A question for you Croix river anglers…How often have any of you fished shallow for ice time walleyes?
On either rock or sand,and if you caught none, did you think you were over fish?
Shallow walleyes through the ice is a pattern that I think could be more consistant if more guys did it…
Keep catchin’
Turk
Turk – I fished shallow for walleyes north of the High Line last year, off a number of the points in 15′ of water or less. I was fishing shallow because I wanted to use my underwater camera. I was surprised at the number of fish I saw: walleyes, silvers, crappies, sturgeon. The main trouble with fishing shallow is that the fish really spook easy. You can really see that using the camera. If people are doing a lot of walking around, fishing tipups or just moving around they would spook the fish. My recommendation is that if you fish shallow get away from the crowds. I would be working a fish, watching him on the camera and somebody would walk up to my portable and the fish would take off. I gets kind of frustrating – to a lot of people ice fishing is kind of a social event but it is amazing how much walking around spooks fish, especially shallow fish.
Some of the icefishing I’ve done in the past on mille lacs in shallow water really opened my eyes to the need to be breathlessly silent on the ice for these shallow fish. I’ve been able to watch walleye come in on shiners and be spooked by a shift in weight in the ice shack that caused a slight “grind” of the shack against the snow and ice. A careless foot step on ice that shattered below a person’s weight would earn quite a negative reaction from any fish in view.
We also experimented with the effect of sonar pulses and how the fish reacted to them. IF you left your sonar running all the time, the fish seemed less likely to be spooked. Turn it off, wait for a fish to come under the hole and then silently turn the unit back on… the fish would sometimes react like somebody stomped on the ice!
I know I looked stupid but I learned alot staring down an ice hole with my hind end in the air and my jacket thrown over my head and the hole to block out any reflected light! 
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I know I looked stupid but I learned alot staring down an ice hole with my hind end in the air and my jacket thrown over my head and the hole to block out any reflected light!
Ahhh……..Don’t worry about looking dumb James…………just come up with a fish in your teeth next time and all will be forgiven! 
Still, now I know why you have Mr Positive under your name…I had to PM him with my comments… 
Well……………maybe it’s got something to do with it……..but I figure anytime James is going to convert his backfield into high ground, you just GOTTA smack it! Giddy-yap! Yee-Hawww!!!! 
Just ask DeeZee about this……………James gave him a demo this summer! 
Well………………… that’s what I heard…………. anyway……….. ummm………… don’t cancel my subscription buddy! 
Gentlemen,
Good points about fishing shallow and staying quiet. I would say it is fair that fishing shallow and being quiet applies to both openwater and ice fishing, though ice noise is more apt to spook them.
I too have watched fish and just stared through an ice hole for long spells just to watch those fish, I have a need to know as much as I can about fish and if I look foolish, so be it. One thing I learned is how they can mouth the bait without the slightest tap or tug on the line. Now with the underwater camera this watching is easier and I still am captivated by just watching those dang fish! They look and hover, watch how they react to jigging, it is really something.
Back to the St. Croix…
What a guy needs to do is say the heck with the crappies and fish shallow around dusk in around 6-12 feet and target those walleyes.
I have caught ice walleyes on the St. Croix in three distinct areas away from the Bayport “pool” area, and these areas are usually consistent. Why not go there now? Bad ice, period. The more you ice fish the more you know that lots of vehicles DO go through.
Certain questions dance in certain people’s minds and in mine is why doesn’t a shallow run hit in that area?
Just because many people don’t fish shallow does not necessarily mean that it can’t happen, but really there is just little little talk about any solid walleye action in shallow.
Are they getting them and doin’ the zip lip? Maybe but things just get noticed.
A beauty of fishing is the mystery of it.
Keep Catchin’
Turk Gierke
Last winter after spending day and a half fishing eyes on the Big Mill Pond and seeing nothing but perch on the camera, we decided to move the fish house that had frozen in when a lead opened up nearby several days earlier. So we went to work extracting the shack, my buddy on the chain saw and me with the ice chisel. We worked feverishly for about an hour before freeing the ice house. Before moving the house from its location away from the lead, I went in the shack to pull up the one line that was left in while we dislodged the shack…….Yup, you guessed it, an 18” eye had taken the dangling minnow amidst all that racket! This was the only eye seen or taken during the two days we fished. Go figure. Must be the exception that proves the rule! Here is a pic of its emergence into the fish house.
Geronimo
shallow eyes just happen!… I used to fish Tonka quite a bit… and I used to fish WAY inside of all the other anglers who were outside the weedline… I was INSIDE the weeds…. all you had to do was find a nice big hole in that unholy mat of weeds (the bigger the better)…. and you were in business… in 8 feet of water… I seldom caught an eye less than 4#…. never saw them on the fish finder.. they would flash in from outside the cone… and BAM….. usually it was dark or near dark… but on stormy days they might bite in there most of the day…..
I have been going through the archives looking for some tips on St. Croix walleyes through the ice. I found this and thought I would bump it back up.
Does anyone think that this could be a pattern worth trying around the Bayport basin area? Maybe the shallow flat where the Malileau dumps in?
Feel free to send a PM.
Tight lines!
Bayport for eyes on ice is so hit and mostly miss I don’t even consider it anymore. I quit chasing everything there in the winter because of the luck I and most have. Every year I want to fish down stream from Hudson but access and safety always deter me. I do however seem to make it to Prescott ice once a year to not catch anything.
I remember getting a mark on my flasher last year!! 
Turk how well does a camera work on the Croix ?
Over the last ten years since this was first posted, all my eyes have come from 23 to 36 feet or deeper. I am not convinced the walleye on the Croix make a daily movement to the shallows.
Good luck out there.
Anyone ever ice fish the sand flat north of Afton State Park on MN side? How’s the ice? Thinking of hitting it this weekend.
Thanks
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Anyone ever ice fish the sand flat north of Afton State Park on MN side? How’s the ice? Thinking of hitting it this weekend.
Thanks
Did you fish it ?
Every time I trek down and look at the ice south of the city of Afton, it looks like ice I wouldn’t want to be on.
It can often be fished by the bluffs park BUT they wont let you drive down to the landing so its a nasty walk back with gear.
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It can often be fished by the bluffs park BUT they wont let you drive down to the landing so its a nasty walk back with gear.
Will they allow snowmobile or atv access? I have driven down to check it out in years past, but with asthma that trek would not end well for me!
Went to Bear Trap instead….still have it on my bucket list for this year though. How long is the trek?
I have never had much luck shallower than 16 fow. We have tried a lot of spots and the walleyes seem to be current dependent. Schools of walleyes anyways. I think pulling a john boat behind the wheeler to access open water is a better way of getting to them 
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