Fishing the St. Croix at Stillwater, and where to eat after
Twenty-nine miles from downtown, the St. Croix at Stillwater gave up Minnesota's state-record 70-pound flathead and holds sturgeon over 50 pounds, walleye, and smallmouth, with a free state access north of town and the riverfront park downtown. Either state's licence works. A guest guide from Smells Like Fish, ending at the three Main Street tables on the road home.
Twenty-nine miles east of downtown, the St. Croix widens below the Stillwater lift bridge into Lake St. Croix, and the Minnesota DNR’s page on it reads like a dare: “The state record Flathead Catfish for Minnesota (70 pounds) comes from the St. Croix,” lake sturgeon “exceeding 50 pounds have been caught here,” and the walleye are above average abundance. It is a border water, so a Minnesota or a Wisconsin licence both work. The Boom Site state access two miles north of town is free, and Lowell Park is the riverfront downtown. This is the fishing half of a day out here. The eating half is at the end, on Main Street in Stillwater, on the road home.
I write the guides on Smells Like Fish, a bait and tackle site, and I am a guest here. Top of Minneapolis asked for the water. They supplied the tables.
The day, in order
Leave downtown in the dark and take Highway 36 east to 95 north. Be on the bank at the Boom Site at first light with a jig and minnow for the walleye or cut bait on the bottom for the catfish, and in summer a live sunfish for the flatheads. Fish the morning, then drive the two miles into Stillwater for lunch on Main Street. If you want an afternoon, Lowell Park on the downtown riverfront is the DNR’s own listed shore spot, and Afton State Park, 15 miles south on the bluffs, has bank fishing on Lake St. Croix for the $7 vehicle permit. Dinner is back on Main Street before the drive home.
What is in the water
Walleye and sauger are the river’s headline fish and carry a 15-inch minimum on the St. Croix, six combined with one over 20 inches statewide. The bite runs from the second-Saturday-in-May opener (May 9 in 2026) through the fall cooling, and the live tile on the Smells Like Fish guide tracks the water temperature at Stillwater. Smallmouth are average abundance at a 14-inch minimum, open from the same opener with two weeks of catch-and-release first. Flathead and channel catfish are the trophy story: the 70-pound state record, all sizes present, channels open all year and flatheads April 1 through November 30. Lake sturgeon past 50 pounds live in Lake St. Croix below town. Muskie carry a 50-inch minimum here and open June 6.
The lakes you drove past: Bde Maka Ska, five miles from downtown, has a free pier the DNR says lets you “cast to deep water” on “a prime lake for muskies, bass, and walleyes in early summer and fall,” with Harriet and Nokomis a mile further. And the Mississippi below the Ford Dam holds walleye “above normal abundance” that must go back; Pool 2 is catch-and-release for walleye and bass, keep-able for catfish.
Where to fish from shore
- Boom Site, 29 miles: the state access two miles north of Stillwater on Highway 95, free, walleye, smallmouth, catfish, sturgeon.
- Lowell Park, downtown Stillwater: the riverfront park the DNR lists for shore angling, under the lift bridge.
- Afton State Park, 30 miles: bluff-top state park on Lake St. Croix, shore fishing, $7 vehicle permit.
- Bde Maka Ska, 5 miles: free pier to deep water, muskie, walleye, bass, canoe rentals in summer.
- Hidden Falls Regional Park, St. Paul, 7 miles: free Mississippi bank, catfish and smallmouth, walleye released.
- Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park, 15 miles: free Three Rivers park with a pier and an accessible dock, smallmouth on the riprap, pike and walleye on the spillway.
Licences, the border rule, and the limits
Minnesota residents 16 to 89 need a licence, sold online at mn.gov/elicense: $25 for the year, $12 for 24 hours, $14 for 72 hours; nonresidents $51, $14, $36, or $43 for seven days. Under 16 fishes free. The border rule is the one that saves a visitor money: on the St. Croix, Lake St. Croix, and the Mississippi below the cities, a resident of either state with their own licence, or a nonresident with a licence from either state, may fish by hook and line, and the rules of the state whose side you stand on apply. On the Minnesota bank that means walleye at 15 inches, smallmouth at 14, muskie at 50, and the statewide six walleye with one over 20, six bass, 20 sunfish, and 10 crappie. State parks charge the $7 daily vehicle permit; the Boom Site, Lowell Park, and the city lakes charge nothing.
The gear side
Which jig weight holds in the St. Croix current, how to rig a live sunfish for a flathead, what a 50-pound sturgeon eats, and which slip-bobber rig the DNR itself recommends for the city-lake walleye: that is my beat, and it does not belong on a restaurant site. The full Minneapolis fishing guide on Smells Like Fish has the map of all 10 spots with drive times from downtown, the live St. Croix water temperature and Mississippi flow, the licence links, the border and Pool 2 rules, the ramp table, and the tackle list.
Where to eat after
Highway 95 runs from the Boom Site straight down Main Street, so the road home is the restaurant row. These three are on the Top of Minneapolis Downtown Stillwater list. The picks are theirs, not mine.
Sources. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Lake St. Croix east metro fisheries page, Mississippi River Pool 2 page, the downtown fishing pages for Bde Maka Ska and Hidden Falls, licence fees via mn.gov/elicense, and the 2026 season and limit summaries; Wisconsin Administrative Code NR 21.08 on border-water licences; Three Rivers Park District, Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park. Drive distances computed on OpenStreetMap roads from downtown Minneapolis.
Ray Dodson writes for Smells Like Fish. Ray is the pen name of that site's research desk: every recommendation is built from documented angler consensus, state fish and wildlife guidance, and published testing, with sources named in every article. This piece was written for Top of Minneapolis.
