James in Springfield

What is the "cc"?

Went out to Stockton last weekend and tried catfishing. Found a little side road that ran to a gravel beach that descended down quickly into deep water. Had 6 poles out, 2 with worms, 2 with livers, and 2 with shrimp, not a single bite in about 3 hours. We did catch a crawfish that was hanging onto one liver when we finaly gave up and reeled in. I've never been skunked on Stockton, it was rather dissapointing. I've heard people mention in another post fishing off the "cc" for cats. What is the "cc"?

Hey Thanks, EXCELLENT post. I think I will print this off and put in my binder with other fishing spots and good baits to use. I use to Catfish Norfork Lake a LOT when I lived in West Plains. My Uncle had a bass boat and we'd just float along listening to the radio and catching cats from sundown to sun-up. But having moved here I don't know any good spots, and I am not familiar with catfishing from shore. So thanks for all this information. I guess over the next few weeks I'll find time to go fish the rip rap since that seems to be where I'll find the cats. I've also heard that fishing Bass along rip rap is good too, so It'll keep my less patient friends busy. Again, thanks very much, that is a fantastic little guide for catfishing in this area.

Went fishing today off the dock behind Mutton Creek Marina (no I don't have a boat). As usual the Crappie were biting non-stop at that location. We had two rigs apiece (four total) set up for Crappie and could barely keep all four hooks in the water we were catching them so fast. Only a few keepers, but right at night fall I did bring in a 14in Crappie which is a new personal best. For about an hour between 4 and 5 we switched over to fishing for smallies. For this hour we caught small mouth non-stop, getting a hit with almost every cast. I was getting constant strikes and my buddy wasn't until we figured I was using a bright colored lure and he wasn't. We switched him over to a brighter color and he started bringing them in too, but no keepers. Doesn't matter with small mouth though, they are still fun as hell to catch. Big surprise tho, we could not keep the Walleye off our hooks. Our rigs that were set up for crappie and baited with minnows were getting hit by little 9-12 inch Walleye off and on all night, we probably caught at least 10 of them. On little kid fishing in the same hole, with a minnow on a hook and a comically oversized bobber (who was playing more than fishing) landed a 15in Walleye. I watched it with my own eyes, as I threw back another 8in Walleye you could say I was jealous. I also had three Catfish poles in the water cast out into the lake a ways the whole time. One was baited with a fillet of Blue-gill that I hooked, and the other two were baited with raw shrimp. We were out for probably 5 hours and I only got one hit. I was kinda disappointed to see well-baited hooks in the water just left to sit for hours and hours and no bites. The one fish I did hook on the catfish rig never made it into my net. He managed to break my 14 lb test, so at least I know I hooked a big one (or a turtle.) So here is my free advice, if you want to catch Crappie and Small-Mouth by the bucketload and aren't really looking for keepers, and you don't have a boat, fish at Mutton Creek Marina. But here is what I would like from someone in return, someone with more experience on the lake. I NEED a good catfish hole. Does anyone know a good spot to set up the law chair, drag out the cooler, cast your lines and B.S. for a while and catch a few catfish here and there while you're at it? The problem is that I am willing to experiment with new fishing spots until I figure it out, but nobody else that I go with is willing to dedicate 5+ hours to testing out a new catfish hole that may skunk you just so you can mark it off the possible spots. Any advice on cats on Stockton without a boat would be greatly appreciated.