Thunderin Gobbler

I'm sure there are better ways, and these guys will probably tell you, but for me it depends on the size of the minnow. If I'm using a small one, I will usually hook it through the mouth or tail. This allows it to still have plenty of action in the water. On bigger minnows or shiners I almost always hook them in the mouth. I've noticed that if I hook them in the tail they tend to wonder around more and move the line a lot, making it more difficult to detects hits. Like I said, that's just the way I do it. It sounds like they are catching crappie all over the lake around brush piles. There aren't any MDC pile at the CC access, but there are a lot of stick-ups and timber that I've had good luck on in the past. I think if you can get to them you'll be in pretty good shape there too. I'm heading to Roark Bluff tonight so hopefully I will have a report to post Monday. Good Luck!

I got a feeling I'll probably be mainly fishing with minnows for crappie, but do any of you guys have any suggestions as to jig colors? I usually have some success with all chartreuse or red/white/chartreuse. Just curious what works for others.

Heading up there tomorrow evening Bob. I'll take your advice and see what happens. I got a feeling you are right, so if I don't catch anything then we will all know it's just me! lol

Thanks, I will hopefully get back up there this weekend and try it again. I'll definitely use your advice. If that don't work, maybe I'll just have to book a trip with you.

Bob, what part of the lake do you normally take your clients to? Not that I'm gonna barge in on ya, just wondering if I'm fishing the wrong areas. I've been fishing out of either Roark Bluff or CC lately. I just can't seem to find them, and when I do find schools on the graph, they don't seem to want to bite anything. Any suggestions?

Looks like a YES to me. That's good to know. Think I may make it up there for some turkey hunting now.

Went to Roark Bluff Friday night thinking we'd get into some crappie, but once again I can't seem to find them darn things. We fished the Son's Creek arm and went back into the mouth of the 2nd big cove to the right. Our graph showed fish in there like crazy, but no crappie would bite. Finally tied up to some trees and caught 2 small ones (7"). Decided to go back to bass fishing and picked up about 8-10 small bass in about an hour on plastic worms. All of them were from 13.5" to 14.75". No keepers, but still a fun night on the water. Just wish I could find the crappie.

My brother-in-law and I are planning on heading up to the lake this evening to tryand find the crappie. So far we haven't had much luck with them this year, but it sounds like everyone else is catching the daylights out of them right now. I'm not for sure where we'll put in at, either CC or Roark Bluff. Once again, we'll be in red Nitro with a black Johnson 150hp. Feel free to stop by and say hi if any of you guys see us out there. Good luck to all of you going out this weekend.

I'm sorry I forgot to mention you Bill. I just don't get over to that side too often either. Guys, not only does Son Sac Marine do a great job on boat repairs, they they can definitely hook you up on tackle too. I remember one time earlier this year we were looking for a good place to buy minnows on our way to CC. We stopped at the place in Everton and they were selling all DEAD minnows. We went to the Greenfield and they were pretty much sold out. As a last resort that time, we went on up to Son Sac. We got there apparently right after they closed, Bill and his wife were in their car pulling out of the parking lot. They were actually willing to stop, open the store back up, and get all the minnows and snacks that we needed. I've never seen another store take care of us that way before. I just wish they were on the SE side of the lake. They'd get a lot more business from me.

The atmosphere in some of these small tackle shops is definitely not what I would prefer to go into when shopping. I know exactly what you mean by some of them being drunk, I've seen it myself. Plus, why would I want to spend almost twice as much on a crappie jig at these stores as I would at WalMart or Bass Pro? There is one store in Willard where the guy will order whatever you want from Bass Pro and turn around and sell it to you significantly cheaper than what BPS does. Just doesn't make sense to me why some of these places think they have to charge so much, and then wonder why they can't stay in business.

You know Gilly, I've heard that too about all kinds of businesses around the lake area. If you aren't local, then it seems like you don't get much support. There are quite a few small tackle shops around the lake, but I really don't deal with them much. I live in Springfield so it's cheaper for me to just go to WalMart and get what I need most of the time.

The only place I have ever used around the lake is Son Sac Marine (I think that's right). It's on I believe H hwy north of Greenfield, between there and the twin bridges. We took my brother-in-law's boat up there last year for a little motor work and got a pretty good deal and good service. Sorry I don't know any of the others around there.

Yeah No Joke Bob. Feel free to share the wealth of knowledge you have with me too. hahaha I need all the help I can get. I'm going up to probably Cedar Ridge Saturday morning or CC to see what I can find.

Straw Hat, I just realized that I probably saw you up there Saturday and didn't even realize it. We got up there sometime between 5 and 6pm. It would have been a lot earlier, but we had a wheel bearing go out on the trailer and it was a pain trying to get it back to the house to fix it. Fishing for us was not so great. I hate it when I don't get to fish the way I want. I've been catching lots of bass up there every time out, but for some reason my other two partners (dad and brother-in-law) wanted to do something different. We crappie fished for about a half hour with no luck and then threw spinnerbaits the rest of the night. Not a single bite!!! I finally got to throw a plastic worm is the short distance between the bridge and the ramp and had 3 hits. I think I could have done pretty good with plastics the other day.

Either one would be ok in my opinion. The only problem with Son's creek is getting from the ramp to the creek. That is pretty open water and can tend to get a little rough on you. I've fished both areas quite a bit and you should NO problems at CC. Lots of good fishing in that area right now too.

I know it's a little late now, but here are a couple other spots to get minnows. Round Two Outfitters in Willard is a good place. I am pretty good friends with the guy. He has a hunting/fishing consignment shop out there and has a lot of tackle and bait. He can also order anything you want from Bass Pro and sell it to you significantly cheaper. (I had him order some plastic worms for me a few weeks back and I got them for right at a buck cheaper per bag.) His shop is right off of HWY 160 on Jackson street. It's easy to get in and out of with a boat trailer too. Another place for minnows is the Handy Hut in Everton. Not much of a selection there, but as a last resort they can usually hook you up.

What is the length limit on walleye in stockton? I always thought that it was 18" like Table Rock, but everything I am finding online says 15". Not that I can catch them anyway, but I don't want to take a chance of getting busted with a short fish.

I know of 3 that would probably do it, including myself.

Thanks for the report Marty, I'm gonna try it again this weekend. Just like we talked when I fished with you in May, I am really getting tired of Junior Jaws. It's fun catching bass all day, but they are starting to get annoying. It's pretty bad when your plastic worm is longer than the fish that bites it.

Thanks Straw Hat, I am trying to get my wife to let me fish tomorrow night and if she does then I may head up to CC and look for some crappie. You gonna be out anywhere?

I haven't checked it myself, but everyone I have talked to said it was in the upper 80's too. I like the sound of 80 degrees better, but it's gotta be higher than that. I will try and check for myself saturday.

I'm heading up Saturday night. Probably either go to CC or Cedar Ridge to bass fish. Would like to do some crappie fishing, but can't find the darn things.

Thanks for the update. I don't usually go that way, but it is definitely good to know. Maybe everyone else will go that way anyway and leave more fish for me. lol

Kinda what I was thinking too Gilly!

That wouldn't be a half bad idea to me. It would be nice to learn a little about walleye fishing.