November 3, 2024

Tony with a 30" St. Croix Walleye

Matt always gets the biggest of the trip!

Dexter holds up a pair of keepers from the day, four-man trip everybody caught fish.  Clients are catching a lot of keepers.

Paul definitely had the hot hand! 

October 27, 2024

Family outing for walleye on the St. Croix.  Here is a quick pic of Zach and his daughter as the double up on keepers.

She does it again and caught the most eyes on the trip out of the four guests.  She's deadly with a Jigging Rap!

Getting some big ones, catch and release of course. Jig and Minnow

Gary with a jig and plastic keeper. He had the hot hand.
The bite has been good, seeing big fish and getting a lot of fish for the box. I will say that the bite goes up and down though during each day. The fish bite strong then shut off, then go on again.
Rapala Crankbaits,
Rigging Minnows
Jig and Plastic
​Jig and Minnow
Jigging Raps
These five presentations are each putting fish in the boat and yes, its cliché but its fishing "they want something different" on a lot of days. All of these ways to catch fish have recently been in favor of the fish and then out of favor.
Why is this that they will favor one presentation over the other...The fishing factors of the day like, we have had two short lived cold fronts coming through, and that is a part of it.  Windy and no wind that too, sky conditions have differed as well, then fish can be fish, quirky, and just get into their own moods from day to day.

October 15, 2024

Rapala crankbaits turned our day around in a hurry!  Crankbaits must run true. Tune your cranbaits with this awesome tuner! I use it.
 Amazon.com: Offshore Off Shore Tackle OR40 EZ CRANKBAIT Tuner : Everything Else
​

Wenzel crew got it done!

If your crankbaits do not run straight, you are missing fish. Trust me. Tuning is tricky and if you squeeze too hard you over tuned and the bait runs wrong the other way!  The tuner is spring loaded and is designed to NOT over tune. 
​ Jig them up with jigging raps. Ariel with a quality walleye.

Flathhead cat vs Paul. Paul won!

Ariel got this sturgeon on a jigging rap!

​Bite Notes:

​A lot has happened in the last four days, the cold snap actually dropped the water temps, and this brings minnows and plastics into play.
Walleyes love plastics in the cold water, and my years of guide experience in February, March, and April on the Mississippi River has taught me that.
Then there are times they won't hit plastics and a minnow is better.
Btw... Is scent better in cold or warmer water? Meaning is a scented plastic better in cold water or warmer water or maybe it doesn't matter? Answer: Scent is not needed and can be detrimental in the cold water!
Keep in mind trolling cranks is still a huge play and jigging raps are too.
Now and for a month is the best time of year to fish with all the options available.
Also, the fishing pressure on the river is off the charts.

October 1 - Fall not here yet

Peter with a nice September St. Croix Walleye, caught jigging.

John's Crew with a nice stringer, caught rip jigging.

Mason doing his best to hold on to this "football" as it wiggled nonstop to escape. His biggest fish yet.

Mark with a nice eye from the river.

Lin catches them too!

Mark with a healthy eater.
Comments
My clients have getting fish from 14-28 feet and that's not too unusual for the river. Narrowing the range, they have been on the deeper end more often, but easily slide shallow in the wind as an example...
This has been a month of mixing it up from trolling Rapala crankbaits, to rigging crawlers, jigging raps, and plastics have caught fish as well.
The bite could've been worse with all the heat and often before the water cools it can be an extended
"Labor Day bite," For me Labor Day week is a struggle and its really just a "dog days" of summer continuance.
What I think is happening in Sept of 2024, is the shad population is below normal and that our presentations look better to the fish? i.e. less natural forage.
Fall fishing won't start for a while the temps are still going to be warm.  

August 31

Kaela out walleye fishing on the St. Croix with her husband and another married couple.  Kaela says, " I haven't caught one like this for 30 years!" 

Bill, Bob, Kelly, Cretin High School, class of 56'. Bill had the hot hand and put three in the live well before his buddies, and then the rest of the gang caught on!  They then planned a fish fry at Bob's the next day.  Bob brought all on-board meatloaf sandwiches, they were great.  I'm sure the fry went superbly well, as Bob's clearly a great cook.

Catfish trip with Matt and two sons.  "Best fighting fish I've caught in Minnesota."  We didn't see any flatheads all channel cats, and they were finicky felines that day... We caught smaller ones too.  His oldest son got a cat and said, " I always wanted to catch a catfish."

Dan and Kelly invited Dans brother and wife and we had a good catching day last Saturday morning.  Live bait rigging has been pretty much the staple tactic for all these pics. We are catching also a lot of sunfish, freshwater drum, and perch. Some cats, saugers, and smallmouth. White bass is still happening, and I can target them quickly.

​August 15

Last week Chad's group got into some nice keeper walleyes - all released.  This has been a good year for 17" to 18.5" walleyes.

Chad's buddy with an example of the big keepers.  

Another Keeper.  We live bait rigged for these fish.  The wind was a big help on the trip. The " Walleye Chop," definitely helps in the Hot Summer Fish Season.

We started the trip with some good white bass action!

25 Years Professionally Guiding
"I've guided customers of all ages, working with schedules, weekday or weekend...to hook walleye, smallmouth, sauger, crappie, sturgeon, and catfish.  I will do my best on every trip to put you on fish too!"
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

Notable Tournament Placements 
5 Time 1st Place Champion - Beanie River Rat Tournament
5 Time 1st Place Champion - Koval Walleye Classic Tournament
1st Place Finish - World Walleye Association Championship
Team Of the Year - Full Throttle Big Water Series 
​
Credentials
​Up to date USCG licensed OUPV Captain 
Licensed WI Guide
Commercially Insured

“The Lord is near to all who call on him…” ​

August 8

Good Times

Gary, Brad, Lowell, and Vern posed with their bag of keepers.  If you've been on this site, you'll recognize Gary and Lowell, great long-time customers and are good at catching fish too!
My guide boat handled four adult male guests easily and comfortably!

Change IT UP -Good things Can Happen

Here is Mike with a nice walleye from the St. Croix, Mike and Drew were having a lot of fun catching bass, drum, sunfish, small walleye, little saugers...I made a change to location and depth, and it worked out well for these guys and they got a lot of bass and eyes.  No, it doesn't always work out, but if you hire me, I guarantee if it's not working, we will change tactics and location to try to do better. 

White Bass

Water clarity changes to darker water this year from inputs from rain and turbidity increase from the high water has darkened the water... in a good way.
I am seeing fun times of old happening and catching white bass on topwater.  This tenderfoot was a happy camper.

July 28

St. Croix Smallmouth

Grandson Mason caught this smallmouth recently with his grandpa on a walleye trip on the river 

St. Croix Smallmouth

These two caught a lot of fish.  The walleye has become a lot harder to catch over the last ten days.  Karl with a bronze back here, that I thought upon hookset was a big walleye.  Good trip for action.

