fishing reports St. Croix River-Amery-Balsam-Big Round-Wapo-Turtle Fishing Reports

[Nick Kuhn]

Made it out to the fishing contest today: as you can see below finding a good location was tough. Managed to set up over fish in 12 FoW, but action was slow for us, mostly just perch. Only saw a few flags go up near us and nothing iced. There were some nice bass and perch registered though. Gill action was incredibly slow; I could beat the gill that won 99 days out of 100 during the summer. Good crowd though, 16+ inches of ice so no issues driving other than a beat up landing and a mine-field of tip-ups to avoid.

[DRH1175]

Anyone hit some descent panfish lately? Thinking of hitting either the turtles or Wappo, bear trap this week.

[Nick Kuhn]

Made it out finally (missed opener for the first time ever last weekend). Lot's of work Saturday and Mother's Day shortened the two trips. Fish were cooperating though. Bass very active in and around the curly-leaf. Males were cruising shallows, probably scouting for nesting sites (didn't see any sitting on any). Females still full of eggs on the outside weedlines. Pike were cruising all throughout the weeds and proved to be active as well, although not much to speak of for size. Walleyes could be found on breaks where sand met weeds. Probably could have done well with a slow presentation, but we were casting the whole time. Had water temps of 62 to 65 degrees. Also noted quite a few big gills cruising the shallows off of my dock.

[Jarrid Houston]

Nice to see a walleye out of that lake...

[Nick Kuhn]

Finally got back up to the cabin. Brought some friends that are not fisherman, but I managed to get in a few hours. Stayed on the home lake and hit for the cycle (caught every species in the lake), but nothing to brag about sizewise except one bluegill pushing 10 inches. Crappies seem to be in their midsummer pattern: suspended deep and around dropoffs. Bluegills have gone back out deep for the most part too. Bass and pike were active shallow, and the walleyes I caught were still surprisingly shallow. One was in 4 feet of water under bright afternoon sun and not much wind to speak of. Most fish came of crankbaits.

[Nick Kuhn]

Water temperature have shot up to around 80. Tried for smallies Saturday and largies Sunday. Smallies were tough, most fish along where gravel met weeds in 10 FoW. Didn't catch many, had to work them slow and in doing so the Rock Bass wouldn't leave me alone.

Sunday went shallow and threw frogs in the slop, much more luck that way. Really had to get up in the weeds to get them, tickling the edges wasn't working.

[Jarrid Houston]

Very nice Largies!

[Nick Kuhn]

Water temperatures remain high in the area, and as expected panfish and bass remain the most active fish. Sunfish mostly have moved off to the deep weed edge and the breaks, with crappies suspended over deeper water. Other species have been trickier. Pike can be had, but you will have to work for them. Little guys can be found on the weeds, but the bigger fish are down in cooler water. Find the cooler water and you will find the fish, but the big fish will be sluggish (my fish had almost no fight in it) and you will have to work them over pretty good to trigger a strike.

[Nick Kuhn]

Was out casting for muskies this weekend. Water temperatures have fallen to around 72 degrees. Saturday was a whole lot of nothing, other than bouncing up and down in boat wake all day. Sunday wasn't a huge improvement for us, other than less boat wake. Talked to a guy at the landing who got a 45" in the morning. Looked promising early with a hot follow on about the 5th cast using a glider. After that no musky sightings, only a few pike to speak of. Looks like earlier was the time to get out, as the skies cleared. Wish weathermen could get a forecast right.

[Nick Kuhn]

Well it was a bright and busy weekend. Water temperatures are in the low to mid 70's now. The target was again mostly muskies, and light winds made it prime topwater and near surface bait fishing. Raised a few fish on topwaters Saturday, but they couldn't find the hooks. Fish were located in thick weed clumps. Took that knowledge up to Yellow on Sunday and managed a 46" (see pic) fish working a glider very near the surface. Also ran into some bonus bass burning bucktails over the weeds. Stuck to the home lake Monday (split time fishing and golfing), and that was a bust for the most part. Did get some bass froggin the pads, but nothing special. All fish for the weekend were caught on baits less than a foot from the surface.

