Fishing Report

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.

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.

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.

January 3 Report 2022

St. Croix River - Late December had a week of zero degree weather that formed good ice. As of early January there is 8” of ice where NO flow or moving water exists.
Ice thickness varies.

The St. Croix sees most anglers fishing for crappies in the Bayport area. Here it is a deep-water basin bite. Fish can suspended easily 12 feet off of the bottom and can be hard to decipher at times from the abundant shad baitfish.

The crappies roam the entire area and don’t hold on structure like walleye do.

Deadstick minnows is often best versus active jigging for crappie. Fishing the bottom accounts for most fish despite the nature of crappie to suspend.

The crappie bite can be quality size though many anglers struggle with numbers of these fish.

Though white bass come in handy for good sport and table fair.

January especially when it gets cold with clear blue skies finds a tough bite on the river, low pressure with clouds is better for action.

For crappie - mornings also seems good compared to midday. Night anglers report some good catches too.

On the WI side of this Minnesota border water some anglers do well with a three-hole set up drilled cross current they vertical jig the middle hole and bobber watch the others.

NOTE – In the Bayport area - even when trucks drive on the frozen river there are always three areas of open water areas that must be known. Vehicles will go through the ice here.
They are:
NSP Plant Discharge
Swing Bridge
Mallalieu Dam

November 16 Report 2021

November Walleye

Jig fishing has been good for nice big walleye like this released and smaller ones too. Nice job Brent- Good hooksets for sure!

November Sauger

Always great to see Bret with another jig fish. Big saugers go back- released.

Big "Eater" Sauger

Brent with a good one to start the day with a great hookset. Solid 18" sauger about as big as you want to keep.

Saug Dog 20" is a giant sauger on the St. Croix River

Let the big ones go to lay thousands and thousands of eggs next spring.

Mega Sheep

Lowell with by far our biggest fish of the day, fun on a walleye rod. This is one of the biggest freshwater drums I have seen since Larry Zwart's giant sheep. Fellow angler Larry was always good to see on the water and talking to him at Beanies. Its been at least three years since I have seen Larry...

Mega Sturgeon 42#

Dick expertly landed this huge sturgeon it weighed 42#. I weigh the fish with the net, while the fish is in the net, this is a safe way to way.
Friend Walker shown here and Jerry who took the pic, both told Dick in a joking manner as men often do, "if you don't land this, we will deny you ever had it on!"
Fun fun fun.

November 8 Report 2021

Lucky Man Ralph

Ralph set up a trip with me for his family and wanted to take out his son in law, and daughter for his birthday present. Ralph's blessing for them turned into his own as he got this 27" walleye and also landed a 53" sturgeon. Everybody cheered Ralph on!

Catch and Release

Here the birthday boy shows his best walleye caught on a fathead minnow and then released. Super fun trip Mom- Nancy started it off with an 18" keeper right away for their soon to be big box of fish to take home.

Matt has a big day 26.5"

Matt fishing with his Dad on a very nice weather and very busy with fishing boats Saturday got this 26.5" The weather was perfect and the fish cooperated!

Trophy Walleye 28.5"

Matt got this hard fighting trophy too! What a day. I thought this was a catfish right away, but we have been getting good sized walleye lately and I had my fingers crossed. Nice catch Matt- They both were elated. Released to fight and spawn another day.

Jig and Minnow

Jig and Minnow are from what I can tell one of an anglers favorite way to catch fish, and luckily especially this year walleyes are hitting them. This may be one of the better jig fishing falls. Drew and Dad Tom, this was a tougher trip but we fished hard. The numbers were there - just not real size for the 6 hour trip.

Big Walleyes

The Fall is the best time to tangle with big walleyes.

Early November Report 2021

Fall Colors - Big Fish

The St. Croix is truly an eater fishery where most days the walleye in the 15-17" range is the realistic goal for group fishing. However in the fall the big ones bite better and show up in the nets and do it at a time the Autumn colors are in glory. "Walleye" Wayne with i'd guess a 22" wallie -released voluntarily.

Walleye Waynes Side Kick

Dave on every trip wakes up or starts to fish in the second half of every trip. Here Dave does it again and lands a 27" to show us all up!

Crappies - Spot Jumping

If you "spot jump" the crappies right now can appear we put back this 13-14"er to lay a thousand eggs next spring. Spot jump means fish and move i.e. cover water.

24" Catch and Release

Cold weather = Big fish of many species. Not shown but Ralph got a 53" sturgeon on a fathead!

28.5" Trophy Walleye

It is ALL relavite a trophy fish in one body of water is not a trophy in another. It is not apples to apples. From my view what I've seen over the last 23 years on the river - a St. Croix truthful measure 28.5" is a trophy. Nice one Dave (first time on the river)!

What's Working? What isn't!

Look at this walleye Jim got on a jig n minnow (gas station fathead). I love seeing a customer set the hook on a jig! To me it is a thing of beauty, the hook set not Jim..
Here is what is working from my work and boats i know and see:
Jigging Raps
Trolled Rapala's
Plastics
Minnows

Each of these have many aspects or variations to them but as a whole for sure these presentation groupings are working.