Walleye catches slowing down

Kyara with a nice walleye here, I got to meet her, and Ryan on this same trip who runs
fishmorecompany.com

FishMore is an insanely cool tackle box/storage business operated here in the St. Croix Valley
Everybody should have their jig box for starters... Check them out!

Girl Catches Big Ones

She got the biggest fish, and her father Gabe was pretty happy about that.

July Keepers

Travis and Garret and Joe boxed up 10 keepers about a week ago. This was when the weather was cool.  

New Boat Lay Out

This isn't the best pic for the layout but you can see the configuration.  This is my custom designed boat I imagined and now own, it's about two months old now!
​There is a fourth chair hidden behind my center console.
The four guest chairs all swivel and have arm rests.  I can handle 3-4 clients easy.

July 18

​Highwater Walleye

The water comes up and the river water goes down, one advantage of the highwater is many anglers stay off of the water. If anglers are off of the water a lot of the good fish are not caught before you get there. 
:) This was the case recently when I got a chance to fish with a special person - somebody fun to be around, and a good angler as you can see! 

​Wisconny Limit

So if you are launching on the WI side the limit is 4 and, on the MN, it's still 6 walleyes.  Technically not sure anyone knows how it all works but, I can tell you how it's such a good thing they are reducing the limit. 
​The St. Croix gets a lot and a lot of pressure six fish per angler is archaic.  I digress - here is Anton, he was the angling MVP angler this day, and the three-man group to include David and Fred all took home their limit of 16-17" walleye.

Bachelor Party

Had a fun day with three younger guys one of whom was soon to be a groom.  We rigged strongly all day and were stuck one fish short of a three-man limit for a couple hours and I couldn't convert to get them a three-man limit.  However, they brought home 11 walleye and met up with a few more pals all meeting for the bachelor party at an Airbnb, and they had a big fry and I'm sure some fun! Thanks guys. Turk

July 12 High Water Good Fishing

Fishing with Four Anglers - Easy!

I pick presentation to use that both maximize catching and works with a group of four.  There is no doubt a strong bite like the one we had with the Hammersmith group above helps, but skipper experience and presentation choices plays into catching success as well.

Mixed Bag - Double

​Mixed bag fishing is my specialty and is a fun approach to fishing for walleye and that is when clients double up on smallmouth bass!  Some of them can be big as well - like the one on the left.
All smallmouth bass are released.

Kids - Dexter

I have been guiding for 25 years and have always welcomed kids, here is Dexter who was a young but experienced angler as he knew of all the species we were catching and was super happy with this nice keeper eye he caught!

Bite Summary
I have been riding out a good live bait bite on Lindy Rigs with a 3/8-ounce weight and a 30" leader for a couple weeks.  I have trolled Rapala Shad Raps a little bit, but rigging has been best for clients.
I'm sure this all will end sometime soon, as we are now in then Hot Summer season.  In the Hot Summer season, I will need to mix it up a lot to catch fish.

June 29 High Water Good Fishing

Catch and Release Eye

Jim caught this nice walleye a few days ago  and released it back into the St. Croix River.

Catch and Release Smallie

Here is Craig fishing with his friend Jim, from the previous image, he wasn't out done as he caught this 20" smallmouth.

High water fishing

Steven and his group put 11 fish in the take home cooler yesterday.

June 29 High Water Good Fishing

20" Smallmouth Bass

This fish came from a last minute call and I added a group of four anglers on the schedule, when I have a party that big, which is perfectly comfortable in my CUSTOM guide boat, we use bait to fish, and so a 20" bass caught anyway on bait, or plastics is fun! and rare.

Keeper walleye

I can handle a group of four angling clients easily and spaciously in the most comfortable and fishable boat I believe you can find anywhere.  You have lots of room and have a great shot at catching walleye as shown here.

Changing River

The St. Croix is a changing fishery with big panfish like this 9+" sunfish, and big perch!  These big perch especially are new here, and over the last five years keeping growing.  Happily, we still have good walleye and bass resources plus cats and sturgeon.

Shad Raps and Nightcrawlers

Each day is different, but anglers are doing well this May on the St. Croix River.

On my last outing Limit Creek Spinning rods with light weight from 1/8 to 1/4 ounces with nightcrawlers fishing in 12-18 feet caught these walleyes.

I have some Limit Creeks that both I and customers have used that are nearly 20 years old. They have a three-year warranty.
Every sturgeon photo you've seen on this site has been landed by a Limit Creek.

Rapala Shad Raps to me is the gold standard.  When I was fishing with my uncle, I just went with him because I'm still not in my new guide boat.  

I opened his box saw a few cranks I don't really use and figured what the heck, so I tried a Berkely Frenzy and when I tested it in the water at troll speed it immediately started to circle when I slowly pulled it into the flow.  I guess this is why they sell three per pack.  

This particular lure was untunable.  Meaning I could not for the life of me make it troll straight. YES, YOU CAN TUNE LURES. YES, THEY CAN BECOME OUT OF TUNE.
 there is a product that tunes cranks: EZ Tuner by OffShore Tackle is THE best tool
​
I have never had this experienced this with a Rapala. 

St Croix Walleye is Open

Fishing with my Uncle Kelly

Uncle Kelly
Had a great day with my uncle on the walleye opener, he is the one responsible for putting me in a boat and taking me fishing growing up.  
We used to fish on the Missouri up in North Dakota or lakes a lot closer like Square Lake near Stillwater.  He brought me two huge spicy venison sausage and egg burritos for breakfast that hit the spot in the rain, then a couple hours later made a sandwich that was 3" thick. 
Sturgeon
We caught walleye but had the most fun on sturgeon.
In fact, we had a sturgeon take us from the north end of the Hudson Channel to underneath the I 94 bridge where it finally broke the line. The leader broke at the knot. I frankly thought it would happen sooner with 6-pound line.
We had a nine-sturgeon day.
New Boat
I'm still without my new boat and it's a custom, so it's been a bit tricky to get on my timeline, but once it's here I know that it will be worth the wait.
The boat design is one I came up with that has four real customer seats WITH room and your knees won't be touching, plus I have my own captain's station.
Lots of boats "seat four," but the driver takes a chair, then the two rear seats are not seats, they are flip up bench seats that face forward toward the bow, this is an awkward body position for fishing as you are backwards when trolling.
My boat will have four comfortable client chairs with space.
Report
I have heard very good walleye catch reports, on minnows and nightcrawlers.
Anglers fishing the channel Saturday in Hudson did poor especially early and in the rain, Sunday was a much better catching day.
Last Saturday upon filleting fish I have never seen so much belly fat in spring.  The fish I cleaned were 17" with huge bellies like they had spawn! Nope fat. Makes me wonder about if the weak winter created a scenario where the fish just ate and ate all the shad.
It's the shad that creates such a fat reserve, I can tell you it's not from eating perch and sunfish.
High fat creates great growth rates.