[Nick Kuhn]

First time out in over a month today. Was a little breezy early, tough to control the boat. Died down nicely about an hour before sunset. Water temp was 50 degrees. Target species was muskie. Stuck to shoreline weeds to keep from getting blown around too much. Muskies were present but sluggish, 6 lazy follows. Pike however hit very hard. Stuck 3 over 30", there 2 going 34 and 33. Lakes are down a bit and buoys have been pulled, so be careful out there.

[RawHog]

12 hours, 2 bites, one bass on opener. I fished shallow and deep but concentrated on the the breakline in about 10 fow. Fishing was tough to say the the least, but this one made it all worth it for me. Went 18.5" and 3.5-4 lbs. At 11 a.m. It bit a jig between 2 cribs in 7 fow. Water temp to start the day was 39 degrees and by the end of the day temp was 45. I have never fished in any similar conditions so I'm happy with my first day fishing. The other two groups I talked to didn't get a single bite! How was everybody else's opener in Croix cnty?

[Nick Kuhn]

Rough weekend out there. Cold and windy. Marked a lot of fish still deep but it was too miserable for me to have any desire to try anchor and catch them. Managed some pike extremely shallow and out of the wind but that was about it. Water temps were in the low 40's Saturday. Had up to 50 in a shallow bay on Sunday. Weeds aren't up yet: not even curly leaf. Looking at the forecast things should warm up nicely and hopefully get fish activity up. I would expect weed growth to be pretty rapid over the next week or 2.

[Nick Kuhn]

Got out again this weekend. Saturday we kept driving north until we escaped the storms. Had two muskies follow right off the bat while it was still cloudy. One strike later on that felt pretty solid but never got hooks. Outside or inside weedline, didn't seem to matter. Pike were active in the weeds as well as bass.

Sunday stayed in close after golfing early. Pulled some nice bass out of developing pad beds (not they had to be in areas that weren't choked with curly-leaf). Also quite a few crappies anywhere from right up in the weeds out to the deep edge in about 10 feet of water. They were rather aggressive hitting just about anything resembling a small minnow.

[Nick Kuhn]

Was out over the weekend and on the 4th. Weekend fishing was slow. A lot of panfish located on the breaks attacking baits high in the water column. They weren't too far from bug hatches. Nothing sizeable was too active over the weekend. Had one muskie follow and another hit trolling on the deep weed edges.

Stable weather through the week had the walleye biting today however. Despite tons of boat activity the bite was going at sunset (and one in the middle of the afternoon off the dock). Crawlers and small rattling cranks seemed to grab their attention. Hard bottom on the deep weed edge: all in less than 8 feet of water though. Crappies were mixed in as well, some up to 11.5 inches.

[Sinker]

Thanks for the report Nick. Only fished once this year on the open water. Seems I spend too much time mowing trails,trimming trees, etc. at the cabin near Hertel. Which is a shame considering there are a handful of good lakes within a few miles of it. Good Luck.

[Nick Kuhn]

Tough fishing for me this weekend. Water temps were 82 when we began Saturday and by the time we left the water Sunday it was down to 76. Lot's of fish hanging out on the first break just outside a nice weed shelf. Side imaging made them look like walleye but all I could pull out of the schools was crappie. Sunday tried for bass as I figured they would be more cooperative. We did put a few into the boat but not as much action as we expected. Any sun seemed to put them off, you had to pull them out of the shade of trees or hope there was a passing cloud.

Stable weather this week should steady water temps in the mid 70's, hopefully leading to more fish activity by weeks end.

[rosspj59]

Nice bass Nick. Looks to be over 20 inches?

[Nick Kuhn]

Right at 20. Been catching lot's in the upper teens this year, not many that break 20.

