Professor Jim

I'm still trying to learn these flood control lakes and Stockton in particular. So, I'm wondering how to fish the rising water levels that we'll be facing early next week. My best guess is to throw the weedless/treeless Chompers jig into the shoreline bushes and around downed trees for largemouth. Is that a good strategy as the water comes up or am I missing something?

I'm going to Quetico with my 14 year old and a couple other guys. We'll see some other people, but most stay in the Boundary Waters. We'll be up on North Bay of Basswood Lake. My only concern is the weather being cold and windy, but there's nothing I can do about that except prepare for just about anything.

Crap, I need to change my Terry Redlin calendar next to my desk, from April to May. The second Wednesday in April was the 14th, the one in May is the 12th. Oops! BTW - The May picture is Evening Rendezvous which has two canoeists approaching a campsite where a fire awaits. Sigh...one month to Canada.

Put in at CC around 10:30 and fished until 2:30. Visited a deeper cove up the lake about 2 miles and caught at 4.5 lb. walleye and some bass on a 6" pumpkin Finesse Worm with a 3/16 oz. Shakey jig head. Caught another bass in a shallow cove and then moved to the shoreline closer to CC and fished around bushes and downed trees with a green Chompers jig and caught many bass. All in all a good day on the water, even if the wind was a bit irritating at times. It does seem that the Shakey jig head helps imitate a leech. Garlic spray also seemed to help as we must have been fishing in an Italian neighborhood.

That's a funny Canada story. I'm heading to Quetico Provincial Park (north of the Boundary Waters) on June 5th with my son and some friends. Hope to hit the smallmouth on the rocks like we did a couple years ago at this time. We didn't count total fish, only those over 18" and I wound up with 23 in the week. Fun times. Because of the terrorists, we now need passports to come home from Canada. What a pain in the butt. Hope mine doesn't get wet during the journey. With my 15 year old in the bow of the canoe, it does seem probable.

Thanks for the info. I'll be checking the mail order leech business as $4.00/doz. is expensive. They're usually about the same price as crawlers or you can buy them for $18/pound up north. However, this is Springfield and it might have to do in a pinch.

I know this is only somewhat timely as it's been a couple days. However, I put in Friday morning at CC just in time for the cold front. Caught some crappie shallow around timber and started moving around to find better/more of them. Finally found a bunch in a deeper cove somewhat up the lake from the ramp. Most were caught in 8-12' of water on a 3/16 oz jig head with a 3" green pumpkin and chartreuse grub. This usuallykeeps the small ones away, but not that day. Caught about 400" of crappie, 9" at a time. At least I wasn't bored. Is there any pattern to finding the bigger ones? I only had two that were legal and I disgustedly put those back into the lake.

Does anyone sell leeches in these parts? I found some walleye sitting on the bottom in a cove and would love to have some leeches to put on a slip bobber or jig. Any ideas other than "Yankee go home?" I am going to try a Shakey Head tomorrow as a second or third best option.

For what it's worth, I can second what Bob posted. We put in just as the front went through and had all sorts of fun in the rain. It seemed we were either "in" the fish or not. Not much in between. Ended up with 6 keeper crappie and a bunch of short ones. And two bass in the 2 lb. range and too many shorts to count. I missed what must have been a walleye that took drag and broke my brand new 8 lb. florocarbin line. Alas, the one that got away. The cool thing was that my 12 year old played hooky from school that afternoon and caught one of the bigger bass (we kept his to show mom). He told me that fishing was awesome, but boring sometimes. I let him steer the boat on the way in (my hand on the throttle). Going back today.

We put in around 5 and fished Turnback with only a couple shorts to show for the effort. Got out of there and went into the lake and caught a mix of crappie (mostly smallish) and shorts. The bass were hugging the banks and the crappie were all over the place. Caught all fish on a 1/8 oz jig head with a 3" green pumpkin or watermelon grub. Next time I'll bring the minnows as my youngest son (11) will be along. Question: We saw lots of fish jumping clear of the water. They were slender and white and come in various sizes. They weren't feeding and appeared to be bass. Is that what they are?

What kind of structure are the crappie holding on? I'm taking my wife tomorrow afternoon and any advice would be appreciated.

Fished from 10:00 - 1:30, caught 7 shorts, 1 nice walleye, and a few crappie. The Creek was 61 degrees and stained. It's also down about a foot since last Friday. Caught the bass and walleye on a black grub and 1/4 oz. bullet head and the crappie on a 2" green pumpkin grub on a pink 1/16 oz. round head. Bass where on the channel edge and crappie in the brush near the channel. Didn't find any crappie on the banks. All in all, an okay day catching, but a great day fishing while I learn this lake. One more thing. Most people coming back from way up Turnback were reporting only minimal white bass action. Those caught were mostly smallish and I didn't run into anyone with more than about 6 of them to show for fishing all morning. It could mean they just aren't biting or the run might be ending.

I'm not new to the area, having been here 12 years. However, I am new to fishing these lakes more often than 2-3 times a year. I've been pulling the boat to northern, MN every year for a two week trip and have finally come to the conclusion that it's crazy to basically ignore the great lakes around here. So, I'll be looking for advice and giving reports primarily for Stockton and Pomme. I'm also a professor and have time available during the week which means I don't always have someone to go along. Anyone in a similar situation is welcome to get in touch.

I'm going to Stockton tomorrow in search of bass and crappie. Since I've only been there a couple times with limited success, I'm hoping for some advice. Without giving away any secret spots or causing too much crowding in a particular spot, can someone clue me in on what to look for including general location this time of year? Also, what baits would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks for the help and for the link. Most likely I'm going to Stockton Thursday evening and Friday morning. Will try some coves for bass and brush piles for crappie. Being with 20 or so other boats over a bunch of tires sounds too crowded for my blood. Is one area of the lake more productive right now? I'm planning to avoid the main lake to keep out of the wind as best I can.

I'm relatively new to fishing Stockton and need some help. I've heard of the fish attractors put in by the Corps, but don't know where the "tire farm" I've heard referred to is located. It sounds like a good place to catch crappie most of the time. Any help would be appreciated.