I would call D-Rock center. Its where strikemaster sends all of their augers to be fixed. He is the top guy for info and repairs. They are located south of 694 off of old bass lake road. You can get their number in the yellow pages or go to UP-NORTH .COM and go to ice fishing then to augers.

though its very rare, large shad will and have been caught by “hook and line”. I have caught only one , snagged many, that was actually hooked in the lips. The warm water discharge from the King plant used to draws tons of them in the winter.

I can’t agree with you people more about the days of fishing off the marina docks being none existent(spelling?). I have found the best way to secure some dock permission is to talk to the dock rats on a “off ” day,if you pad the right palms. I’ve been told stories about the monster crappies and sunnies that live underneath the yachts and docks supposedly eating huge wolf spiders and various other large arachnids that try to spin webs on little used boats. Afton marina guys and gals are pretty good, so are the kids at hudson marina. Long live the days of a word and a handshake to secure a little quality fishing time. I should mention that Sunnyside is the anti-christ when it comes to getting permission, with the Wolf marina being a close second.

there is also Beanies ramp. I know it can be busy on weekends, but if you are like me and get there early you can park down below and dont have to wait. They also have season passes. Tell them Bill sent you (a little self promo), ask for Dottie. Its sad but i’ve lived within 10 min. of the croix my whole life and I would have never thought that a person would have to worry where they were going to launch their boat at. It seems that the powers that be are winning the war against the little guys and are catering to the cruisers that create the destruction, noise pollution, and make it next to impossible to take my 83yr old grandfather out on a sat. afternoon without beating him to ****. Jon J is right by predicting that in the near future, N. of stillwater will be closed to all motorized traffic and there will also be more no-wake zones implemented. I know the river is there for everyones use and that most people dont even realize what we have, as in a pristine and clean resource, but the fact of the matter is that 15 years ago there was a quarter of the big boats but the same amount of small boats WITH LITTLE OR NO WAKE EROISION AND NOISE POLLUTION. Now we ” the fisherpeople” are being pushed around, limited access, and told we cant anchor because the big boats dont like it. I dont mean to go off on a tantrum, but I’m getting tired of losing ground to urbanites who have no investment other then a couple hundred dollars in gas a weekend and a 100k boat. Maybe instead of further restrictions on speed, access, and wakes maybe we should take a look at restricting #’s and size. How about making a guy with twin 500’s in his boat buy a permit for access to the croix for $500 a year to pay for damage and pollution. I bet that would send em packing or screaming…. Good luck on the opener to all, enjoy the peace and quiet while you can!!

I was up at LOW last thur. through tues. of this week. Snowmobiles are recomended for off-road driving. We fished sixteen mile, knight island and shoals,and 12 miles out from morris point. The day bite was slow, but the morning and evening bite shallow was good to excellent. We had the best luck in the long point area in 17ft. The bite in the morning was about 6:30 till 8:30 then eve. started about 3:30 and lasted till 7:30 depending on lite conditions. Hope this helps I will be returning in two weeks for my fourth trip since x-mas. Hope to make it once more after that.

the level is at 680.78 and rising hourly. they ,the usgs, predict a level of 681.5 or so. This would be below the flood stage mark, meaning a no -wake rule would not be in effect. I’m thinking that if stays that high by the middle of next week that the dnr will enforce a no-wake rule just because of the high traffic associated with the 4th of july weekend. Look for this to happen if the water level approaches the 683 mark.