The Coast Guard said the St. Croix is a recreational waterway, not a commercial route where such buoys are normally found.

The Coast Guard said its boats and crews are not equipped to reach and maintain the buoys each year without putting personnel at risk.

Mike O’Berry with the Coast Guard said it costs nearly $1,000 to maintain the buoys.

He said, “It is better for us to allocate those resources to commercially trafficked rivers.”

Hold on just a second here.

Take a look at the 2 most recent Coast Guard decisions regarding the River and tell me there’s not something fishy going on.

They claim not to have the resources to maintain the systems of buoy’s, which I’m pretty sure everyone can agree are absolutely critical to safe travel through places like Afton or the Kinni. Despite the fact that 2/3 of the weekend users don’t know what the buoy’s even mean, there would likely be more accidents and grinding of lower units by the inexperienced river users, which would potentially cost lives and boaters lots of money in repair bills for the aforementioned ground up lower units.

The prop shops will be happy.

I think this should shed some light on among other things, extremely poor decision making on the part of the coast guard.

How is it that they have the resources to enforce the six pack on existing guides, yet overlook a obvious safety issue with regard to the buoys, and expect anyone to take them seriously in their mission? If the mission is to make our waterways safer, I’d consider the Coast Guard to have failed us, yet again. It reinforces the position of those who oppose the six pack enforcement in the fact that the CG does not have your safety in mind, it’s about money.

ridiculous.

BigPikeMike

Indeed it sucks.

Sounds vaguely familiar to a similar controversy on the river eh? Long standing issues (easements/laws) being ignored, new regime of landowners (new regime of bureaucrats), now ultimately effecting other users, feels pretty [censored] I bet.
wealthy land owners with too much time >< federal govt with too much time.
I see the same thing all the time on the trout streams, which can usually be alleviated with a knock on the door, smile and polite asking of permission. I don’t reckon that’ll work in this case.

Have not been on the river yet, but have been fishing Cedar lake in Mpls with success for walleyes at dark. Nothing huge, but a fella got a 29’er a couple weeks ago just before the snonamie. Kinda fun fishing within sight of DT Mpls.

Sivee aka Stiffer. Say hello some time, been a long time since we cast a line together.

bigpikemike

here’s one of the freak.

here’s the skinny on the Zodiak and an update on my fall action.

The boat belongs to Konrad Marine in Hudson, they make drive units for the Navy among other large boat operators and such. They are testing a new 2 prop drive on a 500hp YanMar diesel engine. All the running is simply hours on the unit to determine wear etc. The rig is an actual navy 9m RIB (rigid inflatable) and is normally in action in the port of yemen, panama canal etc…

Call the cops, really? because someone is boating all day? How about the last minute idiots who it seems at this time of the year lose their courtesy and throw a 4 footer upside from 50ft away…..

My fall has been very good, the sturgeon bite could get more consistent overall, but I’m up to about 35 for the boat with 2 legals and one superfreak that was 54×28, all of 50lbs and maybe more….if I can figure out the photo thing I’ll add a couple shots…

off to hayward this weekend for muskies on the Fly Rod!

Thanks for the feedback. Ideally table rental would be cheap, 20.00 or less. As for the goods, if you bring GOOD STUFF, with value and current in design or use, you’d be surprised. Selling good stuff is the key to eliminating the “flea market” effect. I sold over 700.00 worth of Fly fishing/offshore rigging and muskie stuff out of my garage last weekend, it was cold/[censored] and off season. I had aboout 35 guys come off of 3 ad’s on craigslist.

The top 10 baits in my boat over the last 2 seasons.

CJ’s Buzzbait: super versatile bait
TopRaider: Blackbird or baby loon
Ace Sweet Shad 66: red head
Sledge: color generally worn beyond recognition
VIPER: wood topwater, heavy and good hookups
Big spinner baits: fundallys or similar, necessary in weeds and wood. generally black/orange or silver
Bucktails of Course: Mepps Marabou is fabulous, buchertails are dependable. variations of black, white, browns and red did the most damage.
Jakes: I custom paint them turd brown for the river, I generally only run 10″ for deep trolling work.
Manta: Sucker or walleye color. gets a lot of looks, easy to work.
BIG SUCKER Minnows: easy to get anywhere north of hiway 8.

We have a stable of 6500’s as well, total workhorse as everyone has said. But as we’ve gotten more specialized with technique, had to buy others. For short line trolling, planer board work and sucker rigging, I use the 7000 Big game. damn sturdy, big handle and holds up to high speed big bait trolling better. for depth specific trolling baits we use the diawa 47LC’s. so far so good, 2 seasons on them and no probs. I will say, I generally have to replace parts on a 6500 yearly, worm gears mostly. not a bad idea to have a couple spare parts in the box.

Rods: For trolling I’ve gone glass all the way. I have 2 customs made by Gregg Thorne. Tuna blanks mated with a graphite butt section. Croix makes great heavy glass rods, but honestly we also use 10′ heavy eagle claw or similar down-rigging rods. they are cheap, allow you to get the baits staggered without boards and holy cow, fishing a 40″ plus ski on a 10′ glass rod is a hoot. For all your other work, do look at the Gander rods. they have plenty to choose from, have shown to be really durable and have a great warranty.

