Fishing Report 10-30-10

[sandmannd]

I hooked up with Rui today for some well needed fishing. We got a later start at 10 am and made our way down to Prescott. Stopped and got bad, fatheads and shiners, on the way. Couldn't find the plug for the boat when we got there, shouldn't seen that as a sign, but I have a spare and put that in. Went down to launch the boat and man is that water high!! Talked to a guy on the water and he said it was up about six feet from a week ago!

So we got the boat launched and headed up the confluence. The current is very fast, putting the motor in neutral had us moving downstream at over five mph! So we kept heading north up the St. Croix to my favorite flat and my main starting point. We saw a couple of other buddies out there already fishing. One had a couple of sauger and the other was killing the bass. So we set out to fish. I had to rods setup for lindy rigging. I put both those down, one with a fathead and one with a shiner. Rui put down a lindy rigged rod and jigged with the other. After moving around and marking fish in 18 FOW we moved out a little to 22 FOW and hit our first sauger which was a fat 16" keeper. We continued on our way in deeper water. Rui got two more off his jig and I managed a white bass. We fished the area for around two hours, all the while marking a lot of fish. I had switched over to a jig on one rod as well. We had lots of hits, bot not much for commitment. The key was to feel the bite and give them line. Lots of shredded minnows from the dorsal down. After going a while without a bait we decided to move.

We went back downstream, man were the boats stacked up on the Croix just north of the confluence but didn't see a lot of fish coming in. We went just south to some docks. Marked a lot of fish and as soon as we dropped or lines in we had hits. Problem was, we couldn't keep the boat on the right path or keep our lines vertical due to the current moving so fast. We made the choice to put the handlining reels on.

Got them all tied up and started moving up the confluence. Got to the Croix and fished a trail that's tried and true with nothing to show for it. Move back to the WI side of the river and, as I turned the boat north, Rui got a hit on his blue/silver rap and pulled in a very healthy sauger. We continued on without a lot of action. Both of us hit a snag at the same time and had to move the boat around to get them out. Rui's broke off and lost his raps. We got the snag out and he saw the rap floating so we chased it down. As he leaned over to grab it he inadvertently knocked the hand reel into the water. I had a hold of the cable and pulled it in but the reel came off.

Well, needless to say, that wrapped up our day. Getting the boat on the trailer took more effort then the norm, which is no effort, because of the swift current. We got her on and loaded up and headed for home. Rui took home four nice sauger for a couple of meals for he and his wife. Was great getting out again and it's always better to get out with a friend.