Crappie on the Croix

Slab April 2024

Sure Walleye Opener is May 4, but there are opportunities for angling now on the St. Croix.

Crappies are a staple panfish across America and there is a good population of big crappies on the river.

Not the most concentrated population of crappies are found on the Croix, but yes they are here and can be caught in numbers.

Lakes are lot easier to find crappies in as once found, you can target the same depth across the circumference of the lake. 

Crappie on the river are on shorelines in 8-16 feet of water.  You can also fish marinas as a place to target.

​

Spring Waters Come UP 04/08

Why is fishing a challenge?
Answer there are so many pieces to place correctly in alignment with nature i.e. fish location.
Here is a piece, a big piece of the puzzle: water level
There are not many more important pieces for river anglers than water level.

How can you know the level?
Good question here on this NOAA site is the St. Croix River.

Piecing it together
My Rule:
When the water rises so do the fish- they come shallower.

You are way ahead when you at least think -water level...and think like a fish.

​Keep Catchin'

​

03/30/24 Animated Knot Videos

​




​www.rapala.com/us_en/sufix-knot-tying-guides

I found this nice tutorial video on the Rapala website (link above), showing animated clips of how to tie four of the topknots needed.

• Rapala Loop
• Improved Clinch
• Palomar
• Uni K not

Personally, if the Snell Knot was there, it would be all the knots I use.
Nice video.

Pool 4  02-26-24

First a client now good friend.  "Captain Tom," with our best walleye (over 20" let'm go... c&r). Tom ran his boat super good in amongst all the boat and in the wind.  Walleye caught on jig and plastic (3/8 ounce and fluke style plastic).

Here is "Trip Planner Turk," with a near immediate catch from the first drift on a jig and minnow.  I was using a 1/4 ounce jig with a fathead.

Tom with a nice keeper walleye.  We had our 2-person limit in 5 hours and the throwback walleye, pictured above.  I'd guess it was 4 keepers on fatheads and 4 keepers on plastics.
Yes, the rules and regulations have changed and now its four keepers per person not six as it was since wayback in the 1950s.
​The St. Croix is now the same.

Saugers, it seems to me that these saugers, a lot of them have some walleye blooded in them somewhere in their family tree.  A hybrid, a mix between breeds.  It's rare to get a true blood sauger with tons of bronze and gold with the patches of black mottling.  We did clean one of those, and that's what got me thinking, but this one to me is a cross and much closer to a sauger.
Can't tell the difference between a saug dog and a walleye? Spots on the dorsal fin is the tell-tale sign saugers got spots, think spots = saugers.

​Croixsippi Guide Service
Available 5 Days A Week
For 25 Years 

Report Early December 2023 NO ICE YET!

Ice Time Target Specie #1

Top crappie presentation
​Bobber and crappie minnow

Ice TimeTarget Specie #2

Top walleye presentation
​Jigging Rapala 

By far the most fishable area of the river lies from Stillwater to Hudson. This is what I call the “Bayport
Pool.” Where the depth is much less and is 34-foot average in depth and because there is so much less
water (this is open basin fishing) the crappie fishing and even white bass is good.
This “Bayport Pool” is widely popular of an area to fish because of the size of crappies.
The issue is however these fish roam a lot and it’s hit or miss finding them.
Because the pan fishing for crappies in this Bayport Pool is workable and depth range to target
suspended fish in a 30 foot mark is still a challenge. Its still a lot of water. 

THERE IS OPEN WATER ON THE RIVER IN AREAS EVEN WHEN TRUCKS ARE DRIVING ON THE ST. CROIX ICE

Signed,
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

Notable Tournament Placements
5 Time 1st Place Champion - Beanie River Rat Tournament
5 Time 1st Place Champion - Koval Walleye Classic Tournament
1st Place Finish - World Walleye Association Championship
Team Of The Year - Full Throttle Big Water Series 
​
Credentials
​Up to date USCG licensed OUPV Captain 
Licensed WI Guide
Commercially Insured

“The Lord is near to all who call on him…” 

October 24 

Fall Color Beautiful Walleyes

Fun times on the river in a wonderful setting

Over 20" Let Go

This guy hammered on the fish including keeper saugers and eyes.

Foggy Morning Walleyes

Pea soup fog brought limited spots due to driving visibility, but luck was on our sided and we put 8 keepers in the boat in 45 minutes. 

Lots of Keepers

Banner day Oct 2023

Release  Walleye

Mix in some throw backs

Release Eye #2

Another quality fish - released

Sept 10 St. Croix River of MN/WI

Personal Best for river rat - Jason 28.5"

To edit, click on the text to start adding your own words.

A big stringer early September

To edit, click on the text to start adding your own words.

Bronze Back Bass

To edit, click on the text to start adding your own words.

Two Beauties - Nice Bass!

To edit, click on the text to start adding your own words.

Another Tough Tanker Bass

To edit, click on the text to start adding your own words.

August 24 St. Croix River

This great crew caught 2 limits mid August half day trip

Yep from cast to retrieve to hookset to the fight she got this 25" walleye!

What a great moment for a young guy to cast and hook and get this bass to the net. 

​With Croixsippi Guide Service you'll catch  your fish using interactive techniques to maximize your fishing enjoyment!  No experience no issues , I can teach you the technique in no time.

Signed,
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

24 Years of Professional Guiding on St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers
​USCG licensed OUPV Captain
​
5 Time 1st Place - Beanie River Rat Tournament
5 Time 1st Place - Koval Walleye Classic Tournament
1st Place - World Walleye Association Championship
Team Of The Year - Full Throttle Big Water Series 

“The Lord is near to all who call on him…” Psalm 145.18, There is peace in the Fathers arms."

August 6 St. Croix River

Twin Cities Area Fishing

July 17, 2023

 Half day trip from 07-17-2023

Fishing thoughts
Over the years it is interesting to me to see changes in the river.  One change I complain about is the lack of top water white bass action.
I feel the white bass are still in the system maybe less numbers to an extent, but I believe the "silvers" as they're affectionately called are lower in the water column and thus not breaking and busting bait on the surface, like years ago.
Now a fish that breaks the surface all the time are smallmouth, however you can watch these fish case down a specific minnow and they're a lot of minnows...in the clear water these bass are extremely hard to catch... especially when the are sight feeding and hunting down prey that the bronze back bass can see and catch! all the time!  Then in those situations your fake "minnow" doesn't look so appetizing to the fish.
On the positive about changes in clarity is more weed growth makes more species abundant like perch.  I have been hearing a lot of report of good perch catches as well a more northern pike lure attacks.  Perch and Pike increase in numbers are from a water clarity increase which results in light levels deeper into the water thus expanding the vegetation zone and habitat of said fish.
Fishing Report
The very next day I hit the after my last July 2 report where I commented on the lack of sheepshead (drum), the sheep started running the river and are all over the place and hungry. No real size for them yet.  State record is 32 pounds by the way...!!!
Walleye to date remain catchable and saugers are not showing up as much for me.  Smallies are on a decent average summer bite.

