My hero Bud Grant said…Cold is only a state of mind.
I’m ready to move out of state… Temps reached 0 for a high today out on the Scenic St Croix River out side of Bayport.
As with everything..when it’s cold…I got a slow start this morning. There were about 4 people on the MN side and a half dozen on the WI side around 8:30 this morning. I since I know the river so well, I didn’t use the vex to check the depth…which ended up being 10 feet…should have been about 20…but since I’m a professional angler…figured I’m set up..I can catch fish anywhere…one big honking carp came across the MarCum screen….
I (finally) met Mr Ritt, he had about as much luck as I did. We didn’t get to talk a whole lot since my nostrils kept freezing over. He had to go put his boat away and left around 10ish.
I was ready to leave around 11 because of all the work I needed to finish before Christmas…but I hadn’t seen my good friend Eric (HAS) and he was fishing the WI side…so I said “heck with work” pulled up shop and moseied on over there….
A solid 7 inches black solid ice made me feel warm and fuzzy inside (ya right)..
I found him and his buddy about 11:30. I believe Eric had a couple dandy crappies in his bucket already…but all I ever saw him catch was mooneye’s…which some how ended up in my portable…They packed up and headed out …not sure if it was something I said?
But. the friendly guy I am…I invited them over for dinner tonight…I was planning on having mooneye…guess they had plans of going to the Beach Bar instead.
I packed up around 4 pm with two crappies in the bucket too…The vex showed a lot of fish checking out my fathead 6 inches off the bottom in 40 feet of water…but they just took a look and moved on…I even used some of Turk’s secret walleye tricks…but I must have lost my touch…Oops! Sorry Turk…I wasn’t to mention that was I? 
The two crappies I did get came in about 10 feet off the bottom on tiny crappie minnow and a small tear drop with a crappie hook. I found my own mooneye 
after Eric showed me how to do it. Couple of little silvers ended up on the ice too.
So…that was about it for the day…on the way back to the truck I realized what the wind chill was…D@MN COLD!
I spoke with a couple fellas coming back from the WI side, they all said the same thing…a lot of fish on the bottom..but no takers.
Since I’m of to the rela-tic for the next couple days I figured I would help get the crappies primed for you…I’m hoping when I get back there will be a bunch of Bayport reports all with numbers of fish.
Good Luck all and Have a safe and wonderful Christmas and New Year!
Briank 