If your seriously into lure color about a year ago on my tip page I go into great detail about color.

October 25 Report

Cool Weather Fish Bite

The cool weather soon turns cold and the cold water creates many fun ways to fish for anglers. On any day this time of year at least four techniques will work, staying flexible is a key to success.

Jig N' Minnow

Catching fish on jigs is one of anglers very favorite way to hook and fight fish. I try to put clients on a jig bite whenever possible.

Trolling Eye

Most days are different on the river and being able to find fish each new day can be a challenge. Trolling Rapala's helps fisherman cover ground and fish where the fish are today.

Crappie Bite Has Up Ticked A Bit

As you likely know crappies are big on the river, you can get big ones up to 14". I think they very colorful from the river and they are most definitely thick fish. I am still having a hard time getting three/ four or more from the same spot, but I am seeing them on more spots now. Slabs are suckers for minnows.

Just Add Coffee

Gabe and I had a trip were the bite was HOT! They just went bananas! We put this >20" go and he easily limited out. We hooked and netted fish three different presentation ways, it sure was fun! The next day the bite was normal which if I had to cast a wide ranging net and label the bite I'd call it - good.

Another Sign Of Fall

Hooking big white bass along with the cooling water, colorful trees are signs of fall every year on the river. WHAP! is how they hit.

October 11 2021 Report

Flathead!

Earl out with the family, kept talking about wanting to get " The Big One!" Well he did. I was up in the front of the boat steering and gearing up for the next spot and then heard a yell - whoa - Whoa- WHOA!! He was on... a good good fight, the fish surfaced, everyone cheered as it was seen for the first time, and after another run, and lift up we got this beast!

20" Eye Released

Matt got this fish early in the day on a Jigging Rap, it was just over 20" and released. The mornings have been good bites, then it slows and picks up, and slows. The bite is up and down during the same day.

20.5" Sauger Released

Matt got this one on a jig and plastic. This sauger being over 20" is the biggest of the year for us this season on the St. Croix.
St. Croix saugers dwarf the Lake of the Woods saugers, but Pool 4 Sippi saugers make Croix saugers look small! Its all relative as to what is a big fish. A Croix trophy walleye is a run of the mill fish on Lake Erie, Lake Winnipeg, or Oahe as example.

Sturgeon Love Minnows

We mixed it up on a trip this week for walleye and bottom fished slowly with minnows, but still moving, and this 47" sturgeon came and slammed the rod. 9 minute fight on 8 pound line Rick did a great job fighting this fish on the Limit Creek rod.

Jigging' Rap Cat!

Second fish of the day was this trophy walleye that turned into a channel cat. LOL! I thought we had a big eye right away. Thank the Lord for the river - always fun fishing.

This Cat was a Tiger

Every now and then a channel cat will simply freak out and rage like a caged animal. This was such a fish, Mark said this was "the biggest and toughest fish he's caught in freshwater." Pretty cool. Good job landing it.

Late September Report 2021

River Walleye

We are starting to see the bigger walleye that are typical of autumn. On this trip Bob and his buddy Mason got a big mess of eyes. We released this big one. >20" please release.

River Flathead Catfish

We are starting to see these big flatheads that are typical of autumn. On this trip John pictured with a 25 pounder and Troy both got big cats like this!

Nice Eaters

The river is kicking out nice eaters like this, Dan (above) saved the day at the end and put them in the boat. Campbell-his son didn't catch the most- this time! lol.

" Ram" Sized Freshwater Drum

Freshwater Drum are nicknamed " sheepsheads." When the sheep get this big I call them " Rams!" Yes this fish fought big time - gave Craig a run or three.

Largemouth Bass

Mike with a nice and rare largemouth bass on the river. Most bass we catch on the river are smallmouth bass. I suspect though this year with the high weed growth that there will be a big largemouth year class and Perch. We will see in two years, but I think I'm right.

Eaters

Walleye is still the main goal for most of my clients. People are always happy to boat a keeper even if they practice catch and release.

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 - 2001 World Walleye Association Championship
Team Of The Year - 2009 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."

Mid September Report 2021

Good walleye fishing on the river, walleye always bring a smile to folks. Ron did a good job on this light biter! Fought him well.

Neal almost got a keeper as big as his Dad Ron. Neal did have the hot hand for most fish caught. This crew caught three species they never had encountered before: white bass (kept two to eat), mooneye, and redhorse.

Catfish are a very willing specie to take your bait, either a traditional way with worms, minnows, cut bait on the bottom from an anchored position or while trolling for walleye just like this one Dawson caught. This young man was thrilled to tangle with this cat, and did a great job fishing!

Walleye on the river are a fish that inhabit a wide range of depths this fish came from 25+ feet of water. Lots of walleye we have caught this season have been in the teens for depth. Its very common to find fish on the river both deep and shallow. Ryan with a good one, these guys drove from Michigan to meet up with their Dad from California to do Minnesota fishing.