Livebait
Rapala cranks
Jig N Raps
are all catching fish in a huge depth range.  My boat has been in 10 to 30 feet.  Plus suspended fish over the deep-water, and this is worth your while, yes you'll get sheepshead there too! ha.

July 1, 2023

June 15 

2023 Summer Fishing
St. Croix River Best Fishing in Minneapolis /St. Paul area. 
​Twin Cities Guide

---

The bite went from very good to good to decent, and fish right now can be caught,
We have had two minor cold fronts come in, in the last ten days and the lack of rain made fast falling water conditions such that these two key environmental conditions need to be taken account of when deciding where to fish.

I am still using livebait for my customers and I find they enjoy this style of holding the pole and feeling the bite.

Over the years I try harder and harder to have the fishing experience brought into their hands for max enjoyment. Feeling, setting, fighting, and landing sometimes big fish.
​
Thanks to my fantastic customers for listening to the techniques we do to get the pole bent, and for the good times of course.

June 1 2023

Spring came late and the warm summer season came fast.  Along with the warm summer season many more species are being caught such as smallmouth, sunfish, and catfish.
It has still been a very heavy walleye season with all my groups going for the Minnesota State Fish. Walleye have been cooperating too. Its been a great two weeks and actually month for large walleyes.  Keeper sized fish have been running big as well and there have been a lot of 19" fish caught.  plus fish in the 16-18".  We continue to catch large boxes of keepers.
Saugers have been caught at a much higher frequency than most months of May that I can remember.  Saugers haven't been  big but I am seeing a big year class from 13-15" and that's nice to see.
White bass have been hard to find.  
Channel cats are somewhat biting on the walleye rigs.
​Summer is here

 St Croix River May 17, 2023

The bite has been good. May is historically a catching month for walleye.  One reason May is a good month - the earth is coming back to life in a big way  - and 60 degree water provides 50% more energy for fish than 40 degree water.  Fish activity and metabolism nearly double in just three weeks. 

The second reason is on the rivers fish can be found in seasonal locations.  Seasonal location is a migratory location.  Fish like all animals move daily but migrate seasonally.  So combine metabolism and seasonal migrations and the activity makes sense.
​Plus many of the bigger females are know all out of the post spawn funk and will be active till early June.  Then they go? Where??

The bottom pick is Adam with an example of a nice 17" eye that has been the staple of the catches and honestly we've had some stringers that were very very large.  Again, its been good.
I am using livebait and fishing in 15-20 feet of water.

• I recently got an email from Lynn G a great client she tells me they are shallow as well!
• Also seeing anglers putting eyes in the box using Rapala shad raps.  

St. Croix River May 3

Had a nice start to the year, the bite is not fast but David brought home 5 walleyes plus a nice crappie and white bass.  We caught fish in five different spots and found fish in 10 -20 feet deep. Nightcrawlers rigs caught the most but this big one (over 20" consider letting them go) was caught on a jig.
Water temps are 46-47 and root beer colored and clean of debris. 

Spring is here! Almost 2023

  March and early April as you know was not good weather, this has been a slow spring coming.  Once spring comes though it happens fast. I returned home yesterday from fishing, and the daffodil shoots emerged and grew three inches in a day!  I've had a combination of recent family events and this weather, so as a matter of fact, yesterday, April 10, was my latest first trip in over 25 years on the Mississippi.
On the water, I saw some old friends who I've guided, and maybe made a few new ones?  Is it just me or does everybody have a 80K boat? There are more new boats on Pool 4 than I'd bet just about anywhere. Guys love their toys!
Good buddy  Mike and I did best and caught the above two fish, funny, where nobody was, or at least when there were no other boats around.  Mikes was bigger, I know how to hold the fish closer to the camera...
Fishing is funny where, when its slow a bunch of boats do not help a darn thing, the fish bite less.  But fisherman are funny too, because they love to catch no fish in and amongst others not catching fish.  ha ha, well at least for a while then we leave, and go pull up to the next group of anglers. I did that yesterday too.
So I've got the river water  graph here and it looks like a ton of water is coming down the pike and well too much. However there is a disconnect between the blue actual level line and the prediction is maybe hopefully a tad overboard.  I've guided and caught fish in 10+, 11+ extra water but once we get into the 12 plus extra water its a mess.  Looking to get back in the swing soon.  Keep catching' Turk 

Jan 4., 2023 Bayport Area St. Croix River Ice Conditions
Bayport Pool is from Swingbridge on the south end to Stillwater Bridge
6-8" with heavy snow
KNOWN Parts are OPEN water:

• Lake Malileau Spillway (Willow River Discharge) thin ice from flow
• Area North of Swing Bridge thin ice from flow
• Power Plant thin ice from heat discharge
• Watch for ice heave at Highline point east-west crossing
• New bridge area not proven safe in my opinion
• Stillwater Bridge - stay away

Been hearing bout some walleye and saug catches! The most action goes for crappie. White bass are delicious from the cold water, cut out the mudline thou.

Early November 2022 Before Iced Over

Can't Find Better Twin Cities Walleye Anywhere Else Than St. Croix

Clean water and beautiful scenery, John with a nice jigged up  jig walleye!  

Young Mr. Pha Happy With Walleye

I enjoy fishing with kids and especially ones who love to fish and this little shaver did 5 out of 5 stars for effort and attitude. His two brothers cheered joyfully when this fish landed in the net.  Caught on an original floating Rapala.
​

Can't Find Better Twin Cities Metro Fishing Variety Anywhere Else Than St. Croix

This great fighting fish saved the day on a day that the walleye action was a bit tougher but it was a very quiet day and peaceful on the water and pleasant.  Then we switched species and Jay landed our targeted specie - Lake Sturgeon.  Plus he brought home walleyes to the table.

Mr. Pha Out With His Brother My Client Lao Pha

In early to mid November, the bite was all over the board, and catching fish in the same places as the day before was not happening.  With the ever changing daily deals of conditions.  I told Lao's team of three this and said we will need to find them first, then figure out which presentations to best catch our target quarry - walleye.
We lucked out and found some fish, but they stopped biting quick. So we worked this group of eyes two different ways to get them to bite some more. 
The fish above helped a lot that day piece together lure with target location.  It was fun fishing with these guys, they were happy in the end so I was too.    Jigging Rap landed this nice eater.

October 25

Father and Son Walleyes

Howard and Ben showing their best keepers of their catch.  This half day trip took a while to find the keepers but they took 10 home.

Family Affair

Thanks to the warm weather forecasted last weekend I picked up this crew last minute for a half day trip. They brought home two limits and some white bass on my recommendation to try for the fry.  Fun trip everybody got fish but Dad, Tom had the hot hand at the end and put four keepers in the cooler in seven minutes!  Our best bite was afternoon.

