Eye Opener

Okay, boys, let’s hear about your SCR eye opening weekend. Here is your chance to crow!:)
Jack

Nice day on the water. Looked to us like there where a few legal fish out there if you picked threw the little ones. Trolling seemed to be the trick of the day. I was suprised that the first to fish I caught where saugers. Dont seem to be many of them around Osceola. The male eyes had plenty of milk left in them also.

My brother and I were on the water at 7:15ish…should have been 6:15 if the gate at the Bluffs were open on time. That was an interesting hour in time to witness. By 7am there were at least 45 rigs waiting in line. Both on the north and south-bound sides of the road… The entire time I kept telling myself “As soon as I make the first move to leave, that gate will swing open!” So, we waited, and waited…..an exercise in patients by everyone!

Oh yea, the fishing. We put 5-6 fish in the boat, one was big enough to keep at a tish over 15 inches. Had it in the livewell, but let it go after not getting any other keepers. Also caught 2 smallmouth bass. We fished shore lines south of 94 for a couple hours and also fished the Catfish Bar area. Only fished till 11am… Very nice day to be out….little windy, but nice!

Jon J.

I can vouch with Mike W that there were fish in the Osceola area… and trolling was the best way to reach them… sadly because of plans I made I was stuck fishing the hole in front of the landing… and kamikaze like I continued to fish vertical jiggin… it just was NOT happening!… I saw a number of legals pulled on shad raps…..

Well, Saturday morning seemed to be pretty good. With a few legals coming right away in the morning. But SLOWED after that. Trolled the hudson area till about 10am then headed back home. All and all it was a great opener, even managed to make the Star Tribune . Well i’ll be out most of the week fishing and guiding. So i’ll keep you guys posted on the bite. Also got lots of fish lindy riggin Sunday morning south of the 94 bridge most small but a couple nice males.
Good Luck,
Erik Haslund
St.Croix Area Guide Service
http://www.stcroixadventures.com

Suzuki and I launched at Hudson at 5:00 am Saturday, headed to the Kinni. The weather was perfect in the morning. Boated one 15+ incher by 8:30 am. Caught LOTS of 14-14 1/2 inchers. Ended the day with 6 keepers at 4:00 pm, the largest being 18+ inches. Overall a good day. Glad I missed the 7:00 start at the Bluffs.

Sunday: Used the Bluff launch. They even opened at 6:00 am! The bite started early, ALOT of shorts again. Fun action, but wanted some more 15+. Very challenging day for boat control, 35+ mph gusts pushing us upstream. Ended the day around 4:30 pm with 2 keepers.

NO sheepies either day!!!

Sandbar

Finally, opener on the river!

Managed a good #’s day, same story everyone seems to be telling, lots and lots of short fish. We ended up with 6 in the well, biggest being just short of 22″. hardly pulled cranks at all, in fact live bait rigged all day long pretty much. bigger fish came from the kinni, even got a decent pike in afton! Got out in the downpour yesterday, same deal, tons of 14 7/8″ eyes. looking forward to the fall when all those fella’s are 17″ & tasty.

miket

I knew you boys up on the croix would have a huge age group of those fish comin. Was fishing up in TF a few years back from crappies in late april and was cathcing tons and tons of dinky walleyes and they should be about legal by now or close too. Looks like they are almst legal. Also I m heading to TF and hope to fish OSceola area was wonderin if you can still pick some of those eyes up later in the month still?

the faster the water drops in Osceola the faster the fish drop back into the lake… there are some stragglers through may…. and there are always a few local fish… there is great habitat up here though the fish have plenty of food and places to go so its not always an easy matter to find a consistant concentrated bite… in fact its unusual and you need a milk run of good spots where you can pull a fish then go to the next….

I will second what ken said. The milk run is a great idea. I hope to expand on mine this summer. If big fish are what you are looking for pool 2,3,or 4 might be a better bet. If some nice relaxing fishing and catching alot of different fish is what you want taylors falls to Osceola is great. Once you learn where to look for the eyes you should be able to pull a few keepers out all summer long.

Just learned about this message board. I wish I’d known about it for the last several years I’ve been fishing the Croix. Anyway, this is my first post.
My wife and I suffered through Saturday’s gate debacle at the Bluffs, before getting on the water by 7:30 a.m. We managed to boat 10 eyes by noon, but only three keepers (two 17’s and an 18). Lotsa 13’s and 14’s (next year should be fun!). I fished solo on Sunday and managed 3 “keepers” by 9:15 a.m. (a 15 and two 16+) while boating a total of 14 eyes, a couple of smallies, and the season’s first sheepie! NOTE: I was checked by DNR and the 15″ eye was only 14 3/4″ on DNR’s measuring board!! Needless to say I was stunned because I measured it very carefully several times at 15+. The officer confirmed that my stick-on measuring scale indicated the fish was legal, so I only received a warning and the fish was thrown back. He explained that those stick-on tapes shrink considerably after application and they’re difficult to use accurately. I had no idea! In order to avoid the $180 short fish ticket, he advised purchasing a metal measuring board. Good advice!! Pass the word!

Peace,
DaBigNip

Awesome day!
Only managed 4 eyes for the weekend all sub legal…beats work!
Smorgasboard of other fish.
I’ll keep trying

Ferny.

I never keep any 15 – 15 1/2 in walleyes. for some reason they shrink in the livewell.

LK

WOW! I’m going to check my ruler now.
Did they ask to see your fish? I don’t think they could do that anymore? We got checked Saturday. They did ask if we had any fish on board but we weren’t that lucky.
There was also Sheriffs convention with 3 boats all full with more waiting at Sunnyside dock for a ride. They are still running the old tri-hull witha new Optimax and there’s 2 new boats this year. A stand up Baywatch type with a roof and a blue Vhull wheel boat. I also saw the NPS out there with a Boston Whaler. That’s why I never take chances on anything on the riv!

Ferny.

Yes, after asking if I had any in the live well, they asked to measure them. I didn’t have a problem with it, cuz I had measured carefully….but from now on I’m not keeping anything under 15 1/2″. I’m just grateful that DNR was decent about the whole thing!

Peace,
DaBigNip

Thanks Dabignip. I never thought of that. Good luck fishing.

I was able to sneak out for a couple of hours last night (Tuesday the 6th). This time I was fully equipped with a brand new metal measuring board ($8.99 at Fleet Farm)! The bite was steady from 5 to 7 p.m. rigging crawlers in 16 to 18 feet. Initially, most were “sponge” bites, but they got more aggressive during the last hour. Managed to boat 11 “mini-eyes” plus one 15+. What are the latest theories regarding where all the legal fish are?

Peace,
DaBigNip