One reason fish like walleye are in a wide range of depths (as shallow as 8') is the high fat forage minnow - the shad, but there are shiners too. Shad roam and move all day long and change depths often. I see the shiners much shallower and often close to shore. This is how I explain this wide range of depths. But I will also say that a species of fish are never ever ALL in the same depth. There is never no one spot or depth.

Early September 2021 Report

Keely wanted Cats

We got some nice channel cats on our trip, Keely and his relative Carpenter and Wife Kim came up from Illinois for a cat trip.

Kim got a good one too

Kim holds up a pink crankbait that was stuck on the side of this catfishes mouth when she reeled it in. in other words It busted off some other anglers line! Kim brought him in. :)

Another Nice Cat for Keely

This cat hit on the drift as we covered water for cats. drifting is a good way to get cats as well as other fish.

Greg with a nice keeper

Rigging eyes with bait has been working, as well as trolling spinner rigs.

A big end of summer Haul - Campbell and dad Dan

Fun trip at the end of summer! Rigging bait again is working.

Tate with the big one - But Dads happy

A bunch of different types of fish have been hitting, kids love that!

August 2021 River Fishing Report

Walleyes

The river has a way of producing walleye even when the lakes are very hard to fish in the daytime. One of the best things about river fishing is you don't need to do it during the night to catch. Brandon with his best walleyes of the trip!

Hockey Camp Fishing

Cowen and Truit were down with there family to attend a hockey camp, Dad treated the boys to a fishing charter with me. It was a very fun trip with a nice day, laughs, and pole bending.

More Bass

Truit got this one and I held it, his brother jumped in the pic. River bass can make your arm sore, as Truit can attest to that! But we got him!

Dog Days Walleye

Truit with a walleye

Dads Get Them Too

Dad caught his fair share! Jeremy with a good fighting smallmouth bass in the warm water.

Another River Fish That Can Make Your Arm Sore

Here is another fish that made Truit's arm sore! He got him in the boat!! Nice fighting drum.

August 2021 Fishing Report

River Eyes Fight Good

This walleye hit the line and took off the other way and made some runs that required some good fighting skills on Jim's end. Nice job Jim.

Livebait - Crawlers, Minnows, Leeches

Livebait often equals a mixed bag of fishes coming to the nets. Channel cats are the king fighters of freshwater. Good catch Steve.

Tough Fighters- Don't want to come in!

A very close second to the channel cat is the Bronze back! Smallies in the Croix this year are chunky and strong. With improved clarity to aid in their prey capture success smallmouth bass are thicker in physical terms than ever in my estimation. Please release these gamefish. Well done Steve.

August Eyes

Clients are catch these fish still and talking home eaters. Now the saugers help fill in the numbers for the fish fry.

Small 14-15" Saugers

We are starting to get good numbers of these smaller saugers. Any size can be taken legally, I like to make them be at least 14", large ones hit too, but these cousins to the walleye rarely get 19-20" on the Croix. Pool 4 is the sauger center of the universe with numbers and size.

You Never Know!

You never know what you'll get! Here is Pete with a GIANT river redhorse. Biggest I've seen ever, they are normally 1-2 pounds maybe some are about 3 pounds. This one was a good 6 -7 pounds. A vary rare catch. Ate what else... a crawler.

Early August 2021 Fishing

Walleyes Still Being Caught

As August is here and July fades away, the summer fishing is still finding nice walleyes to catch. Here is Dave with a pair of nice eyes his crew got recent trip.

The Gals Get The Fish

Here is Molly with the best eyes of their trip, from last Monday, both she and husband Steve talked about how fun it is to have a Monday off. They got some nice fish- lots of different species too.

Previous Saturday Bite

Carrie and Steve got a big walleye haul on a busy Saturday morning on the river. We were bait fishing on light line and had some good fighting bass, drum, and redhorse! Nice fishing guys.

Slab Crappie

Crappies are hard to pattern on the river, but if you can get into them they can be of a memorable size. They will hit of course minnows, but also small plastics, crawlers, and leeches.

Big Bag Good Fishing

Yer and Lao brought home 10 eyes and two white bass, it was a good day of fishing from these fine fishermen.

Smallmouth Bass

Smallies are always a big part of mixed bag fishing for - "fish." They of course can be targeted and pursued with lures this one was fooled by a Fluke. Micaiah landed a mystery fish specie that had hit a few times during the week. These mystery fish ripped off line from the spinning reel like a King Mackeral does.... He managed to land it -it was a common carp. a rare catch for my guide boat on the river actually. :)

End of July 2021 Report

Summer Fun

July is just about to end, and i'm happy to report that we have been getting nice fish. Here is Aubrey with some St. Croix River eyes lifted from the trips big box of eyes, she had the hot hand!

They Only Can Love It - If they get a Chance

The fishing "bug" is THE virus parents are more than happy a kid gets. Video games and screen time is tolerable but it doesn't really sit well in Dad and Moms stomach, but when a child is on a bank or shore or boat fishing - its a feeling that is priceless. Can I get an Amen!