Sturgeon Battle

We had a hot hot sturgeon bite for three weeks! 
 This big submarine wore out "Energizer Bunny" Darrell and he sat down after the battle.
  Last two or three trips we aren't seeing as many of these dinosaurs, though they wont stop biting, I just don't think they will be as aggressive.

Darrell Catch and Release

Darrell was a tad surprised when I told him this one goes back.  No issues or drama not saying that, but after I explained - let the obvious big ones go and  I use 20" as the cut off mark - he was in full accord to let the breeding stock repopulate. 

Cat turned walleye!

This walleye fought so well I thought I had an eight pound channel cat on for sure.
The boat yelled " walleye!" when it came to the net. 

Trophy Walleye

This trophy St. Croix River walleye was released to lay eggs next spring.  

Cooler Report

Daily I  will cycle through a system of presentations and target locations until something working is found.
Here's what's working for my boat:
Trolling Rapalas
Jig and Minnow
Lindy Rig and Minnow
Jigging Rap

Tips:

• For lures natural colors on overcast is working and going full color or more brightness in the sun has made a difference.
• Sharp hooks catch more fish when trolled. Duh. No, this is a real tip, there is a difference, many anglers don't even have a hook file.
• The fish are moving at a ridiculous rate and chasing the forage fish.  This has made the bite have multiple personalities and a bit head spinning. Here now gone.
• Cast Jigging Raps has been as good as vertical.

October 11

A "Double" turns to a "Single!"

Travis hooks up with a solid fish, the fight is on.  Then Garrett starts fighting a fish too!  A double.  Doubles are fun with all the action and trying to measure which fish or both needs a net.  Then it occurs to me these two men have caught the same fish!  Soon it was clear that the fish was a sturgeon, these two had to move in unison and do the "sturgeon two-step" around the boat twice.

Team Effort Fish

Here she is, netted this memorable catch, let her recuperate in the water , took a few pics and released. 

"My Biggest Sheep"

Here is Travis with what I though was a sturgeon as it ran and battled big time.  Turns out to be Travis' (and most anglers for that matter) Personal Best sheepshead.

Walleye Boxed

The bite hasn't been easy, but catching good numbers of keeper walleye is possible as shown here from a half day trip from few days ago.

Dan The Sturgeon Man

Unlike Travis and Garrett :) , Dan here only needs himself and one rod to land this beast of 55" of power and speed with headshakes and boat circles around and around.
PB. Dan was cool under the pressure.

Walleye Gold Limit 10/2022

Cooler Report
As mentioned on the home page, the Fall Season has stalled as the water temps stabilize as the weather continues to remain warm. 
Water is in the high 50s, clarity is 5', there are forage fish everywhere.  There are better spots and just plain bad spots right now.  I mean that many times you can get something on most spots, but now its "feast or famine."  No real in between on spots holding fish.
The bite isn't bad its just not easy.
Plus fish are still moving daily and not settling into predictable fall patterns.
Presentations that's working:
Trolling Rapalas - Shad Raps
Live Bait minnows on jigs and Lindy rigs
Crawlers work right now until about a week to ten days longer on rigs
Jigging Raps 
Catches are improved for walleye and sauger since last report.

​Signed,
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

23 Years of Professional Guiding on St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers
​USCG licensed OUPV Captain
​
5 Time 1st Place - Beanie River Rat Tournament
5 Time 1st Place - Koval Walleye Classic Tournament
1st Place - World Walleye Association Championship
Team Of The Year - Full Throttle Big Water Series 

“The Lord is near to all who call on him…” Psalm 145.18, There is peace in the Fathers arms."

September 28

Before

Joe with a river monster on the line!  Brother Henry looks one. 

And After

Joe's holding the Flathead catfish with all his might.  It was an epic battle and this river monster ran like a sturgeon and went were it wanted for a long time. Joe completely fought this fish exactly right.  This was the last fish of the trip and we all left with a smile.

Sturgeon 

Henry got in on the action for his personal best fish.  Fun times fighting fish.

Mega Sturgeon

It was a cooler but windy day, the walleye were tight lipped, but we were getting some large freshwater drum and a big walleye on the line, but not a lot of action, and not a lot of keeper fish.  Greg did catch a nice sturgeon pictured below, and it was a fishing trip, but with the weather changing to the Fall Season I thought we'd do a lot better. 
Then this fish happened.  Upon the first 30 seconds of the fight it shot to the top leaped out of the water near the boat and with the drag screaming screaming it went to the bottom and there it stayed for a long time.
​It was incredible, epic, and improbable we landed it at all, plus in the wind as it almost cut the line on the bottom of the boat a half dozen times.  Then the net was an issue, it took me netting the head, and Gary and Greg grabbing the tale.   Got a pic and let her go.

Good sturgeon

This one alone put a big smile on a Gregs face. 

Dad gets one too

Ryan showed his boys he can get one too.

Eaters in Fall

Cooler Report: 
The Fall Transition is over and the Fall season is here.  Traditionally this is a time of year walleye anglers catch fish on many types of lures like:
Jigging Raps
Rapala Shad Raps
Plastics - Fork tail
Plastics - With tails like ringworms
Hair jigs
Minnows of course on jigs and rigs.

Last Saturday we got a limit of eyes, many of these fish wanted artificial over bait.  Saturday the Jigging Rap was the main walleye producer.

Natural Forage is very abundant right now, and appears to be more than normal amount of shad.  I'm sure this is a cyclical population amount of forage, and nothing to be alarmed over.  Almost every fish I've seen lately is stuffed with minnows.  
Water temps are falling fast and now around 62-64.

September 21

St. Croix River Sturgeon

Hard to describe the fight of a sturgeon, I'd guess memorable would be a place to start. These ancient fish have speed to take line, stamina to circle the entire boat, and power to break lines.  Grace handled this one like a pro.

Torpedo One!

Grace again with the first of her three sturgeon of the day.  All three were nice and fought for 10-14 minutes in length. That's a long fish fight!  
​She was talking about her arm being sore, that's music to my ears. To keep - they need to be 60", that's five feet long, not sure why I would keep one that big.  There are also special seasons to possess. 
I suggest this is a good specie to plan to release. 
​Though I am NOT opposed to harvesting them. I thought 50" was a better mark for keepers, like it used to be for harvest as its only per year, but it is what it is.

River Bully

The flathead is a type of fish that moves in and takes over, and if you're a smaller fish you might end up in his stomach with one mighty swallow.  They fight like a slow moving train, they can easily come up near the net and pull drag back down to the river bottom! Repeatably.  As this one did several times to Greg, who as you can see got this fish, and he played it cool. nice work.

Jig and Minnow Smallie

Tim made the most out of a cold front morning and set the hook on this tub of a smallmouth bass,  Good hook set fun to watch.

Cold Front Smallmouth

In the Fall Transition the smallies come up from a deeper summer depth and aren't ultra shallow but shallower in the depths best described as the teens.  The teens is an easy depth to fish most any lure.
This was a nice work too for Troy, as he got it out of rock. 

