So am I the only one who got to witness first hand a couple of cabin cruisers try to take out the sandbar at Afton this weekend ? I saw one each day on Saturday and Sunday. Do these boats not own a map chip ?
I will try to hold back the comment of how many people did not respect the traditional no wake zones. Where was the DNR thie weekend… 
Now I know the fun s starting!!!!
Talking about no wake zones…… go up to the Osceola landing and it is all no wake but yet I have to dodge the waves crashing shore from almost every boat on plane.
I didn’t witness that but they are clueless..the best is in mid summer and low levels and they hit it and all you see is mud flying….morons….
The no-wake violations in the Kinni channel were endless.
Other than that I was lucky to only experience decent boaters up close. I didnt run into anyone that was unfriendly. I only saw johnny law come into channel once on Sat and they were not there long. Only one boat and only one guy in boat. Budget cutbacks apparently.
The channel marker is not in at Afton. (The one that sits on the point) Not hard to hit the point, especially if you were trying to stay clear of the fishermen. They might have just been trying to stay clear of you.
-J.
Based on how close they got to me on Sunday, I have to say their thought process was I could get out of their way as they made no attempt to slow down.
At least I did not have to reel up and get of the way like a few others this weekend.
If they were going too fast, thats a problem. But I’ll tell ya, picking a spot to get through that crowd was tricky. I know – I had to do it myself and got up in that shallow water off the point. 
-J.
I went through there and it didn’t seem that crowded Saturday afternoon. I did see one fisherman that appeared to hit the point, boat looked to stop and he trimmed the motor waaaay up. Just inexperience running the river, everyone goes through it. Almost as much fun as watching people load their boats at the launch.
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picking a spot to get through that crowd was tricky. I know – I had to do it myself and got up in that shallow water off the point.
Sounds like the main channel in Hudson was the same way as well. Just for future openers there are spots on the St.Croix that will produce walleye up to 12+lbs and are 10 times better fishing than the Kinni or Hudson narrows. If these 2 areas are the only places that you think there are fish you are off your rocker. Take some time and fish the Croix like a lake. I can tell you from experience that almost all of my fish come from areas that I’ve found away from the community hole just floating around looking at my depth finder. You will find alot better quality (size) fish and less people to play bumper boats with. Dont ever rule out hiring a guide as well.
Good Luck and be safe out there 
I have saw a few boats run into catfish bar last weekend, during the summer they run the west side on the wrong side of the green bouys in afton and all you see is a rouster tail of sand, the best is when they go by making a wake because they don’t care and cut towards the marina on the wrong side of the bouy and hit the rocks. lots of boaters really don’t know the river and that can be costly.
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all of my fish come from areas that I’ve found away from the community hole
That’s because YOU know where the train bridge is. 
Why can’t they put the marker and no wake buoys out earlier in the season?
Seems to be a pretty tough crowd. As of last night, the boueys (no wake and channel markers) still aren’t out in Afton. Those that are familiar with the river know that the Afton area is a no wake, but whether its enforcable without the boueys is debatable. I don’t believe you have to be a dumb as$ to hit that bar either (especially without the channel markers). Believe it or not, not everyone has a map chip. That bar has an extremely sharp break and even if your watching your depth finder at trolling speed, you could be on top of the bar before shutting her down. I went up on it a couple years ago. Unless someone did something to tick me off, I wouldn’t get alot of enjoyment out of watching someone elses misfortunes.
PS. On a side note, I’ve got a buddy that got a new (to him) tuna boat last year and he ran it on top of the Afton Bar. His boat is still in the shop getting his rudder fixed. Last I heard it was over 2K in repairs.
Add in the fact that a lot of people come from other parts of the state because the season opens up earlier on the border water. I was out on Minnetonka 3 weeks ago for the 1st time ever. While I have a Lakemaster GPS, I was still glad to see they had all their buoys out for reassurance.
If a guy was a 1st time’er on the Criox there is no way he would assume that Afton was a no-wake or that there is a big sandbar to get hung up on as it appears to be a big wide area in tune with the rest of the river.
Donut Island is fun too. When I first started running the Croix, I did put my boat up on Afton bar (very slowly). I acted like I was trying to do it, jumped out and splashed around. Did I mention there was four very nice looking bakinis taking a dip? I don’t think they bought my act. 
Okay I am not thinking clearly, dang opener on my mind, anyway I deleted my post because it wasn’t a very well thoughtout statement and agree bouys should be out much earlier…on a side note I am wondering how many people launch out of the bluffs not knowing where the channel is and go right over the rock pile point there….
I’ve seen that too many times to count Wade! Sometimes I just go down there early season and watch the launch, great entertainment for sure. That and the domestics guy gal wise throughout the year at the launch. Thankfully the campground is well patrolled and mostly quiet, but the landing is fun to watch. I’ve treid to educate and even broken up fights, but sometime it is not worth getting out of my lawn chair. Ah well, I’ll give an update Fri, I’m going. 
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