7/21 the hunt for the govenor

I’m not one of those people that like to ask for info. But tonight me and some friends are taking a hop over to the dark side and are goin after some cats. None of use have had much expierence or luck fishin cats. But we will be trying some place near afton in my blue 12′ seaking. Any ideas or bait choices will be extremely appreciated

By the way is it just me or is the river way clearer than usual. Might have to start fishin it like mil lacs

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By the way is it just me or is the river way clearer than usual. Might have to start fishin it like mil lacs

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I thought it was a little dirty myself. Steve DeMars is the Croix cat guy. I am sure he will chime in when he sees the post. Are going after flats or channels?

Cut bait for flats and stink bait for channels.

I would use live bait. Small bullheads for Minnesota anglers are legal for flatheads, and cut bait or prepared baits for channels. Look for bait clouds and the fish won’t be too far away. Stick and move no more than 20-30 minutes per spot unless it is the mother of all spots, then give it 40.

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I’m not one of those people that like to ask for info. But tonight me and some friends are taking a hop over to the dark side and are goin after some cats. None of use have had much expierence or luck fishin cats. But we will be trying some place near afton in my blue 12′ seaking. Any ideas or bait choices will be extremely appreciated

By the way is it just me or is the river way clearer than usual. Might have to start fishin it like mil lacs

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A 12′ SeaKing with you and your friends at NIGHT on the St Croix!!! . Are your friends little people? Put the BIG guy in the front and make him wear a light on his head – OK. You might want to wear some Personal Flotation Devices if you have more than 2 in a 12′ boat at night. If you are fishing near Afton be prepared for some big cruiser wakes that just may capsize your gathering in that 12′ boat.

If I was you I would stay in the locations with No Wake Zones with that boat and that load. You may find a channel cat bite in the Afton Narrows fishing right on the break into the deep water. You might have better luck fishing up near Hudson staying in the No Wake stretch from Beanies to the Swing Bridge. You can launch out of Beanies and it is a short run to the north into the No Wake Zone. I would recommend going upstream and fishing up near the Swing Bridge. That is kind of a community hole but it puts out a fairly consistent cat bite. Anchor just below the bridge on the MN shore and fish that first break into the channel. Fish a standard slip rig – you won’t need much weight to get your bait down (1/2 oz to 1 oz slip sinker will work fine).

Best bait would be cut sucker. Buy a couple dozen medium/large suckers and fillet them. Save the sucker heads and use them too. Just kind of crush the heads a little to get the juices flowing. You want to create as much scent as possible in the water. Toss them out and wait – just be patient. Every 15 to 20 minutes rebait to keep fresh bait in the water so it leaves a good scent trail. You can fish two rods each on the St Croix because it is border waters. Run a string of baits to cover a nice swath of water along the bottom.

Be careful in a fully loaded 12′ boat on the St Croix at night. Make sure you have Nav Lights on and can be seen. That stretch of water has a lot of big boat traffic and a lot of them are drinking – if you know what I mean. Don’t count on them seeing you. That clear water may be helpful when they are looking for your body.

Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated. Actually I might be in my dads pro v now. I like my boat above water not under. All them damn tuna boats. . Looking for a nice porpuse flat head if the weather stays fishable

Steve,
very nice well thought out answer,
Hope Cory can get onto a few nice fish and post back after his night “out”
Jack

Well can’t complain about the weather it was nice and calm. The catch tonight included a nice turtle in 18 feet of water. We jumped around in the afton no wake zone. No luck for any flats. We used big sucker minnows and cut the heads off and cut some slits in them. Not giveing up yet though. I’ll most likely be out again 7/22. I’ve never gotten lost on the river until today. On our way in at 2 a.m. The fog was so thick almost couldn’t find the markers. Luckly one of my buddies shinned his head lights to mark our destination. Still can’t lie though fishin at night is nice on the river. Hope others had better luck than we did.