18" walleye on topwater! U Never Know

In many ways you never know what you'll get on the river... My mid weeks half day crew luckily had six keepers eyes in few hours, and a fat channel cat in the box, I thought I would mention maybe a change up for bass as they had their fish fry. Got at thumbs up!
We rolled up on the spot, i got out the rod set up for Austin (above), I said, "this is a popper, have you ever used these?" He said " A Popper!?... Now we are going back to my ROOTS!!!" Priceless.

You Never Know!

When the big river dogs hit, you need to be on your game to land them. Ian and Dad with his "Best Fish," of his life. Fisher people love fish and enjoy a fight! Nice job Ian.

Florida Crew

Got a last minute call and got this crew in. I heard tons of great Florida fishing stories of prized Florida Redfish ( Reds are a genetic cousin to our freshwater drum...? ) Keith the guy w black beard put on a clinic! Oh this gang told a precautionary tale. Their favorite child hood river in Florida became polluted and worthless for fish, because of an absent regulatory system regarding septic tank inspections! Fish don't survive in pollution.

Mix It Up! Crappies

Most days we can throw a few or more of these in the box! Mitchell had it going!

Fishing Report Late July 2021

Mid July Cool Down

Mid July found a brief respite from the heat in the 90s and this break of cooler summer and no wind made the mornings just plain great to be on the water. Ethan with a nice 19" walleye that he wrestled in!

Wind A Plus For Walleye

Here is Martin with his trips best walleye. We had a great day in July catching a lot of walleye and bass with keepers and throw back fish.

Clouds A Plus - For Smallmouth

The over cast skies help us catch fish - bass, walleye, crappie - they all bite better with clouds. This Smallmouth just about touched 20" and was " the last cast fish." Nice last cast. :)

Keepers Even On A July Saturday With Boats Everywhere

Here are the Van Alstines with there 10 keeper walleye bag mid July Saturday morning.

Cats Need Some Flow

I always do better for cats with some good flow, with the water being so low and the flow slow - the cats have been tough to get. Here's tori with a little flathead that she liked getting. We caught more turtles than cats on their trip! :)

Walleye- Customers Main Target Specie

July has just started to get tougher to catch white tips, but last Sunday we boxed five keeper walleye plus 15 throw back walleye, 10 smallmouth, drum, sunfish, red horse sucker, and a nice flathead in the morning half day.

Fishing Report Early July 2021

July has two seasons

Early July finds walleyes and bass still on a good bite like this one Dave caught on the St. Croix. Forage is now becoming prevalent, and these schools of bait as they grow causes gamefish to locate much differently than in June.

Smallies still on a decent bite then later in July, they locate deep

Early to mid July finds smallmouth like this one that Jeff got in June mixed in on walleye spots. Then as July moves closer to August walleye and bass mixed in together start to not be found in the same places.

Crappies Start to fill in

The river has a way of having certain species show up when of species slow down. Crappies are such a fish. Once crappies start to show on the hook, its a sign the height of summer is here.

Nice crappies

Crappies are hitting lightly like a walleye and have some very nice fillets as well. Here is Wyatt with a nice slab, he was out with his grandpa "Doc."

Walleyes still can be had in July

Wyatt got this one recently - nice keeper croix eye.

Overcast weather has helped!

With record water clear clarity on the St. Croix overcast is a plus for keepers like these caught in late June.

Fishing Report Late June 2021

Grace with 25" walleye, Catch and release. Over 20" let them go.

St. Croix Walleye

Big walleyes take a while to grow, over 20" walleyes go back to be caught another day.

Arlene caught the most on her crews trip. Here is a "big" eater fish from their box.

Live bait rigging works

Livebait rigging crawlers and leeches across the walleye world works, and on the river it certainly does too!

Theo caught fish all morning out with his dad and his pal. Here he holds two of the best eaters solid 18.5" ers.

Light bite

Even the good sized fish are coming on light and just barely picking up the bait. Its a super fun bite when they strike!, but also fun when subtle and its a slow take like the bite has been.

Grandpa Mark gets the biggest on the half day afternoon trip, They brought home a nice box of keepers.

Grandpa gets the biggest!

Fish have been working very similar areas but as July is near, they will move. Look for crankbaits to start to shine as they do in the height of summer.

Thein crew on a busy sunshine saturday morning trip on the St. Croix

Sunshine on Croix- its going to be busy with boats

Bodies of water that get pounded by boats create a scenario where the fish eat as they need to and ignore the noise of traffic. Condtions like light and wind play a bigger role in "catching" than does boat noise.

Thein crew box close up

Great eaters

River walleyes are thick fillets and go a long way to feed folks on the fry.

Fishing Report Mid/Late June 2021

Chris w a 24" June walleye

Heat Wave Walleye

Heat and more heat have lifted water temps to historic levels for June. Walleyes are still biting though.

Chris w another nice eye

Hot Water Wide Range in Depths

It is still early in the Summer its June and the hatch of young of the year fish- the forage they are shallow. So despite the hot water fish are all over the place from shallow to deep. 10- 25 feet deep is the range we have been getting keeper fish from.