Scout Trip Sturgeon Success

Any fish season that is a transition season, throws twists and turns and as summer turns to fall its a big change.  Changes make fishing harder, true there are changes every day, but in my opinion the fall transition is tough mainly because the minnows are so prevalent still and the cooling waters.
The cooling waters locates fish shallower and many are still deep, so they become spread out even more, it changes the weedbeds as they die.
So in other words right now I need to scout and find stuff for my customers to enjoy their day.  Sturgeon don't disappoint.

​​Signed,
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

23 Years of Professional Guiding on St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers
​USCG licensed OUPV Captain
​
5 Time 1st Place - Beanie River Rat Tournament
5 Time 1st Place - Koval Walleye Classic Tournament
1st Place - World Walleye Association Championship
Team Of The Year - Full Throttle Big Water Series 

“The Lord is near to all who call on him…” Psalm 145.18, There is peace in the Fathers arms."

September 7

On Her Own

Zandra caught this walleye all on her own, no she didn't bait the crawler but ran the pole and fish by herself, she clearly felt the bite because, I heard a lot of commotion, looked over my shoulder,  and had to race for the net as it was flopping on the surface!

Sister Power

The trip started off with a lot of freshwater drums on the feed, we must've been in the sheep pasture because it was a lot of them.  Jig and minnows were being eaten well.  Then we got a few of these smaller white bass.  Here is sis Victoria with one on a jigging Rap she operated by herself to catch fish.
​Good fish to eat btw.

Brother Power

Great anglers like brothers Joe and Dave display a brace of channel cats hooked "double." The fish on the left was hooked then 20 seconds into that fight Dave hooked up.  At on point the two had to play musical chairs and pass rod from hand under hand to stop these fish from tangling lines as these wild cats ran all around the boat.
We were on a pod of cats for about 20 minutes, it was like fighting saltwater fish. Dave's fish was 15+ pounds!

Hit and Run

I guided "EarnDog" about 20 years ago for the first time, He is moving from the St. Croix River Valley so hopefully this isn't the last trip for us.  Our trip  started with a bunch of sheep's on the chew, then we ran into some different bites.  Stayed longer.  As Paul was baiting his second pole, he  had his first rod in the rod holder and then wham! the drag of the reel was singing and line stripping off.  It was a sudden and violent strike, super fun stuff.  Paul wrestled the rod out of the holder and the fight was on.

Cooler Report

Keeper walleye and sauger are coming on:
Trolled Rapalas
Livebait rigs with crawlers and minnows
Jigs minnows and crawlers
Jigging Rapalas
Spinners still work too.
Fishing for walleye will put you in contact with drum, cats, perch, crappies, white bass, smallies, and even Sturgeon, oh we got a Gar a week ago too...
The fish are spread out or maybe a better way to say it is they are on the move and chasing forage.
Recently a spot we got two keepers eyes on 19" and 18" plus a lot of other kinds including a "Red October" Sturgeon (broke line but went air born within 20 feel of the boat). had fish on the spot, then when we returned the spot had nada zilch - it was dead. There no honey holes, they move. So this Fish Season especially, you've got to have some luck and be there when they are there.  This Fish Season location concept is important because, they use and stay in areas seasonally for different durations.  Example  in the spring  fish they stay put much longer in areas than right now.

Grass floating on the surface is down in a noticeable way, not gone but down.

August 25

Before

Big big battle here, this was a stubborn mule of a fish.

And After

Noah got him!  His largest fish ever.  that's cool.  Happy guy with big flathead catfish.

Saug Dogs

We are seeing nice saugers, just not a lot.  If I could get into the ones that "pad the stats"  the good 14 to15" eaters we'd have some nice fish totals but interesting not getting those smaller ones. Noah got this one in a herd of sheep, he said " this feels like the right kind."

Cunningham Crew

Dad was showing the sons how's it done with a 26" walleye! He also caught and released a 20.5" walleye. We had a rocking good flurry of fish then it got tough, fun fishing for sure - Great guys to fish with.

20.5" Smallmouth For Doc

The smallmouth bass in the river are in incredible good shape. There are a lot of nice and BIG bass in the system.  Plus the smaller ones are getting thick, I used to comment that they are thin bodied. Bass are on the uptick on the river and its already known as a good resource.  Doc Jim had a  ball with this fish " Whack!" fun on a jig.

21" Eye For Doc

First fish of the day! Light bite followed by a good hook set! I watched the pole bend and looked at the fight and thought " its an eye." Fun guys Jim and Tom.

Cooler Report

Jim brought three of these good eyes home to Judy for dinner. Spinners and crawlers put them in the livewell.

​The bite is hit and miss where walleyes and sauger are concerned, they are on the chew but  then they shut down.  
This is typical for this time of year.  
Saugers are also being caught too, but not super consistent for me.  
So its still worth the effort even in late August and that's not bad!
Plus drum, crappie, channel cats, perch, and sunfish, and smallmouth. So sometimes pretty good action.
​Working for me:
Jig and Minnow
Rigging crawlers
Trolled Rapalas
Jig N raps
Plus some plastics as well such as smaller grubs on a jighead has been a fun way to catch fish.
depths from 17 to 29.
There are minnows all over the place.
Boating traffic is dying down.

August 16

Before

Had a great trip with Jake  He's in a real fish fight with a river finned friend! 

And After

Super good job of fighting  a few of these bad boys, Jake and Grandpa Bob did some catching. " My wrist is sore!" says Jake which is music to this guides ears...

---

21" Smallmouth Bass

The St. Croix is a fantastic fishery for its views and clean water and fish.  I am guessing its one of the rare places you can angle for trophy Smallmouth and Channel cats.
Mike is here with a 21" Bass that instead of digging deep as it neared the boat, this bronze basher shot up straight and took off three few in the air right by the boat! Incredible. Mike got this one in very expertly.
​He was out with his brother and Grandpa. Lots of catching.

Beauty and The Beast

The much maligned sheepshead is on a RAM-page lately here was a good fighter i thought was going to be a walleye.  They are hitting big time on artificial and bait.

The Most Fun Fish

Catching white Bass on the cast and retrieve on the top is the most fun fishing you can have, very sporadic nowadays, not like the old days.
​Special when it happens.

Cooler Report

Saugers Now, Eyes, Crappie, and Some White Bass

Sauger now have showed up like normal for the Hot Summer season.  Plus a few walleye of keeper size.  Last weekend half day trip they boxed five walleye, a sauger, and some white bass for a big bag of fillets.
Working Now:
Rapala Crankbaits -trolled near bottom
Rapala Crankbaits -trolled suspended over openwater (this can be a waiting game between bites)
Spinner Rigs with bait
Jigs and plastics for crappie
Jig and minnow
Rapala JigNRaps
Lindy Rigs with bait (mostly crawlers)
Inline Spinners for Whities

August 9

Crappie Action

Had a super fun weekend trip with the Wohlers crew.  The keeper crappie action was good along with some keeper perch and a nice sauger to make way for a family fish fry.  Good times.

