bass Fishing the St. Croix

[canon]

Is the St. Croix a decent river for smallmouth? I fished it a lot last year from Hudson south, I found it difficult compared to lakes. I normally fish shallow and possibly the Croix you have to fish deeper? Just looking for any suggestions on bass presentation on the Croix, any advice would help,

Canon

[HellaBass]

I fished it last year in the Afton area last summer, fishing was pretty good, lots of small fish. I have heard its easier and better in June

[canon]

How did you fish it? I fish that area primarily. One thing I have noticed is you have to fish deeper it seems than on lakes. Are there good areas to look at around the Afton area. I was using some plastics and raps, but some days I hardly caught a thing. It was humbing compared to some lakes I fish, but I want to learn the Croix. Any adice how to fish it?

Canon

[slipperybob]

A lot of times you might need a stealthy approach. You have to be really quiet. Most of the smallmouth's I've caught has been structure orientated. Downed logs, sand bar, or rocky ripraps formations. Anything that has a deep pool in excess of greater than 6 feet. At times the St. Croix is very clear and twilight or night fishing shallows will get you the bigger ones 16"+. I avoid traffic areas, I've never caught anything decent there.

[HellaBass]

Mostly soft plastics for me

[BigWadeS]

It can be great and there are some big smallies in there. Casting cranks or jig/tube combos against shoreline can be good and also lindy rigging for walleyes seems to always turn up some smallies too!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I fish the north Croix.. north of Taylors falls.. and even further north than that... north of hwy 70... There are some decent fish to be had.. I do best with plastics and jigs, and inline spinners...

[trimbelle22]

down around the prescott area there are a lot of smallies on the rocky shorelines. casting shad raps and spinners right up against the rocks will produce some fish. try the mississippi too if you are feeling adventurous. i have caught 30+ smallies on days on the mississippi. try shallow wing dams with rattlin' raps or straight line spinners. if you get into a school of them, you can catch a ton.

[st.crioxfishin]

I fished it for the first time last summer and caught my best fish on finesse jigs in 6-10 ft of water. Caught some fish on smaller spinnerbaits as well. This was all above Taylors Falls

[Lunker]

I took a day trip with a canoe from Taylor's Falls to Osceola last summer, was pretty fun. Fished for a few hours, caught around 20 smallies,a couple of largemouth, northern and white bass. Most fish were small, largest around 18". Fish were relating to shallow wood cover, so it was fun to cast spinnerbaits and plastics into.

[BassProAddict]

The shallows can provide good action too.Caught some along rocky shores in as little as 3 FOW.Using diving cranks to search the bottom.

Some pesky ugly sheephead get in the way at times though...