, RR dike, or big Mallelieu dam are spots that’ll produce. Hopefully you found a bite as this post is late but I’ve seen this work into September. Then I switch to spinnerbaits and cranks. Fall bite!!!

I took the advice of everyone on the site including other posts and I would have to say that it is paying off. The bite isn’t amazing, but then again, I’m still trying to figure out what I am doing. I caught a handfull of fish in the kinney narrows on tubes and floating raps. I also caught a dozen fish on assorted riprap from I94 and the Hudson dike. These are the only areas I’ve tried so far. Any of you walleye guys pulling smallmouth from the depths?

I talked to a buddy of mine who fished north of stillwater the last couple days. Lots of fish, just not very big. I think I’ll head up and investigate. I’ll post when I get done.

I hit the Croix on Tuesday night, looking for a few ‘eyes south of Stillwater. After an hour of nothing, I noticed some splashes close to shore. My guess was that smallies were chasing baitfish – at least that’s what I told my friend so I sounded like I knew what I was doing. Whatever it was, the smallies were hanging tight in 1-2 feet of water and HUNGRY!
We cast the “grandpa rig” as I like to call it, a plain red hook and a split shot about a foot up the line, with leeches and just let them sit in a foot of water. My first 7 casts this way I connected, and my buddy got fish on his first 3. It was just a riot, I’ve never caught so many smallmouth so quickly – even in the boundary waters!
Nothing huge, the biggest was 17.5″ but it sure was fun! We ended up catching 15 smallies, as fast as it started, the bite turned off just as quickly. And then we went back to chasing the ‘eyes. We only ended up with 1 legal, but the smallies made for a memorable trip.