Cooler Report

 There is no doubt that the hot summer fish season is here and walleyes and for that matter saugers are harder to come by.
That's were fish like crappies come in.  The river has some slabs.
Walleyes are also being caught just not a lot.
What I am not seeing are the saugers in any numbers.  Most years my customers catch 2-3 saugers of eating size per legal walleye.
I'm not even getting a 1:1 ratio of eyes and saug dogs!
That could change any day as I believe they are there just hard to catch.
Rigs and Jigs with bait,  fatheads is a minnow I will spend time using, nightcrawlers sure, crankbaits yes, and jigging raps yes as well.
​Baitballs are showing up everywhere it seems and so I fish depths where I see the bait. 15-28 feet of water.

Nice Walleye

The river has the nice walleyes in the system and that's a great thing to know they are there! We all agree seeing is believing and  seeing the nice ones turns hope into a reality.  Fun trip with Bryan and Shelby .

Smallmouth Bass

This is a time of year especially in the day the big bass are deep and like the walleye get very picky on hitting lures.  This one though was caught and released after it hit a Rapala.

July 27

Bigger Walleyes Harder to Find

Finding the bigger eyes are hard to come by now in the "Hot Summer" season, but the great fact is they're still in the river and can be luckily had. Creighton got this July eye on light six pound test.   

Cats are Active Now

When the walleyes slow the cats pick up and so do the saugers, crappies are easier to find as well.  

Keeper eyes

Patrick and his two pals caught a large mix of fish species and boxed three keeper walleyes and a nice sauger.  

Cooler Report

Tooting my own horn here..true to my report from July 12 the whole big coolers with a lot of walleyes is currently changed to a mix bag of keepers of crappies and saugers with walleyes too.  Some of the crappies can be nice.
Walleye anglers are:

• trolling cranks
• spinners with bait
• lindy rigs

I am trying hard to and having some success catching fish on Jigging Raps and casting to fish pockets.  I will of course fish the above three techniques when needed or fish look like they moved.  
Depths... well my last trip we fished from 12 to 28 fow so I'm not targeting a set depth. 22-25 is a solid starting depth however.
Bait: the shad is all over the place off shore now over the basin. 

July 12

Big Walleye C &R

Summer is definitely here, and big walleyes like this tank Warren caught will be a lot harder to come by now.  Other species start to show up.

Big Eaters

Ariel showing off two of their best keepers!  St. Croix walleye fun times!

Sturgeon

Right Now in the height of summer, channel catfish, sunfish, crappies and some white bass are starting to become very aggressive. Saugers as well.  

Cooler report

This great half day haul might be the last all walleye big box of fish for a while.  The channel cats just turned on and when they turn on the eyes start to roam the basin and feast on shad.  AKA tuff eye fishing.
I will need to find crappies and saugers plus bonus eyes to make the boxes full.
This feels like a real summer bite approaching and this means lots of fish but lots of variety and sizes all over the board.

I am seeing keepers from 14 to 28 feet deep.  plus there is a lot of shad now and the bait balls are deep!  it should be hot.
​We are doing best with spinners and bait.

July 2

Lunker 1 For Shelly 

The St. Croix is a great place to fish, no question especially when it is in proportion of many more small ones to big lunkers.  Big ones like these are not common, but eaters are.  The river is also self sustaining from a reproduction standpoint and the walleyes keep recruiting more of them each year.

Lunker 2 For Shelly

Great job landing both of these fish on Shelly's part.  Super fun to be a part of this experience for Shelly and David.

Double Smallmouth Bass

Mike and Katya got these two nice ones in tandem, Pretty cool deciding which to net first! Dad doesn't care his daughters fish is  bigger!

July 2 Cooler report

Todd, Tori, and Tammy got six of these cooler fish on a half day trip. Good eats!

Depths in the 15 to 25 foot range are holding active fish.
Walleye
Smallmouth
Sheepshead
are most active on crawlers on lindy rigs and spinner rig presentations.
Trolling Rapalas is also effective at catching good fish.
Jigging Rapalas is also something I will look to do at the first chance I get.  Its a hard bite to understand when and where they want to prefer these baits (jigging raps), but when they do you know it, because the hit them.  

​Signed,
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

23 Years of Professional Guiding on St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers
​USCG licensed OUPV Captain
​
5 Time 1st Place - Beanie River Rat Tournament
5 Time 1st Place - Koval Walleye Classic Tournament
1st Place - World Walleye Association Championship
Team Of The Year - Full Throttle Big Water Series 

“The Lord is near to all who call on him…” Psalm 145.18, There is peace in the Fathers arms."

June 27

Good Fighters!

When you get a big walleye on its a heck of a fighter, good job Joel landing this crawler caught walleye.  Brother Mark is here sharing in the fun, fishing, and laughs along with Wheeler Dave.

Father and Son Fishing

Here is Tate with a nice walleye, He was sure good with a fishing rod.  

Rain is OK

We started our trip in the rain  and the bite was good - Tate got this one right away!  

Late June Cooler Report

Walleye are still coming in to the nets though shifting deeper.  it is still possible to get them shallow in the teens for depth and now mid 20's. 
Lindy Rigs w/crawlers
Spinner Rigs w/crawlers
Trolled Rapala's
Jigging Raps 
I start to see leeches fade in effectiveness the faster I have to go to get bites.
The mad rush of sheepheads all over your bait has chilled and now they are starting to give way to more saugers, crappies, and white bass.

June  17 

Mack Walleye

Here's a nice birthday present for Mack.  Mom dropped off Mack and his two friends for a morning of fishing  walleyes, smallmouth and sheepshead.  Parents if you can't swing the trip with your child, get one or two friends with your kid and I will guide multiple kids just like the next group pic you'll see.  The St. Croix is the best fishing in the Twin Cities Area.  With scenery clean water and good fishing.

No Parents LOL! 
​Smallmouth - A top freshwater fighting fish

Kids of all ages love smallmouth bass.  We release all smallmouth to be caught again.  These three were good young fisherman.  I can teach beginners to fish well.

Dawson eye

Here's Dawson with a nice walleye!  Fun fighting fish.  Good catch!
​Sufix 6 pound line

Mid June Cooler Report

Lower St. Croix report with normal wind and partly sun sky.  12-20 feet with leeches and crawlers on livebait rigs.  Trolling Rapala Shad Raps also are working. 
Trends to work soon:
Jigging Raps
Spinners
​Slow death hooks

June 12 St Croix 

You Never Know...

When fishing on the river you never know what you'll get! We had a very fun and productive trip with Mark, Jim and Mike catching walleye and freshwater drum. The Miller crew brought home 12 legal keeper walleyes and 2 saugers. I said "okay five minutes left and we're heading in."  Well then 25 minutes later we took this pic.  Mike fought it very well, and he was "thrilled" and " On cloud nine." :)

You Never Know...