Everywhere honestly. I have boated fish from above stillwater all the way to the confluence in Prescott. The bayport pool has never been my focus however, and I also really avoid any known community sports. These fish are relatively untapped, and exploring different areas, structure and techniques has paid off handsomly. They do not act like lake fish, so you’ll have to put your thinking cap on, and get a good map and graph. The last 2 seasons we,my muskie buddies and I have put just under 100 fish in the boat from the river alone. that’s no BS, I put my time in on these fish. If I can figure out how, I’ll attach an image or two.

big pike mike

Hey Guys,

On the esox front, it’s been really slow. November has seen only 2 fish in the boat, although I have been fishing tonka a bit more lately trying to learn that as well. Last year the november bite was great, with my biggest fish of the year coming right around turkey day. my recent outings have been trolling big baits, for miles…..

Ya, no question letting these beast’s go is the best for the fish and fishery. The numbers in the river are enough to support a put and take fishery but I’m guessing very few are kept on a yearly basis. I’ve never killed one but have had them smoked from Winnebago and they are damn fine table fare when prepared right. My 55″ came 7-8 years ago, off of highline point in mid winter, on a shiner jigged off the bottom, we had a hard time turning it’s head up an 8″ hole. this time of year we always get a few in afton vertical jigging raps. The biggest I’ve seen was my buddy fritzy’s 60 plus from the kinni last spring i think, it was all of 50lbs. crazy fish.

nice work, with that big tail and pectoral fins they sure can pull hard eh? @ 41″, your looking about 15lbs maybe. They really start to pack on weight when they hit the 50 plus mark, any shorter and they tend to be on the slender side. my biggest was 55″ through the ice and a 53″ in open water a few years ago. Get a sturgeon tag and you can keep one, but I’m not sure what the size limit is this season, 50″? They are EXCEPTIONAL smoked, besides being fun to catch.

I’m with gator hunter on the pencil weights, they are a little tough to find but work a lot better. I got turned onto them chuck & duck fishing steelhead in the Muskegon River a few years ago and bought a lifetime supply in MI last time I was there.

Regarding the riggers on the croix, I’ve used my Big Jon’s a few times out in the basin trolling either suspended eyes or looking for big offshore muskies. with the irregular shoreline breaks and changing bottom features, they were a pain in the arse. But I did like them for keeping big floating muskie cranks at 25′, it paid off last fall with a 48″ as well…

Hot & tots have been a go to bait for me for years on the river. You really wanna mess em’ up try to find some of the now discontinued deep down rattlin’ fat raps. They run 30′ on 150′ of fireline and the saugers and eyes hate them.

smallies and silvers can be caught pretty readily out over open water, chasing the shad and bait around. Throw spoons, zips, poppers or spinners. they hold typically on the windward shorelines with steep breaks to hold the bait. we’ve been having fun with flyrods and white poppers as well. you can usually pick off 3-4 before you put them down, but stay in the area with concentrations and drift.

dig through the dump tables at your local gander. These baits were a chinese knock off made by a midwest distributor. Gander usually has a stash of them around in most locations. good luck.

check the following sites for info

http://www.steelheadsite.com
http://www.bruleriversportsmansclub.com

There are plenty of fish around but the temps have been cold and they have been slow. I’ve been up a couple times and will be back this weekend. The warmer temps should be getting them going.

Shhhhh. There’s no muskies in the croix, don’t be fooled! Actually the water above the stillwater bridge should be considered for early muskie action with all the breaks, early weeds and wood. cold water input has proven to be pretty key for me all season long. it’s very much a low density fishery, but with some time spent exploring they can be had. I caught fish over 35 river miles last year and did not focus on any of the community spots at all, tried to be a bit of a pioneer and find my own, hard work but way worth it. The big bonus was the number of 15-20lb pike we landed.

Steve

no big fish that I saw, the couple we got were standard pool 2 18″ fish. We worked that spot till about 5:30 or so, then wanted to try that deep wingdam by the launch.

I’ve had my best luck on that shoreline up about 1/2 way to the no wake, there’s an old wingdam on the pike isalnd side that is not very pronounced, but it’s the biggest diversion in that stretch. Last year we also did well early in the back channel around the island when there was enough flow. my favorite presentation on that stretch is casting cranks on the beach and digging them down the break.

miket

I too was part of the posse enjoying the afternoon of ncie weather. We spent some time up by the dam casting and pulling raps to no avail. We did manage to find some eyes down where everyone else was, off Pike Island just above the confluence. I was marking lots of shad stacked within 2 feet of bottom (on an X15 they almost look round with just a slight hook) and just downriver from where the shad were, the eyes were located. There’s a little trough out there that drops off to 21-22 from 17′ and thats where our action was. Did manage to get one 3lb channel down on the lilydale wingdams in 32′ or so.