[Nick Kuhn]

Got out this weekend, tried for a variety of species. Friday went after walleye and crappie. Caught some decent crappies in 10 to 12 FoW on crappie minnows. A few decent bluegills in the same area on crawlers. Didn't get a sniff of walleye. Saturday we went after muskies. Thought downsizing was going to be a good strategy. Raised a few on 6" crankbaits. Decided to put down the muskies rods and try for bass, then my dad and I landed 2 muskies within 7 minutes of one another. Just little guys, but nice to put some in the boat finally. Netting my dad's fish was a bit of an adventure; had a 28" pike on the whole time, had to keep the lines apart and go with a one hand net job. Was out Sunday too, had a few strikes but didn't hook anything noteworthy. Action seemed to be pretty good on the shallow flats. Lots of little fish activity on the deeper breaks but couldn't find any big fish there. Water temps hanging around 71 the whole weekend.

[Nick Kuhn]

Continued to chase muskies this weekend. Started out targeting the weeds heavily hoping for similar results. That proved to be rather unsuccessful. Took note that the water had warmed up to 74 degrees, and made a slight adjustment to casting to the deeper water just outside the weeds. That proved to be the ticket: of the 6 fish we saw this weekend, 5 of the 6 were seen casting from the outside weed edge into deeper water. Fish were chasing typical muskie lures this weekend: including a 19" pike that though it could take down a bulldawg that measures 14" long. Boated 3 of the 6 fish we saw. 1 on a dawg, 1 on a bucktail, and one on a crank. Size continues to leave something to be desired; but expect that with good numbers of stocking the past several years directly following several years of poor stocking in the mid 2000's.

[Nick Kuhn]

With the unstable weather fishing was a bit difficult this weekend. Fish were holding tight to cover on deep weedlines, and you really had to get in close to catch them. Every gamefish species could be found here, and color/presentation didn't seem to matter much as long as you could get it in front of them. Hopefully this week has some more stable weather, as cold fronts are not my favorite thing to fish. Forecast currently calls for the heat to return, which would have fish on the move. If the weather stabilizes, expect to find fishing returning to weedlines and breaklines where they are easy picking.

[JBMasterAngler]

Braved the elements yesterday Intended to fish Wapogassett, but after sitting in the parking lot waiting for the rain to stop, we decided to just start driving around instead. By the time we got to Bone Lake the rain stopped, so we launched there.

What a cool lake! Because of the weather I had low expectations. We caught 4 largemouths and a rock bass. I had one little muskie follow also. Does anyone know why this lake has little, to no walleyes? And why the DNR doesn't stock it? Would appear to be a great walleye lake. Does it have something to do with indian netting? Anyway, was surprised to see so many other boats out there, given the circumstances...must be a very good muskie lake?

[Nick Kuhn]

Polk county somehow fell in a hole where there is no native walleye populations other than the St. Croix river. As such every lake in the county that has walleyes is the result of stocking. Bone was stocked for a long time up until about the 1950's, but walleye stocking was ceased there along with Deer Lake in order to focus on the muskie stocking. Sometime around that time period Bone become the Spooner facilities broodstock lake for muskies. The Spooner facility dumped a ton of muskie fry and fingerlings back into Bone, increasing the population to over 2 muskies per acre (about 7 times higher than a natural population wuld have) at one point in time. As such it earned a reputation as being a really good muskie lake to fish numbers wise.

Of course that all changed when Wisconsin revamped their muskie stocking program around 2005. Bone is no longer the brood stock lake, and the number stocked is a fraction of what it used to be. Bone is now down to a much more typical muskie population. The 50" minimum length was put in place because the thought is with the reduced number of muskies in Bone the size should improve quite a bit.

There is no plan to stock walleye in Bone or Deer. Those are the WI DNR's muskie babies. Both lakes are very similar: strong muskie population, very low northern population, no walleyes at all, and a bass population that fluctuates up and down.

And I've lost 4 muskies over 2 outings on Bone the last 2 weekends, my luck has not been good. But muskies will be active in the same areas on just about every lake in the county: Bone and Deer merely have the best reputation so they are the ones muskie fishermen tend to hammer.

[Nick Kuhn]

Went out muskie fishing today. Lots of lookers on anything bright colored. Only 1 taker though right at sunset: and he was all of 28". Fish seem to be active along anything that's still green. Probably a good time to have had big suckers. Water temp is down to 58 degrees. Given the forecast we are probably looking at turnover through the middle part of this week, which means the game will be completely changed by next weekend.