Thanks for all the replies. I got out with the boys a week and a half ago, and got skunked. But we had a great afternoon on the river.

Got out again on Monday with some buddies. We went from Stillwater all the way to some backwater by the highbridge. We were targeting Smallies. We caught about 6 in a few hours. Missed about as many, and had a blast. On the way home we stopped on part of the main channel at a huge dropoff that was marking tons of fish. We had very little time to fish it, but tried trolling cranks for a few minutes. Caught 2 walleye and a Northern. We did not have minnows, would have been a blast to anchor up and try minnow and jig.

I am hooked on the river, I have had 2 great outings. and cannot wait for more.

Thanks all!

I am going to try to get out with the wife tonight. I am going to try a few of those spots that looked interesting. I read alot on sites about the people heading out in the morning, is there a better time than others to head out to the croix? To be honest, I will mostly head out after work.

I thought I’d update eveyone on our trip on Friday. We were on the river for 3 hours, and the kids had a blast. We really only got about 45 minutes of fishing in. It was pretty windy out there, and I was looking for spots to fish out of the wind. We caught zero fish, but the kids had a blast. As we were coming back south to the slip, I was watching the depth finder and have some interesting spots I would like to try. I cannot wait for the next trip I take without the kids……

Sandbar, thanks for the PM. We will give that a try on Saturday or Sunday.

Whiskerkev – I have been fishing with the boys before, and realize the attention span is small. That is why I was asking for a good technique to try. Wasting alot of time trying different things never works with them.

Thanks Turk for the tips. I have never tried cat fishing before. I have fished for Sturgeon before on the Rainy River, what a blast. Any tips for a first timer trying cat fishin?

I am curious how the pontoon will handle on the river. On lakes in the past, I have not had too much trouble trolling or casting for bass.

Wow….. What a site. Thanks all for the replies. I am going to enjoy this year going out and trying with the family. I know the opener for Walleye is the 28th of April. If I am out there drowning worms for anything on the bottom before that, will I have problems with the DNR? Do you basically just tell the officer you are fishing for Carp or Cats?

By the way, I am in no way asking for the “spots” from anyone. I am going to enjoy learning from reading, and then getting out there to find my own spots….