10 keepers for the family on a busy St. Croix Saturday

Saturday Means Busy But You Can get em'

The Croix gets as busy as billed on a hot weather sunshine Saturday! Lots of waves and big boats. Here is a stringer of Kate, Lin, Mark, and Kim (aka Slayer) during such a busy Saturday. I always say if the fish are biting the big boats won't bother the fish. Though they might bother you. :)

Kim w 20" Smallmouth Bass

Big Bass For Eye Anglers

Bonus bass for walleye anglers - like this one keep the rods bent and the drags singing. Oh darn another smallmouth!

12 keeper walleye on a mid June heat wave half day

Last Mondays Box

Week days are busy with anglers fishing up and down the river, maybe not the big boats but anglers are out. Here is a Kuenster Crews Box from last monday half day trip. Livebait on rigs took these fish.

Cade w his first "keeper" eye! Proud momnent for Dad. They brought home a nice big box of keepers

St. Croix Scenery

If you are looking for solitude you can find areas of the river that do in fact have a lot less anglers, the St. Croix River does have places you can explore and stretch your legs. A lot of the times most anglers bunch up together.

Fishing Report Early /Mid June

Walleyes

Walleyes like this pic from late May are still being caught, the hot May bite is over but June is still a great time to fish for walleye and sauger. My boat has been catching fish in the depths mostly from 14- 22 feet.

Rigs and Rapala's - and Cast Too

When the conditions are right, casting can be very effective. This tub of a walleye was caught on a cast. More traditional ways of catching walleye with bait, leeches, crawlers, and minnows on rigs and jigs work right now of course. Plus trolling crankbaits. I mention casting because there always seems like a few ways will work.

Smallmouth Bass

The St. Croix has a good population of smallmouth, and some can get to this tanker size, but not as many as you'd like. These big ones are a blast to catch and Ms. Lynn did a great job doing just that. Its nice to know trophy fish swim in the waters you fish.

Bass love lures

In my opinion the fun of smallmouth fishing - beyond the jumps and drag pulling in the 70 degree water - is seeing just what these critters will hit. Some days they are very choosey and on other they will hit topwaters with aggression.

Be quick to adjust your drag

Smallmouth are more of a walleye in my opinion than a large mouth bass in the way that they hit better the lighter the line test you use. The upside to using light line is more bites, the down size is that if your drag is too tight and tub like this bass will snap your line if the drag isn't loosened pronto. But too loose a drag in the beginning prior to hook set won't or a times won't drive hooks home on the set. Drags aren't a one time set thing in my opinion. Set tight -loosen to fight.

Smallies hit: Suspended/Top, On the bottom, and a Variation or in between

The areas an angler targets to catch goes one level higher than the structure and/ or cover, I like to conceptualize these three areas:
suspended/top ,
on bottom,
variable or suspended in between,

fish do move, but if you can be in their face on their level I believe that you will get bit more often - not an absolute, but more often, than making a fish come to investigate and move to you.

Fishing Report Mid/Late May

May is a great time to fish

The nightcrawler bite has been strong this year.

Father and son fishin'

Great times on the river with this gang! Walleyes over 20" they go back.

Big hauls can happen

Nightcrawlers brought these walleyes up for harvest.

Haul him in!

Fishing is fun for all! Nice quiet morning with a good keeper box.

Hooked with livebait

I like crawlers at 50 degrees plus, and leeches at 60 degrees plus. leeches are now working for me.

Good catching

Another father and son trip, this young man had the touch.

Fishing Report Early /Mid May

Eaters

Early in the year, walleye, as long as they stay in the spawning grounds can be found quick and often are in traditionally productive areas. livewell box pic from most recent trip.

Friends N' Fishing

Its always nice to be on the water with friends, catching is a bonus.

One day

When I find them one day, I make note of the conditions in order to Hopefully, do it again the next outing.

The next day- Did the conditions change?

When you spend time on the water, and find some fish, and the conditions don't change from one day to the next, there a good chance you can repeat your catching. We had great luck "the next day."

Crawlers catch fish

The bite has been very light, and the fish touchy, when we are crawlers fishing we had tons and tons of drops. The fish would come back though a second time. Very fun. Nice one Travis.

Not a walleye or a sauger, a Saugeye!

Adam got this saugeye, the way I can tell its a saugeye is the rows of dots on the tail, plus the side of the body coloring is has a bronze coloring. I make sure saugeyes are 15" to keep, this one was 16" - it got boxed.

Fishing Report late April

Mississippi River Walleye

A lot of the hits from the bigger fish will absolutely slam the jig. This one made Jeff's day. Nice one!

Giant Saugers

Bret with a jig and minnow sauger, a heck of a fight in nine feet of water! fun

Big fish in places with little ones!

Here is another fish that slammed the jig and plastic. Rob got this one, and I was proud to take out three generations on this half day trip. This fish hit first pass threw when earlier there were nothing but little ones.

Jig and plastic on the cast

A few trips have been tough after the warm up and cold front. Norb got this one out with his son. Jig and plastic on the cast with a smooth steady "swimbait style" retrieve. No snapping in a cold front when, that spooks fish a lot.

