Thunderin Gobbler

Haven't really been trying to target walleye that much. Mostly just crappie or bass fishing and hoping to pick a few up, but that hasn't worked for me. I am actually coming up sometime saturday anyway, so I may try to go to the weigh-in if I make it up in time. Not sure where we are planning to fish though.

I know you're being funny eyeman, but I would have to agree with the no walleye part. I can't seem to catch them things to save my life. I've only ever caught one, and it was about 12". Maybe that just means I should stick with bass fishing. I usually have decent luck with them.

Horrible fishing? I don't know where Gilly has been fishing at, but fishing on Stockton has been pretty good to me. As far as the submerged debris in the water, that is a big part of what makes the fishing so great, in my opinion. If Stockton was a clear lake, with no trees or brush piles, then it would sure be a lot tougher to catch fish. I love having the submerged timber in parts of the lake. If I want to fish an area without the trees, Stockton has that too. I've never hit any trees hard enough to do any damage to boat or prop.

I am quite a bit younger than probably most on here, so I don't have as much experience on the lake. But I have noticed myself how much busier the lake is getting. I remember when I was little we would always go camping down at Cape Fair on Table Rock. There was 1 ramp, the marina, and a couple docks hooked to the marina. Now, the entire area is nothing but docks, and a huge restaurant out there with the marina. I used to night bass fish on the bank around the ramp and would catch my limit every night, but now I don't think there is even a place right there that you are allowed to fish. I know Stockton is nowhere near that stage yet, but as fast as Table Rock has transformed, we'd better take advantage of what little "peaceful" fishing we have left. Eventually, those pleasure boaters are going to move north too, and then Stockton will be getting really busy!!! I'm just glad that most of them are nice enough to let us fish without disturbing us too much!

I've done quite a bit of bowhunting around Masters. Lots of deer up there, and not a whole lot of pressure during bow season from what I could tell. Another area that looks promising is the land right there around the CC boat ramp. From the road it looks pretty good, and I may try that out as well this year.

Good luck.

I've bass fished CC the last 2 weekends. Been going up and evening fishing the bluffs. We've been catching a very few small ones. Only one keeper between the three of us. There are a ton of crappie back in there around the trees, but we have not fished them much. Last weekend I ended up having to tie a small rattle trap on my bass pole to catch them. Couldn't cast worth anything, but did start picking up a few decent crappie though.

Thanks for the report Bob. Sure seems quiet around here after the PETA topic closed. Guess everyone got mad. Maybe that means now we can get back to fishing!

Well said Lilley!

MstStudent, that is awesome. It that actually posted on campus? And by the way, I think Bob really picked a good topic the present us with. It was starting to get a little slow around here for a few days.

You are right Eric, there is a big difference in the "ethical" sportsman and some of the commercial operations. I would never condone the clubbing of the baby seals, and I wouldn't expect anyone else to either. My biggest problem with PETA is that they are too extreme on most subjects. They do have some valid points, but I think they go way to far most of the time to be taken seriously by the public. The ones really believe them are the ones who are uneducated about what they are saying or simply don't take the time to do the research themselves. It's way too easy to believe what you hear, whether truth or not. I see it as my responsibility to educate the general public about the true impact hunting and fishing have on our country's fish and wildlife. That is why I am a MO Hunter Education Instructor, as well as a National Wild Turkey Federation chapter president.

Eric, I would agree with the fact that there is a lot of animal abuse going on. But the difference I am talking about is the hunting and fishing side of it. Puppy mills need to be regulated (or stopped), and that is one of the very few things I would agree with the animal rights activists on. As far as them being able to stop our hunting and fishing, don't think for a minute that it can't happen, because it has in some places in the country already. Just not here yet. The only way to stop it is for sportsmen to stick together and fight back when necessary.

As a matter of fact not only have I seen the footage, I have been in several of the biggest livestock feedlots and packing plants in the country. Of course I didn't like everything I saw, but I can say from first hand experience that many of the videos taken in these places are obviously fabricated to make them look worse. The biggest problem is that PETA is getting people like you to sympathize with them( if even just a little bit.) Their biggest objective is to turn sportsmen against each other. And boy is it working!!! One instance is the debate over bass fishermen keeping or releasing bass. Some use C&R methods only, while other keep what they catch. Neither one is wrong. Another is hunters arguing with each other about whether or not its right to hunt "high fenced" ranches. Once again, I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. But we are doing exactly what PETA and the Humane Society want us to do- fight with each other while they silently push their legislation through to take away our rights without us knowing it.