Here's Eric and his dad Bob out on a walleye trip and Bob gets this monster 17 pound channel cat while tethered to an oxygen machine and was struggling to bring the fish in carefully. He said " I was getting so winded that I was not sure if I could take the rigors of reeling that fish in. " Then he prevailed and sat down immediately to catch his breath.  
That's a very big channel. Well played!
​Bob also go a Personal Best 21.5" smallmouth. 
​This fish was landed on six pound Sufix leader while fish with crawlers.

And walleye too

Here is Eric with what the guys were looking for.  We got bass and drum too this day. nice trip great weather and comradery. Another crawler fish.
12-19 feet has been a good depth for us lately fishing bait and trolling Rapala's.
The peak drum aka sheepshead bite has peaked but you'll still get a lot.

Lower Saint Croix Report June 6

"Sing To Me Lucille!"

As Paul's reel drag was singing and peeling out line, he yelled the phrase not once but twice on his trip " Sing to me Lucille!" he was channeling his inner B.B. King guitar hero angler riffs as he battled some BIG bass, that made the drag siiiiiinnnng. Above is a giant 21 3/4" smallmouth bass still swimming in the Croix. Simply memorable day.  

Chef Al

 When Paul and Al, hit the water, "The Chef," is never out done, he always seems to catch em. 21" eye released.  Walleyes are in 10-17 feet. Livebait rigs are still catching fish.  You WILL catch sheepshead too, and 3-5 pounders are not uncommon.

Smallmouth Bass Open

There is hardly a livebait or lure smallmouth won't hit.  I love tubes and buzzbaits and jerkbaits.  They are always a welcome for a real angler who appreciates quality gamefish.
Right now they are still shallow to 8 feet deep.

Lower St. Croix June 1 

Trophy Walleye

What a thrill it is for all in the boat to see fish like this and undoubtedly most for the catching angler.  Good one Brian! C & R.

21" let them go! These fish are protected so we should.

  Rex with a nice walleye 20-22" eye. This is the size fish the future of the river depends on.  He did good hooking and landing this on a tricky crawler bite day and a great fighter in the water.  C & R.

Inhaled

Andrea got a box full of eyes on cranks and livebait.  Very good angler.  When a crankbait is tuned right they can get inhaled like this Shad Rap.

St. Croix May 21

Proud Papa

Parker a young married man, went fishing with me, at about 10:30 in the morning he gets " The Call," from his expecting wife!  The call is three weeks before the babies due date, and luckily she's already at the hospital,  I race back, he gets on the road, and later that day two now become three with a healthy baby girl!! Congratulations.

Rapala Caught

Jim is a long time client and now much more of a friend/uncle/father figure rolled into one. If you know him, you know, he's an all around top notch guy (don't let him know I said this though, to date all I've ever told him is that he wears nice socks...)  This lunker slammed our walleye trolling set up, we lucked out and netted it as it had only one hook in the mouth.  Minutes before he and I think he had a bigger one on...  fish story - I know...

Fun Morning with bait

Ryan got this nice walleye, out fishing with his friend Matt.  We had a nice morning with a steady crawler bite not a ton of keepers , but enough short walleyes, and sheepshead to make it a good trip by their and my standards.
I'm finding our fish in 10-20 feet of water on crawlers, leeches, and Rapala Shad Raps. The "what presentation" and stuff like "how fast" depend on the conditions of the day.

Signed,
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

23 Year Professional Guiding on St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers
​USCG licensed OUPV Captain
​
5 Time 1st Place - Beanie River Rat Tournament
5 Time 1st Place - Koval Walleye Classic Tournament
1st Place - World Walleye Association Championship
Team Of The Year - Full Throttle Big Water Series 

“The Lord is near to all who call on him…” Psalm 145.18, There is peace in the Fathers arms."

May 15 2022

St. Croix Gold

John on board with his pal Troy, hooked and landed this beauty early in the day, a fish like this bring a lot of good feelings on board, and makes some warm memories of " when they're biting."

The Gift That Keeps Giving

Troy and Johns half day haul. Cleaning fish, and cooking, and sharing a meal with friends and family, is a super great thing by all measures.  Guys and gals talk about who caught which fish, and where, and how.  Kids start to look forward to fish fry's, and Dads mostly clean the fish and teach kids how to.

Pole Bending Action

Adam (l)hammered on the keeper walleyes, Hank (r) did his share of box filling as well.  Super fun trip, with laughs, hook sets, and "Hank Stuff." Catch details on tip page.

Saint Croix River Open 2022

Live bait action rigging the bottom and detecting between rock, clam, stick, or fish is a fun and skillful way to angle.

Walleye

05/05/22,​ No two days are ever the same, and so no two seasons are ever the same either.  This May season of Spring is three weeks behind normal heating days.  In other words its been a lot colder, as you know than normal.  The water is still cold 45 to 47 degrees this week.
There is enough action to make this bite interesting, but as a whole its not a hot May bite at this time.  That can change quick with warm weather coming!

White bass dont mess around, they hit and fight. A local favorite river specie to eat as well.

White Bass

White bass and walleye have been hitting minnows, crawlers, blade baits, and jerkbaits. Plus trolled Rapala shad raps #5.
I have caught fish in 15 to 20 feet, but reports are also shallow in 6-8 feet.  This is so typical that fish are in different locations.

Slow trolling spinners turned this trophy walleye into an ancient fish specie, that fights great.

You Never Know - Sturgeon

As the saying goes " you never know what you'll catch on the river,"  but a sturgeon on a spinner with minnow! ha.  That's a first for my boat in 23 years.  I had to get a pic.  Its a heck of a fight once they realize they are hooked!

Spring Melt 2022

Fun Fishing

River fishing in the spring is fun because so many presentations applied with multiple techniques work to catch fish.

Plastics Are Proven Producers

Plus you often get a THWAP! of a hit as the pole tip pops.

All Around Versatile

On the river I find being able to be versatile and change with the fish now as they are is a huge key to success.  For a gear tip, I use rods that are versatile  - "The Smoothie" by Limit Creek Rods is the most well rounded river rod there is.

Early January Crappies

A lot of these slabs came on a bobber. I have found that a small jig about 1/32 to a 1/16 ounce and a split shot is better than a split shot and a hook. Why becuase of deep water drops the small jig falls and doesn't parachute with the main line, tangle and then not get bitten.

Crappies Are Fun And Good Eats

A lot of these fish were caught on a jig actively jigged and worked in a "cat and mouse" fashion, meaning a take away as they approach or a tease is another way to explain it... Also I have found it is a must to change jigs and colors on the fish to keep the school interested. I have several rods rigged and i switchback and forth as their mood dictates.

Sunset On Ice 01/11

I head home as the sun goes down, but love to look at the sunset. Hope you enjoy this one.

Sunset On Ice 01/09

Time to get home another nice sunset.