Jigs must be sharp

Jig and a minnow calls for an even sharper hook than with plastics as the bites are lighter. Always check hooks, I keep two hook files on my dash.

Cold front

We had a long cold front after the 70 degree stuff, cold fronts find fish negative and relating to deeper water and cover.
One cold front key is to fish later in the day.

Fishing Report late March

Mississippi River Walleye

Dave caught on a blue/white jig head and a high contrasting body plastic.

Mississippi River is Sauger Capitol

Wayne got this giant sauger on a green and white jig and minnow

March is good fishing

John " the over grown leprechaun," got this eye on an orange jig and minnow

Minnows for a neutral to negative bite

I like minnows because when the bite is neutral or negative minnows will get more bites. Sippi eater shown.

Healthy fish! Good eating

After years of fish frys, which i love. I came up with a cream sauce bake recipe that is really good. Email me if interested.

Sauger - Stick bait

Saugers and walleyes chomp! on stickbait crankbaits. I chose a rattled bait on this day to make noise and be heard to help trigger a bite.

First Ice Time Mid December

There are dozens of anglers already on the ice in the Bayport, Minnesota area of the St. Croix River, these anglers have walked on. It appeared from a distance that there are also a couple ATV's on the ice as well.

Anglers fish the Bayport area primarily for Crappies. The area has no general weed line that covers the bank like many lakes have.

There is also a lack of sunken islands and mid lake reefs. Therefore this section of the river that freezes over is deep basin fishing in the mid 30s for depth.

Jigging Spoons with minnow head will catch saugers and crappies. Bobber fishing for crappies with whole minnows is most popular.

If you don't know the river stay and fish with someone who does, it is a moving body of water.

Transition From Late Fall Season To Winter Season

After Thanksgiving

This time of year the river gets very quiet even in 2020 when I feel its safe to say the river has taken two times as many anglers as any year before.

Deer hunting and the cold keep anglers off of the river traditionally this time of year, plus other fun hunts like pheasant and duck.

The bite will wind down as the northland transitions into winter and skim ice will start to form thicker.

Yesterday morning as the sun topped the Wisconsin side bluff I saw a thin veneer of ice floating on Lake St. Croix.

Geese that had not been approached yet this morning took flight as my boat neared within a half a mile. I would imagine these are not the Canadian honkers that laze around a golf course in the Twin Cities but are the ones coming down from parts unknown.

I also saw a Bald Eagle swim to shore by flapping its wings in oar stroked like form. I stayed away but watched as it eventually dragged a nice fish to shore.

Fishing can be good this time of year and the part that is nice is the size of fish does increase.
Though they can be hard to find.

I did though catch fish away from of anglers yesterday in a short time and put two nice saugers in the boat.

Another fun factor to the bite is the lures that work are wide ranging. Blade baits, Jig N Raps, Jig and plastic, Jig and minnow, stickbaits, and even Buckshot Rattle Spoons!

October - Leaves Off The Trees

The Calendar Says October The Weather Says Winter!

It is very interesting as not only are no two days ever the same it seems from year to year no two seasons are ever the same.

Cold weather has touched down on the border waters area of Wisconsin/Minnesota as a cold front has hit. If you looked out the window and thought about fishing you would get the idea to bring your Clam ice shack and not the Alumacraft boat!

We are far from ice though on the border waters as my guide trip yesterday found waters from 52- to 55 degrees still!

I always prefer a slow cooling steady temperature profile where days after day it cools but warms in the day, but last I checked I can't create the weather patterns. I can fish either with them or against them.

The extended forecast shows the temperatures staying cold and this will drive the water cold fast.

Right now it could easily still be a trolling bite but during a cold front I go slow and steady to help catch fish as they don't seem aggressive in this non stable weather pattern.

The longer a cold front lasts and stays "on" the more the fish get used to it and eventually the weather for a fishes activities becomes stable again for intents and purposes and they can get more aggressive than when the cold front is "on."

In other words they just get used to it over time and get less finicky.

Jigs and minnows this week have been best, plastics are getting fish as well. Each day is different you get a new hand every day your on the water. I have found the more I can adjust and play the factors that exist the more fish we get.

Signed,
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

22 Year Professional Guiding experience on St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers, USCG licensed OUPV Captain
5x Beanie River Rat Tournament winner,
5x Paul Koval Walleye Classic Tournament winner
2001 World Walleye Association Championship winner,
2009 Full Throttle Big Water Series Team of the Year

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

September Fishing Report

Summer Fades

The Tiger Lilies of summer have all fallen, fading their green leaves begin to yellow, brown and slump over and hang near the soil. Few leaves from stressed trees have fallen, but color changes have not began yet.

Underwater the fish begin to feel the effects of the shortening days and the cooling of the water from air temps.

Cooling waters start to begin to confine the depth ranges that the shad will be in.

Shad are such a delicate fish that in the fall a fast plummeting water temp will actually cause many of their kind to quiver and die.

Deeper waters are where there is a lot more stability from the fast cooling top water.

This fact that the shad go deeper in the fall and the fact walleye, saugers, cats, bass, sturgeon you name it start to be caught deeper as well.

