St. Croix Cats ?

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Guys,

I fish the Croix a lot but haven't known where to target cats.

Could you mention a few areas and would crawlers or a different bait work better...?

Thanks very much, if you want I'd be glad to e-mail exchange some St. Croix walleye secrets with you...

[Fisher Dave]

This isnt going to help you much on location, but it might help in general..

As for location, I have caught cats from Taylors falls to Prescott on the Croix.. I have never hit huge numbers, but I have caught some nice fish. I dont know the croix very well so I would look for eddys, shoreline structures, snags, cerrent seams, rocks, wood, etc... basic fish holding river structure. Current seams are always key.

I would not depend on crawlers for bait.. there are way too many *nibblers* that swim in that river..,. Its hard to catch a cat with a sheephead biting every 3 minutes. I would go with a more substancial bait like fresh cut bait 1"-2" in size for channels to start and live suckers or bullheads for flatheads. You can experiment with different baits.

I hope someone can chime in for some decent cat locations for you.. I have not spent a ton of time for cats on the croix, altough I have done some. The downstream side of the railroad bridge near Hudson can be a fair spot, and also the shoreline in stillwater. Night time has been the only reliable time for me, but I have hit a few in the daylight hours.