dennis boatman's Blog

I love Stockton Lake,I fish there regularly! And I too am bitten by the Walleye bug! Hasn't been until late last year til I caught Walleye on command. *( AND YES,,,IT'S ALOT OF TROLLING!)

First,,,we troll the main channels in 25' of water off the rock bluffs, and in and around the points (in the summer) and use 15 to 20' deep diving crank baits,,,,and finding the right one is the hard part! These fish will only bite a certain color during a certain condition, and you have to try MANY colors to get the right one!

But once you catch a Walleye, and no,,,,not just a bite, or a drum! But a keeper Walleye, you'll need to triangulate the school, and the small males will school,,,so you will catch quite a few,,,but many will be 13-1/2". If you are lucky, you'll get 4 keepers, fish may be small, but it could be relatively quick that this happens if you do it right!

Once you catch one, throw in a buouye, and then troll back past that spot you caught that fish about 100', and then throw in a second buouye. Then swing out about 50 feet and at 30 degrees from the second buoye away from shore, and drop the third buouye. And there will be your triangle! Then just drift over that triangle with bottom bouncers meanwhile throwing that same crank baits over the top,,,,and you "should" catch about 6 or 8 Walleye pretty quick.

Also, Walleye like to hang out in the same spots, so you can mark that spot with a GPS,,,,and hit it again later! Also,,,,look for similar conditions,,,go to the spots you caught fish on clear days,,,and go to those other spots you caught fish on clowdy days!

But like Crappie,,,,Walleye are condition specific,,,,you'll get like results in like areas.

Then again,,,,don't take my word for it,,,,I am just starting to figure things out!

And it's taken me years so far,,but hey, that's why they call it fishin' and not catchin'.

I have fished Stockton lake for 30 years and have NEVER ...yes NEVER caught a Walleye!!!! Supposed to be the "premier walleye lake in Missouri" SHOW ME a walleye then... and tell me how to catch one as well. , countless hours spent trolling the dam, the points, the flats, the drop offs... 50 feet vs 5 feet...cloudy/sunny/choppy waters.....i have tried it all. not happening for me. HELP..

Walleye on that lake are tough to figure out. Tiger pattern deep cranks while trolling have worked for me, but most of what I catch comes on a minnow or crawler tipped jig. Dropoff areas or flats adjacent to dropoffs seem to hold the most walleye in my experience. But i'm no expert and I don't always find them.