On a typical Saturday in the springtime you wake up at 5:00am, hit the water and have your limit of fish by noon. This time of year things are a little different on the lower St. Croix River….. Saturday morning 9AM there is a massive “Cruiser hatch” of 20-40 ft boats, 11AM the jet skis reproduce like a pack of bees to swarm the cruisers and jump their wake – by noon you are reluctantly on the couch because your secret fishing spot has turned into a boat party. Along with that, the water temps are higher, the bite generally slows down, and you start to wonder where the fish went. The fish are still there but your approach has to change.
Catfish, muskie and walleye all bite at night and in some cases it might be the only time the bigger fish feed. Walleyes rank the highest on the list in my book, but I never pass up the chance to catch a big fish of any species so I change gears and hit the NIGHT BITE. Catfishing can be some of the best times you will ever have in the boat…..anchored up over your favorite deep current hole and throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them.
On a few recent trips we were using live suckers in the 6” to 8” range, cut suckers and stinkbait– all rigged on a slip sinker presentation with a 1-2 oz weight to hold it in the current. Anywhere from dusk until 1:00AM seemed to be good with bites coming at any time. Channel cats ranging from 5 to 15+ lbs, flatheads from 8+lb (with the potential for a much bigger fish) and an occasional big sturgeon will hit the cut-bait too.
Muskie fishing on the area lakes and rivers can be excellent at night also. The fish are shallow and will hit on any good surface bait like a Topraider or Jackpot. Here is a 45 ½ muskie that we caught on a Super Topraider in less than 3 feet of water!! This fish absolutely erupted on the bait as if a bomb went off under it! That’s as exciting as it gets!! No matter what you are fishing for at night, a little preparation goes a long ways! Safety first! Know your area and your boat, bring a floodlight for spot hopping, bring a head lamp for landing fish or rigging lines and always keep a lookout for other boats!
Good luck – see you on the water.
Mark
Nice ski Mark!!!! Care to tell us which lake that silver beauty came from?
Great read and pics Mark
Great report Mark and nice fish!
It’s a great reminder that we all need to spend more time fishing at night!
Nice read Mark! Thanks for that
There goes the neighborhood!
Gotta love rivers! So many kinds of big fish out there!
Very nice Mark!
Great report! Very impressive bunch of fish
Hey Dan, The report is from the Croix so that would be a good indication on where the ski came from??????
good luck competing with all the traffic out there…. it is frustrating, but it can give up a fish or two. north of stillwater is in my opinion a good place to start. way less traffic. great report mark! nice to see someone having luck out there!
Even the later evening hours are still buzzing with jet skis! I guess I would still be buzzing around on my js too if I wasn’t fishing. My best luck has been trolling jointed shads on leadcore….fast. Good Luck.