First ice – Report!!

12/12/03
The Lower St. Croix River ice fishing season has begun (Bayport area). The activity is good currently with saugers, walleyes, and crappies being frequent biters. The walleyes are running small, but crappies and saugers are normal to good sized. Deepwater basin fishing is generally the best place to start and those depth ranges are from 35 to 40 feet deep. Standard lures are working- jig with crappie minnow, jigging spoon, or jigging Nils Master swimming lure, color doesn’t seem important. The bite is not constant but is standard St. Croix, with runs every three hours. Near an hour to dusk and a bit after morning are key bites presently. Ice is variable but 4”s is common.
Caution: Late season barge traffic is running so don’t try to cross from the WI to the MN side just yet as the trough they are breaking up will be thin ice.

Keep Catchin’!!
Turk

Croixsippi Guides

I was down at the Wakota bridge and there was a tug boad down there breaking all the ice on the ol miss.Crazy watching how all the ice breaks up.Olny 1-3 inches but he would be pushing out the channel and there were pieces bigger than a football field busting across from shore to shore.pretty cool
thanks for the report Turk

Turk,
I thought the Croix was barge free? If not, are they running coal to King’s power plant? Thanks for the info.

Sandbar

Someone told me that the barge was heading to SunnySide. For what i dont know, but thats were its heading.

Guys the barge headed south from Bayport and I doubt will be able to go back through again? Maybe?!? anyway the bite is still good and a hog walleye turned into a disappointing but very large smallmouth!! All you can do is jig again… Seeing how the sturgeon always “disappoint” this smallmouth was just the beginning of hog eyes turning into something else!!!
Oh, I don’t think coal was the business of the day, They must be doing river front work at Mike T.’s estate.

Keep catchin’
Turk

Would it be wrong to skip the rela-tic Christmas and go to Bayport?

Turk, I was wondering exactly how much Ice is out by the bayport beach. I was also wondering if the 35-40 depth feet you talk about, is that by the bayport beach. The last question I have is what works best this time of year for the saugers and walleyes: Swedish pimple with minnow head, buck shot rattle spoons or the bobber and a fat head. please give me some advice as to what you might do.

thanks alot

plungepool,

I’d say 5-6 inches now and there were about fifteen portables up in that area today. I didn’t work that area but would like to know how people did there…?

That area is more like 32-36 and the 40 feet areas are near the WI side (Charlie point, the big one straight across from Bayport Beach) and later in the year near the highlines.

Pimples are good and so are jigging nils masters w/ or without minnow heads…If you feel more confidence with minnow heads use them…

The problem with eyes is location they are generally shallower and then you don’t get the Crappies and saug daugs. Timing is key and every year is different but near dusk and sometimes 8:00 to 10:00pm are keys times.

I personally love to jig a swimming lure for eyes. snap snap and hold they hit on the hold for me.

Keep Catchin’
Turk
Croixsippi Guides