September is a time when season #9 "Hot Summer" begins to end as the water temps reach 69 and lower.

Right about now the shad are at peak levels and start to grow beyond consumable size for many game fish and they also start to drop in population number from being eaten for ten weeks. The cupboard does start to become bare.

There is no doubt there is an inverse relationship between good catching and baitfish populations. The higher the population the harder the catching.

The next season to arrive is season #10 the "Cool Fall." Crankbaits, jig and minnow, Lindy Rigs and crawlers and minnows have traditionally done best for anglers and I expect these presentations to catch fish again coming up in the "Cool Fall."

In the last two weeks the river had become much more less fished and fishing pressure has been light.

Pics: This is still a time of year a wide range of fish species will be caught and the size ranges are all over the board. Big numbers of keeper walleyes have been hard to achieve, and this is traditionally just the way it is.

Late July Early August Fishing Report

Mid summer fishing conditions prevail on the St. Croix River where a couple keepers per spot is good. Fishing requires anglers to cover a lot of ground.

There are also many fish marks on the sonar but not as many fish willing to bite as during the late spring and early summer.

Walleyes are not on lock jaw but are hard to come by in terms of keepers, many smaller walleye are very willing to bite.

Mid summer is a period where on the St. Croix plan on FISHING vs. catching. There are times of the year catching is much more to be expected.

Saugers will hit, and crappie and cats too. It is not a bite where you wont catch fish. It is a bite where limits of fish are hard to come by.

Large fish are in the system, so the fish are there for sure.

White bass pods can be seen from time to time and will hit a spinner or twister tail.

Crawler fishing is a fun way to catch many species including gar and drum and perch and sunfish.

If you like to fish and try new stuff this is the time of year to hone your skills.

Smallmouth are available as well on Senkos, tubes, and finesse worms.

Walleye from 9 to 22+ feet deep. How? Rapala's, livebait rigs, Jigging Raps, and spinners.

Fishing Report

Mid July

River water conditions on the St. Croix are now good and clearing after a huge rain event seven days ago that found 8 and 9 inches of rain flooding Western Wisconsin. These rains churned up the Willow River and the Kinnickinnic River to such a degree that the outflows into the St. Croix had water clarity reduced to less than one foot for large expanses of the river.

At the confluence of the Kinni and the Croix there were a dozen full sized trees washed down into the Croix, and here the water clarity was 2"!

2" clarity means if you drop a white jig down 3"it is now NOT visible. Very unusual stuff.

BTW I feel there is no good reason to fish in that dirty water. I advise you to get out of that mess.

The water temps are 80 degree and this is a temp normally in late July/ early August not July 10.

Fish need to eat and eating they are, they are chasing shiners and shad and feasting.

Thursday we caught 45-50 walleyes in one trip alone.. but only one was legal sized! lol. The guys on board had fun setting hooks though!

I was fortune with white bass surface blow ups where the clients took advantage of this fun bite. Lots going on now. Crappies we had some good crappie catching recently as well.

A good client of mine Micaiah is pictured above with a 25 pound flathead that hit a gold bladed Cowgirl Muskie bait! Don't mess with the Cats, they fight back!

We have seen some good smallie action and happy to get the kids on fish this way. Kids of ALL ages. :)

Walleyes in 18 to 28 feet and crawlers are working for my boat.

Have fun fishing! Turk

Fishing Report

Late June

Water levels recently have been as low as I have seen in mid summer for several years. The Corp of Engineers in Red Wing MN regulate the St. Croix River Water level at Lock and Dam #3, where the Corp maintains the St. Croix at a level no lower than 675.5.
675.5 is where the river was for little over a week and it was nice to see all the sand shoreline beaches up and down most of the river.

Recent much needed rains will find the river rising a few feet which is not uncommon. It was nice to have the water level stable for a week and this makes finding fish on an up and down water level river much easier.
Water temps are normal and warm for this time of year and the river water is a balmy 74 degrees.
There is also a water clarity decrease not from rains alone but from the algae in the water.
I am not sure why we get this algae bloom, but I
suspect fertilizer run off from residential lawns.

In the near future small clouds of bait will shown up on your finder and this is a great aid in locating gamefish from crappie to walleye.
There was a recent smallmouth tourney on the river so if you find the bass fishing slow in the recent future I would guess that is a factor to why these home body fish might be hard to catch for a while. I personally would like to see all bass fishing non livewell as these fish live in set areas and shouldn't be hauled miles away.
Maybe this last tourney was a catch and photo tourney. I don't know. Just adding my 2 cents on my own website.
Livebait and cranks for walleye, depths are all over the board from 13- 28.

Signed,
Charlie "Turk" Gierke

22 Year Professional Guiding experience on St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers, USCG licensed OUPV Captain
5x Beanie River Rat Tournament winner,
5x Paul Koval Walleye Classic Tournament winner
2001 World Walleye Association Championship winner,
2009 Full Throttle Big Water Series Team of the Year

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

Fishing Report

June 7

June is a transition time as the water heats up and rises to summer water temperatures. June is not the spring nor the summer, this is a time fish leave spring locations and relate to shorelines and other structures that are near shore.