MikeT

Jrod

any pike on tip ups? The flowage is loaded with 2-5lb pike, it’s a great place to chase them with a fly rod in the summer as well. Also of note, the WI DNR has been stocking leech lake strain muskies for the last couple years as well…..

if things work out, may come by also. Tough call though, the warm temps are nice for the opening of winter trout season down south, but I suppose I could come and get some crappie chips and pick the bones out of my teeth with the finger sized saugers I catch up there.. Bayport is fun enough but frustrating also, I cannot say I have ever caught a legal eye there through the ice and only scant numbers of good crappies. There’s a couple killer lakes minutes away in western WI that have been cranking out big pike and piles of pannies early season for us, so going to the river has been a last option. If I come, I’ll pack some of Big Pike Mikes Pickled Pike, along with good crackers and sharp cheddar.

Mike T

Not much to report here, but I did make it out for the first time on saturday afternoon, after fishing Tonka in the morning, we should have stayed at tonka…..We went off the ferry landing & a little south, out in 35′. Managed a couple small eyes and some action on the vex, but that was it. There was some fella with a s10 parked on the river about 50 yards from shore, braver than I. WIND! We could have had a great “fish trap regatta” with the wind, if you’ve never done it, it’s hilarious. Open the fish trap up 1/2 way, turn it to the wind and get a little running start, yeehaa!

Tonka was great on the other hand, flags every 10 minutes, pike up to 34″ and even a couple bonus 20″ eyes to boot.

Oh Brain, there’s no truth to the rumor that I fish the MN side more. Having lived 1/2 my life in WIS and the other in MN, I am entitled to free reign. the Wi side fished better for me this year, especially muskies.

Mike T

no on the pickling salt, just good old table variety.

I was on the river sunday for a couple hours, launched at Beanies. nothing going on, got one measly bite. I checked afton/catfish area, the breaks on the WI shoreline as well as the area’s in front of Beanies. When I drove to RedWing on friday, I did see a couple boats in Prescott and talked to a local who said things have been really slow there as well. The launch looked OK, but it’s cold enough to be a problem without 4wd. Coming across the river in hudson yesterday, it was iced over with skim as far south as I could see. I reckon it’s over.

Mike T

We stopped down for a couple hours this afternoon/evening and hit the st paul side from shore. managed 3 decent 17-20″ eyes in an hour or so. We got one on a smoke kgrub and the other 2 came casting yo zuri suspending minnows. All the fish came from the current seam area we had access to and the bite coincided with the passing of a big barge. Seemed to increase the current flow with the displaced water and stirred them up a bit. nice not to have to launch to catch eyes!

I think just re-reading the post and looking at the context of the statement spells it out pretty clearly. One can be a good steward of the resource and also an avid user as well.

My point is not to start any bickering, everyone has a gripe it seems. My aim was to simply point out it’s dangerous and potentially damaging to associate terms and language that singles out a group or groups of users. Although I think I know where Bruce is coming from, I cannot agree with loosely used comments. I am curious however after seeing the power boaters site, what the underlying interest in this cause is. Perhaps financial gain or loss??

MikeT

Got out last night to try for some eyes after dark. Pitched K-Grubs at sand points in some very shallow water with some success. managed a few eyes and it was fun to catch them pitching jigs as opposed to trolling. It was blowing really hard and that limited the area’s we could hold and fish. fished mostly bayport pool. Have been getting a few nice crappies around bridge pilings on slip bobber & minnow as well.

MikeT

Bruce,

In the pursuit of your goals here, I’d be careful about using any language or terminology that may perhaps alienate the very folks in which you hope to ralleye to your cause. I’m speaking specifically about the “tree huggers” comment. When you start to stereotype the opposition as it were, you potentially earmark yourself and your cause as being just as zealous, overbearing and disrespectful as the other party.

I know for a fact, there are a lot of guys and gals on this site who use the river regularly, have boats capable of 40+mph and also consider themselves good stewards of the land and water, myself included. Am I a tree hugger, my buddies might say ya a bit, does that make me the enemy? I think not. Believe me, I can come up with several recent instances of power boaters behaving like idiots around fisherman. Great example was sunday night where a guy in a 30′ scarab ripped through the hudson channel to the railroad bridge, at dark and through a group of fishing boats, going at least 50. That behaviour really pisses the tree huggers off. What prevailed there, common sense & respect or booze and ego?

Common sense, courtesy and respect for other users are what’s needed on the river. I think this should include the fight your group is involved with, and the language your group uses in public forums such as this.

my 2 cents

Mike Thomas

Rock ON!

Between you, Jeremy and I there are some sore mouthed ski’s out there right now. I picked up a couple more tuesday night, a 40 & 43.5″. I’ve been having a lot of action on a super hot new bait I just picked up, believe it or not they are british pike baits (endorsed by the British Pike Squad!) from a company called Gordon Griffith’s. I actually rep this line here in the US now as well. I’ll try to attach a shot of the hot bait of late, the “sweet shad 66”. Here’s the 43.5 from the other night.

MikeT

Nice fish!

Having grown up in western Wi, I’m struggling to come up with a lake in the NR area large enough to not be able to see the horizon line. Not to sound skeptical, but is that image laid over another? Mille Lacs perhaps? If so I’m sure it’s to protect the anonymity of the lake, hmmmm……

Mike T