Late May St. Croix River Walleye

With the no wake finally lifted fisherman can open the boat up past closed throttle and burn some gas again. I will say that the no wake kept many anglers off the river and it was quiet and peaceful.

Since last wednesday the 21st the bite has been strong, it does not matter cranks or crawlers in terms of what the walleye want just find the active fish and it has been very fun catching.

For crawler fishing depths from 10 to 22 have been most consistent and I would pick 16 to 17′ as the main target zone. On guide trips we have used mostly 3/8 ounce lindy weights. If running into into the strong current 3/4 has been average weight. No doubt we are targeting the bottom (as always when rigging) and the take is a soft thud. I have not seen one deep hooked walleye all spring, all fish mouth hooked.

With the water temperature coming up fast, leeches are now turning and getting walleyes attention. Rigging with leeches and crawlers this time of year is interchangeable for me. Both are now must have. Hard to come up with any magic tips, for rigging, I guess I would say though that I am seeing many different sizes of fish and differing species mixed together.

Crankbait fishing with Rapalas also has been very successful and with the dropping water this search method works so well. Again I target the bottom and troll about 2.0 mph average, slower into fast current and faster away from current. Shad Raps are hard to beat in my opinion and are the gold standard in the crankbait world. Colors are all over the board, i fish lures vs. colors. Meaning I will run a tried and true lure as it is a proven producer over a “color” they want. Chartreuse, gold, crawdad, and blue are standard river producers. Firetiger is a must.

Have fun out there and Keep Catchin’

Turk