The St. Croix River has very few " offshore" structures that are common on many classic walleye lakes.

I mention this because this makes June a bit hard to simply find good spots like small humps or islands offshore-but nearshore-like you commonly find on other lakes.

Now it is common to fish on shorelines, the trouble is shoreline fish are here and gone the next day. Thats fishing - right?

The offshore structures that do exist are getting pounded by anglers fishing everyday seven days of the week so I prefer finding new spots.

These community holes are good to fish at times, and when they are hot are a wise choice to fish even if its bumper boats.

Walleye can be found in depths from 12-20. They will also hold deep in 19-25 feet.
Crawlers and leeches with Spinners are catching fish. Plus Rapala Crankbaits.

Fishing Report

Early June

Smallmouth bass action has been best. Bronzebacks hit many many lures from soft plastics, to topwater walkers to buzzbaits!

Bass right now are still shallow and easy to catch.
Super fun fish and they are jumping upon hookset and going airborne.

Walleye keepers are coming in but a bit slower than years past for my boat. Crawlers and leeches will catch fish in 10 -20 feet.

Leland caught this very nice channel cat, first of the year on a bobber! Its a hoot, when the float goes down and you set the hook and the fish just sits there, and then decides to fight.

The single walleye is pictured because I was amazed at how white and "northwoods" the fish looked. It looked like it just came from Cass Lake or another Northland waters- not the river.

The eyes do get this color late in the fall when the water clears, but early June a bit strange, though the water is clearer than ever and the clarity is 6'!

On a side note I have never seen so many anglers fishing this year. Theres a lot of people on the river fishing these days.

Fishing Report

Mid May Back In Biz!

The river has fallen fast since the opener two weeks ago. Whenever water falls fish move. This is a time you have to fish a lot of spots or fish presentations that cover a lot of water.

Top baits are crawlers followed by crankbaits.
Depths from 12- 21 have been good. The water clarity is very clear.

The bite has been a bit up and down with fish moving so much.

A tuned crankbait of the wrong color is better than a untuned crankbait of the "right" color. Everybody has a very best crankbait in their box, it runs as straight as an arrow. it is "tuned."

I feel Rapala makes the best product.

Water temps dropped down to 52 from 59 and are almost back up to 59.

Looks for crappies to spawn in the 2-5 feet soon in about a week they should be shallow.

White bass where hot then the water dropped and they left.

Fishing Report

Croixsippi is laid off due to Covid-19

Quick Repo Croix Opener

Looking forward May 2020

The St. Croix River opens on May 2 this year. All of April had high water mid to late April had no showers and the water fell. The river should be about four feet high in early May.

This means it will be easy fishing and being able to read the water and fish in the seams or find “just right” water flow won’t be in play.

Anglers can simply drift the main channel, as I would guess the river velocity should be great for that.

With four feet of extra water you can drift and vertical jig with a half crawler or minnow. ¼ ounce will work easy if your boat captain can drive straight and not swing the back of the boat all over the place on you. If they do turn endlessly while you’re trying to vertical jig from the back go to a 3/8 or a ½ ounce.

Back boat anglers will catch more fish that way-trust me I’m paid not to turn guys around, (well I was before Covid-19, Lol!).

Trolling Rapala Shad Raps is always pole bender in May. Use #5 or #7, go with Chartreuse in the bright sun and Firetiger in partly cloudy and Crawdad when overcast. Work very near the bottom.

Walleye fish depths are good in 15- 19 feet deep as a base starting seasonal point.
Walleye are past post spawn and in the “Good May Bite Season.”

Good luck,
Turk

Some April Eyes From My Files

Kurt with a real trophy, super long walleye. Caught on a fathead minnow and #4 Gamakatsu Hook. This time of year the boat moves very slowly as fish are absolutely sluggish by summer standards.

Here is Lowell and its one of my favotire pics tis fish came on a tough bite overall but fish like this makes for good memories. This one was caught on a 1/4 ounce jig and minnow. Presented vertically. BTW vertical means vertical- dead vertical. the best jig anglers do this well!

Fishing Report

Saugers and walleyes open on Mississippi River 03. 18. 20.

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lion, oops a lamb. This March looks to be going out like a lion and the weather is on a lock down winter hold it seems with some milder weather here and there.
The good news is saugers especially and walleye readily eat even in the cold 36 degree water.

Some saugers are coming up stream from Lake Pepin, but the big push or "run" hasn't happened yet and the fish are still many many in a pre pre spawn mood, and gathering before the run.
Almost on the drop of the warm weather the whole system will bust open. when warm weather shows up in about ten days. It should be very good.

In the mean time eaters once found come in easy sometimes even when its cold and Mike and Lori got their fish quickly in about 1.5 to 2 hours fishing. We fished at least six spots to hit the fish, so the bite is not hot, but there are already some good fish up in spring spots.

Jigs and minnows, jigs and plastics are working best right now. standard stuff.

Hope all are safe and Remember Fishing is THE Original Social Distancing.