River Virgin

[WalTerStaLker**]

I am new to rive fishing, just moved to Prescott and have tried fishing the Croix with no luck. I see people catching fish around me and mark fish on my Lowrance but cant catch any thing. Any one willing to give a river rookie some advice on how to fish the river? What to use/how deep to fish/good areas? I have tried bottom bouncers but not sure how much weight to use with the cuurent. I fish for walleye/saugers/crappies/catfish. You dont need to give up your secret spots but some general info on fishing the Croix would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks for any response!

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Go to the metro area forum and post under "open seats"

There are a few guys that fish the river a lot and often have space in their boat.

[tunrevir]

You could hire Riverdan or Turk to take you out for a half day. They teach you while you fish and share some of the riverine knowledge that they have.

Tunrevir~

[Sandmannd]

Agreed, getting a guide is going to up your learning curve by a ton.

[fishwater]

What to use/how deep to fish/good areas? I have tried bottom bouncers but not sure how much weight to use with the cuurent. I fish for walleye/saugers/crappies/catfish.

StaLker, if others are catching around you and you're not, it does get frustrating. I wouldn't sweat it, just keep at it and observe what those catching are doing. Are you using enough lead to keep bottom contact most of the time? Are you working the right part of the contour or structure? Do you have a chip in your graph showing the bottom structure? Is your boat speed similar to those catching? Lots of variables to get tuned into, but it isn't hard if you have the time.

It sounds like you have a grasp on finding fish with your electronics - that is the biggest part of catching, making sure they are around while your fishing.

If it's an option for you, I would hire Turk or Dan as suggested. Both will put you into fish to get your confidence up!!

[WalTerStaLker**]

Thanks for response. how do i contact turk or dan for a guide? hitting the river again today for a another try at it. been doing good on bald eagle lake but still no luck on river. thanks again for help

[goblueM]

using pretty hefty bottom bouncers is the way to go in current or if you wanna troll 1-2 mph

3/8 to 1/2 oz jig and minnow work well, as well as say a 3/4 oz slip sinker/lindy rig

[WalTerStaLker**]

thanks gobluem for advise, tried today around the lift bridge in prescott with the 3/4oz and lindy with leeches and crawlers. No luck. mark lots of fish and pods of bait fish but could not hook up with a fish. getting very frustrated with the river since i do well on lakes in mn, but just cant seem to figure out the croix for the life of me! I was marking fish on bottom in 20 ft of water, would those be eyes or are they shallower and im just marking cats or sheephead?

[Sandmannd]

Thanks for response. how do i contact turk or dan for a guide? hitting the river again today for a another try at it. been doing good on bald eagle lake but still no luck on river. thanks again for help

Turk: Croixsippi Guide Service

River Dan: River Dan's Guide Service

[Thunderchicken]

When I fish the big MO over here in SD pulling lindy's I use at least 1 to 1 1/2 oz. bouncers to keep them as vetical as possible. Also going into the current with spinners you can get away with moving slower because the current is spinning the blade for you. This way you can cover some ground to by zig zagging as you go up stream.