July 6 2007, St. Croix River walleye and sauger patterns are established and in full swing. Walleyes are still very good sized and though not numerous, big walleyes are still being caught (my boat has had 26 and 27 inch walleyes on three straight walleye trips), plus the wide shouldered 17 and 18 inch walleyes the Croix is known for. Saugers are now making up roughly half the daily catch for walleye fisherman. Most do not complain as these sand pike are fine eating and fight harder than a walleye (chefs note- they cook faster in the frying pan than a walleye), though they are smaller in size. Sauger can be readily identified by the spots on their dorsal fine (on the St. Croix there is no size minimum and they yield good fillets when larger than 14” in length).
I mentioned the summer pattern is upon us, this is now seen by the groupings of baitfish. These bait balls can be viewed on the graph, and they should be duly noted. Both walleye and sauger are being caught by angler rigging livebait (minnows, crawlers, and leeches) and anglers trolling spinners with the same livebaits. Trolling crankbaits is also effective with firetiger being a proven river color. Best depths have been from 17 to 24+feet, and some select shallower haunts (10 fow) are holding fish, here catch them on a split shot and plain hook set up with livebait.
Smallmouth bass are prime for the catching once the water is as warm as it is, and the bronze backs are putting up a great fight. Though many bass will hold in the deeper water plenty of bass are still being caught in the shallows from 2 to 6 feet of water. These shallow holding fish are prime for topwater lures twitched on the surface. For smallmouth on the breaks look for a Carolina rig or tube worm on a leadhead jig to pluck them off the breakline.
White bass are going well, to find these heavily grouped fish look watch for baitfish jumping out of the water while a fast 2 pound whitey is hot on its tail. Catch these fish with surface lures, cast minnow imitator crankbaits, jigs with twister tails, spinners, spinner baits, and blade baits. The best thing about white bass is when they are going they are in a true feeding frenzy and the action is non stop.
Keep catchin and have fun!
