Kevin Wagner

True that! We are either really lucky, really persistent, or both!

Thanks for the reply. I am looking forward to the squarebill bite getting better.

Well said. That makes perfect sense. Sometimes I don't think about all the variables.

Hammer is back! Thanks for the report. I went Saturday night, but we were delayed in getting there due to the storms that were rolling through. Started fishing around 7:40 in the back of a creek arm. Caught 10 in the shallow water back there on a craw. Went back out to the main lake after dark and caught some more on a big worm and finess jig with craw trailer. Caught a bunch, but only 5 keepers. Bite was much slower after 11 PM. I agree with you and Walcrabass, the bite is good, and it is just going to get better as the lake cools.

Interesting stuff Straw Hat.I especially like your notes. But I am not sure I believe that bass are less likely to eat crawdads when the water is clearer. I think a crawdad is a meal that most bass cannot pass up, regardless of water clarity.

Thanks for the report. I mostly fish at night, but have thought about trying the daytime fishing. Did you catch any bass on the squarbill? I had caught caught some before dark on a deep diver, but didnt' have any strikes on a squarebill.

Walcrabass, I too love to jig fish. Dragging that jig around just makes me think I am going to get bit! Is the jig you use an "A" style, Arkie style? I do lose a couple of football jigs here and again. Been using a variety of trailers, but the ones that seem to work the most right now have a lot of action. I was lucky enough to go fishing Thursday and Sunday night and had good luck both nights. The fish are definitely in the spots you described. We even caught a couple of Walleye (babies) on Sunday night. For everybody out there, the Bass are definitely pretty active right now, and you can catch a lot of them. Good luck to your Boy! I am a huge Football fan (Chiefs!) myself. But if I had to choose, well, that is why they invented the DVR!

Greatest. Post. Ever.

Thanks for the report Binman. These reports help me a lot!

Oh yeah. There were at least 3 or 4 boats down by the Dam with incredibly bright lights and the generators running so loud that I thought the Bass were going to ask them to be quiet! Since it was so dark out, these boats realy stood out even a long way off. No offense to any bow fishermen out there, but it was not a pretty sight when you are not the ones doing it. (I have done it before, and it is pretty fun)

Definitely a big thank you for passing this info along!

I fished Saturday from 7 PM to about 2 AM from Point 5 to the Dam. Found a really good football jig bite before dark. In the first hour I caught 9 Bass in about 15' to 27' deep on the jig. They would be loaded up in certain spots around main lake points (ledges or brush). After dark, the bite slowed until about 11 PM, and then we started getting a pretty consistent bite on craws. I tried a big worm and spinnerbait also. Had a few bites on the worm, but nothing to brag about. Overall, I was surprised how good the bite was on a night with no moon. We caught around 30 bass, but only 4 of those were keepers, the biggest of which was 3 lbs. Wouldn't have won a tournament, but just glad to be back on the water after "another" week off! Somehow, I need to find a way to fish more! Good fishing everybody!

Now that is funny!

BTW, I have been known to put a few in the water myself! My golf handicap is me.

Waterpossum, I honestly didn't see any Bluegill spawning where I was fishing. That doesn't mean that they weren't, I just didn't see them. I felt like the bass I were after were chasing shad more. Could have just been the the areas I was fishing? I would bet you are right though.

Your report makes me feel like we didn't stick it out long enough! Although I am not sure our young Basser could have made it to 4 AM! Those are some really nice fish. Too bad you weren't fishing a tournament. Thanks for posting what you were doing as always Walcrabass. These reports help me a lot.

Well, after a month of NOT being able to go fishing, I finally got a chance to go last Saturday. I was pumped due to the inactivity and the Full Moon, but I should have tempered my expectations. We had a ton of bites, but only landed 13 bass, 3 of those keepers. The water temp was down a bit (around 85 degrees) since the last time I was at Stockton. But surprisingly, most of my fish came from shallow water. We arrived at the lake around 3 PM, and I caught a keeper on a deep diving crankbait off a main lake point right off the bat. There were some bass cruising up shallow along the shoreline there, and we caught a few shorts on lizards and grubs. Ran down past High Point and tried some timber areas that sit close to the channel. Had a few bites on big worms, but not as many as I would have liked. The water was very murky down there, and so we headed back up lake where the water had better clarity. We then caught some more fish off main lake points where the wind was blowing into them, creating a pretty good current. If you can find some shad in the area, I could usually find some bass. These bass seemed to be suspended off these points. I had a lot of short hits as the lure was leaving the area (quick reel back to the boat) where the bass seemed to hit and spit the lure so fast they were hard to hook. At twilight we fished a creek arm, and caught a few more decent fish, but I think it is still to early for a ton of bass to be back in these spots. Most of them are still out on the main lake. Went back out on the main lake and there were boats on every spot that I wanted to fish, so we got off the lake at 11 PM. Overall, it was just awesome to be back out on the lake getting my line wet! Next time I am going to do what Bob says and hit all the brush piles I can find! On a side note, we took my fishing buddy's 10 year old son for his first time bass fishing, and I have to say he did a great job! Caught a 12" fat bellied Kentucky on a lizard for his first "no assist" bass! Happy to see it. I didn't have the heart to tell him that once fishing gets in your blood, you can never get it out! Good fishing everybody.

