Smallmouth report

[Mr. Pike1]

I am slowly becoming a river rat. The river offers great sport fishing and for the most part very little boat traffic. We got out at about 3:00 and as soon as we hit the water had 4 smallies with the largest being 17". Right at that moment the thunder hit and rain followed. We tucked in under a bridge to ride out the storm. I was concerned about the fishing post storm and muddied water. My concern quickly turned to excitement as we found a sand bar that had drawn in the baitfish and the smallmouth. overall I would guess 500-75 smallmouth were boated by me and my fishing partner. Many more could have been caught but there were many times that both of us were out of hte water due to equipment issues. We each had 8 poles but still found ways to have unexpected down time. Tubes were by far the best producer. That was followed by the Senko, and tiger crank bait. Live bait and Mepps spinners also produced nubmers of fish. Anyway a great 5 hours on the water with the largers smallies going 19"!!!! I am hoping to get into some 20-22" pigs this fall.

[EatSleepFish]

Quote:

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overall I would guess 500-75 smallmouth were boated by me and my fishing partner.

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500 ya say? I think that was a typo!

If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there would be a shortage of fishing poles

[bassman21]

Sounds like the action may be picking back up. I too am becoming more of a river rat and have gone from largemouth to smallies. We have had a lot of luck with white senkos and white spinner baits in the past.

[Ole the Guide]

I would love to fish the river but haven't as of yet because I have a 17' deep V Tracker and I don't want to get out there and run into trouble. However, it can go pretty shallow, plus I fish alone alot.

Do you guys know an area where I would be able to put in and navigate without too much danger of wrecking something? Or should I look for a smaller boat or fish with one of my buddies in their boat?

Ole

[EBass]

The river is slow low right now that I took a nice hunk outa my skag on a 14' jon boat an 25H merc SHORT SHAFT and bent my prop up. The low water isn't the time to explore. Heck I haven't been up there in 3 weeks do to the low water. Good luck and be safe if you go. I'm talking about upper sippi. 169 bridge and north. Even in the 694 area there are shallow spots. Not as bad as above the 169 bridge though. I think they are making that lower to work on the CR dam.

[Mr. Pike1]

Correct 50-75...500 would have been a banner day on the water indeed

[Royce Aardahl]

Welcome to the dark side.

[Mr. Pike1]

Eyeguy, I definatly have the bug and continue to hear the cry of the river. I wish I was a little closer to the area on the river I fish. It is a about an hour commute. I am much closer to a stetch of the St. Croix then the Mississippi but do not know the St. Croix as well. I just need someone to introduce me to a few good launches and key areas and I may target this area. I like the mix you can find on the river. Most trips out I find walleye, pike, bass, crappie, rockbass, cats, and last trip me and my partner each got into 15lb carp that drug us around the river a bit. My partner on the water has got a few sturgeon as well. I have not myself landed one but that is the joy of the river you never know what you will get. The one thind I can say is I have never been skunked on the river and most times out are always 20 plus fish days.

I also have a little lake right by my house that I found that is trolling motor only and gets very little fishing pressure. This lake is loaded with nice pike, walleye, and what appears to be a very very healthy largemouth population. I generally do a Sunday morning run from 5-10:00 to get my fishing fix in before the work week kicks in.