I want to reply about the comment of it being despicable how we raise our livestock. But I don't want to take away from Bob's original post so I will keep my mouth shut on that topic. Just kinda hits a nerve with me. I'm with most of you guys. I think PETA is way out of their league. As I said before, they never have any real factual backing for what they say. In my personal opinion, I don't see how any true sportsman can honestly sympathize with anything they say. Get the facts first, because they sure don't.

I think I gotta agree with you guys here!!!!!!!! Duh! PETA is one of the most non-fact based organizations I know. Like Straw Hat, I have had my share of run-ins with them. I unfortunately work with a few of them! If a fish is going to die after being properly hooked, then why is it that almost every time I go out I catch one that already has a hole in its lip from a hook( especially crappie). I don't agree with the Oklahoma research about the percentage of fish dieing either. I know we talked about it on here a few weeks ago, but our stockton fish are not near that bad off. Being a hunter, and especially a NWTF representative I hear all kinds of BS from these people. They never have any facts to back themselves, but when sportsmen present the facts. they don't believe them. Sure am glad they won't be out fishing (sea kittening) any time soon. Jason

Well said Straw Hat. Champ188 we'll all be thinking about you, and hope you have a speedy recovery so you can get back up there on the lake and catch some more fish. We all know fishing/hunting is the best medicine anyway.

Well I didn't end up coming that way like I'd said Zac. With the wind that picked up, my brother in law decided to go to CC instead where it was calmer. We got up there about 6:00pm and fished until about 11:00. We thought we'd start out doing some bass fishing and them go after the crappie. I think we ended up with 3 bass (1 keeper) and 3 short crappie. Our mistake was deciding to start crappie fishing while the bass were still biting. The one keeper was a good one though. I caught a 6lb largemouth on a 10" plastic worm at the end of one of the bluffs. Made the trip worthwhile.

Zac, I haven't had any luck yet this year on crappie, but I have been hearing the same thing about the depth. 20-25ft is supposedly where they are. I am putting in at Cedar Ridge tonight and considered heading up into Maze Creek, but not sure. I'll be in a maroon Nitro. Feel free to say hi, or run us off, whatever. Hopefully we can both find some crappie tonight.

Thanks guys, I'll check out both of those things. Straw Hat, we've been running Sea Foam in it every tank. It seems to be getting a little better every time we take it out, so maybe it's just a matter of getting that old stuff run through and cleaning the lines out.

Thanks HogBob. We have noticed that it does run better trimmed all the way down. We try to make sure it is down each time, but it still does it some. Hopefully it's not the powerpack you mentioned. Don't want to spend that kind of money if we can keep from it. We are going to Cedar Ridge tonight if the storms are not severe. Will post results tomorrow.

I am having some motor issues with a bass boat that my brother-in-law just bought. I figured with all the helpful insight the OAF members have on here, maybe someone could help us with the boat too. He just bought a '93 Nitro with a Johnson 150hp on it. For some reason, we are having trouble getting it to stay running. It always seems to start right up, especially when we first launch, but when we try to engage it in gear it dies. It almost seems like it is choking itself out, but I really have no clue. After dying a few times it will finally stay running and let us take off. Once we do get to take off, it runs like a top. Sounds perfect then, with plenty of power. Do any of you have any ideas as to what could possibly be causing it? I wanted to check here first before we take it in to a shop and pay a few hundred bucks on it. Thanks guys, Jason Bussard

Thanks Straw Hat. I will consider that too. I'd rather go to the deeper water personally where I at least have a better shot at finding more keepers. I also heard they are catching a bunch of good crappie back in son's creek. Anybody going back in there?

Thanks Predator, may have to try that out.

Thinking about coming up Friday night to try some crappie fishing. About the only place I have had much luck catching them is around CC. Although most of them are short. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could try out? The boat I will probably be in only has a 5 gallon tank, so unfortunately I won't be able to go too terribly far from any of the ramps.

Predator, You're not the only one who can't find the walleye. I've fished that lake my whole life, and have only caught one walleye, a small one this year. I haven't been able to catch any crappie either this year. Always went to CC under the bridge in the past and caught hundreds of shorts, but haven't been to that part yet this year. I'm thinking about going Friday night back to that are to see if I can either find some crappie or whites. And from the way it sounds, might even find some largemouths in there. Thanks for the report.