I did finally get to read it all, and it was very informative stuff. One of the best things about fishing is that there is always something else to learn! Thank you both for helping me out with that.

Thanks for the report. I assumed that the Bass are still sitting in those brush piles, but I am having trouble finding the good ones. I'll keep looking!

Straw Hat and Walcrabass, Thanks so much for adding to this post! I still haven't been able to read through it all the links! This is why I love this site, there are so many folks willing to share their knowledge. You guys are awesome!

Thanks Dutch.

Thanks Eric. You rock!

Your reply is good to know as well. I did not know that it wasn't even a possibility. Is the spot/smallmouth hybrid what is sometimes called the "Meanmouth" bass? Thanks for your reply!

Here recently in one of our discussion threads, we were talking about the numbers of Kentucky Bass caught, and the existence of a possible hybrid bass in Stockton. I was curious if I could find something out from the local fisheries Biologist who manages Stockton, and he was kind enough to help us out (truly, we are lucky to have such an awesome conservation department in our State!). Here is what he had to say... "We annually sample the black bass fishery at Stockton Lake, and our data does not suggest a trend of increasing abundance of Kentucky (spotted) bass in Stockton Lake. On the contrary, our black bass sample in the spring of 2010 contained the lowest percentage of spotted bass during the last 15 years of sampling. Spotted bass made up 3% of sampled bass in the Big Sac Arm and 6% of sampled bass in the Little Sac Arm in 2010. For perspective, the 15 year averages of the percentage of spotted bass sampled in the Big Sac and Little Sac Arms are 11% and 25% respectively. Due to the extremely high waters at Stockton this last spring, we were unable to collect a black bass sample for 2011. As you said, certain anglers catching more spotted bass the past few years might be associated more closely with how or when they are fishing. It could also be where they are fishing, including which part of the lake and which micro-habitat they are fishing. Also, you might have noticed that the past few years there has been a higher abundance of 10 to 14 inch bass in Stockton Lake. This is a result of a large year class of largemouth bass produced in the high waters of 2008. Some anglers might be misidentifying some of these smaller largemouth bass as spotted bass due to the sheer numbers they are catching and that smaller largemouth bass are more difficult to identify. To answer your last question, we have not noticed a large number of largemouth bass- spotted bass hybrids during our surveys. I would be interested as to which characteristics you are seeing in fish identified as hybrids. The characteristics that I prefer to use to separate the largemouth and spotted bass is the jaw structure and presence of ventrolateral stripes. As you know, the mouth of the largemouth extends slightly or well past the eye and the mouth of a spotted bass ends at the eye. Ventrolateral stripes are clearly present on spotted bass and absent or faint on largemouth bass. Using the tongue patch can be useful with experience, but often confuses folks and results in misidentification, as a certain percentage of largemouth have a small tongue patch." This is really interesting info for us folks that fish Stockton regularly. I found it interesting that a lot of times the facts are far different that what I "feel" is going on. Also, if anyone has caught a fish that they feel is a hybrid, let me know the characteristics (or a picture would be great), and I will forward onto the MDC. I want to thank Adam and the MDC for all the hard work they do to keep our fisheries some of the best in the country! Also, this might be useful to some of you: http://mdc.mo.gov/fishing/fish-catch/fish-id/bass-identification If anyone has anything to add, I appreciate everyone's comments. Good fishing everybody!

Hammer, How deep were you fishing with the single spin on that deep channel bank? It looks we have at least one more week of extreme temperatures, so I am planning on sticking to some deeper offshore structure if I can find enough of it. I haven't been able to go for the last two weeks, but I hope to go again soon. I talked to a tournament pro the other day who says he has been catching his fish fairly shallow, like 10' of water. Of course this is daytime at Table Rock, but it still makes me re-think a little bit. Plus, I think the thermocline is less defined at the Rock because of all the water that has pulled through there this summer. I think the Stockton Bass are still sitting in those brushpiles waiting for fall! Have fun re-carpeting your ride! If I see you out, I promise to stop and introduce myself. Thanks again for the reports!