Kevin Wagner

Man, it sounds like you did all you could to catch 'em. I was curious if the fishing got better after that Saturday night that I went. I wasn't able to go last weekend, and possibly not this weekend, but maybe I am not missing anything!? Did you get any bites at all? This heat is really keeping them deep. If I get to go Saturday, I plan to fish from Cedar Ridge to the Dam, keeping as much to the deep water as possible. Maybe these fish are following bait schools around to feed more during the daytime? Anybody catching any bass during the daytime? Thanks again Walcrabass for posting. I am going back to the drawing board...

Walcrabass, First off, thank you so much for the feedback you have been giving on these posts. I have found them very helpful, and they have given me some new ideas on stuff to try at night. I agree that a lot of the short fish are kentuckies. Earlier in the year, I went a couple of times during the daytime, and probably 90% of the fish I caught were kentuckies that i caught on a shakey head. This was off main lake, or secondary points in about 15' to 25' of water. I have been catching more big mouths since I am back to night fishing, but I will try to keep track. I am a little curious myself. Sometimes it has been really hard to tell which is it, because they may have atypical traits from both. I could try emailing the fishing biologist for this area. They may tell us what they have been seeing during their shocking sessions on relative numbers.

Hammer time, I agree that it is really good to have some more posts about night fishing. It has helped me a lot in getting on some more fish. I too am using a 3/8 bullet and find that it has helped me be more productive in deeper waters, but we still are catching a ton of short fish. In my opinion, so much of Stockton has very little cover, so during this incredibly hot period, these fish are sticking as close to any cover they can find, be it brush pile, timber, or whatever. I always look for anything "different" that might hold fish. The brush piles I was fishing are not marked, but are just ones friends have shown me, or we found by going over the top of them. If you can find one in around 20' of water with a channel drop near by that goes down to 40' or 50' of water, it is usually gold. I was reading a fishing log from somone who was fishing Lake of the Ozarks lately, and he said the bite was best from Midnight to 5 AM. That seems about right from my experience last weekend. That gives these fish a lot of time to move up shallow. He also mentioned how timing was so critical in fishing different spots. You could show an hour later and catch them when you didn't before. The fish still need to eat, but are going to be selective in their feeding times, or we have to trigger them with bigger meals. Usually if you can get bit in one of those brush piles, it triggers another bass to hit as well. But if you don't get bit again fairly quick, you may as well just move on. After dark, I haven't had as much luck fishing the piles, I would rather fish flats nearby that have smaller rock that they roam for dads. Just my two (or three) cents! Thanks Hammer.

I was lucky enough to go Fishing both Friday and Saturday, and it was a different story each night. Friday we put out of Mutton around 7:30 PM and headed up to Point 5. Saw fish all over the graph, but couldn't coax any into biting there. Plenty of boats out as I think everyone loves being at the lake on a full moon! Next we went to a deep brush pile and I caught an nice 3 lber on a 3/4 oz green pumpking jig and trailer right before dark. Had another good one on there but he spit my jig back at me at Mach 10! We then proceeded to fish a main lake point as the Moon was rising. The fish were very actively feeding and we got a ton of bites. Caught most of our fish on 12" or bigger worms. Also caught some on craw baits. We caught around 35 - 40 bass with only 3 keepers. Got off the water at 4:30 AM. Saturday was a completely different tale. We started around 5:30 PM, and only caught one keeper and a short on a steep bluff before dark. There was a bass tournament putting out of the North Mutton ramp, so we had lots of competition for spots all night. Went back in Son's Creek and fished a channel bank with a couple of bites and no fish. Went back out to the main lake and only caught 4 more shorts. Left at 12:30 with a total of only 6 fish caught and wishing I had tried the other arm of the lake. But we did have a "funny thing happened to me on the way to Chicken Rock" story as a pontoon boat with some slightly enebrebriated women decided to flash us as we were passing them by Roark Bluff! Please don't flag me! I am just telling what happened on our fishing trip! Anyway, I would love to know what the tournament guys weighed that night, as we didn't have much luck. If any of you are reading this post, please let us know. I know that somebody had to be catching some good ones Saturday. Once again, I hope this post helps.

Thanks for another great, very helpful report for us night fisherman. If the stars align on Friday I will be headed out to Mutton again after work. I will definitely target some channel swing banks, but I am hoping to try to fish a few good brush piles as well. Hopefully there will be some big ones in there.

I didn't get to go this past weekend, but it sounds like the bass were hit and miss. Also, I want to say thanks for all the great info in this thread guys! I am going to try to go on the full moon this Friday. Hopefully the Bass will be more active then.

I would take a 6# any day! Last time I caught one that big was last fall. Man, I really need to fish more!

Totally agree on the heat! It could cool down just a bit for us anglers, but that is why I fish at night anyway! I really appreciate what all you guys do in posting your reports, and I hope to contribute as much as possible. I am a tag along fisherman and at the mercy of my fishing buddies, but I eat, sleep, and breathe bass fishing, so I will post as much as I can. It seems like most of the fishermen on this forum are Crappie or Walley fishermen, but hopefully we can get some more Bass guys to tell us what they are catching them on. I watch the Table Rock forum as well, and those guys are not shy in sharing what is working for them, which I think is great. It saves a ton of chucking and winding for guys who don't have as much T.O.W., and improves the overall knowledge of that fishery. Stockton is a great bass lake, but it can be tough to figure out what the bass are doing sometimes! Any advice at all is always helpful.

I would fish watermelon red or watermelon candy, either one. I was using the regular size hog, not the super or baby. I threw a watermelon crawfish netbait 11" worm and a plum colored 10" powerworm in same areas, but with no bites. I think the extra action of the hog was just working better that day, plus it has such a big profile. Even little bass were wanting to hit it. Most of the time, I think Stockton bass like brush hogs and lizards. Can't explain it! The only worms I throw much anymore are the big worms during the summer and fall. At night, I mostly get bit on craw baits (I like the Yum and Berkely stuff the best). But, I am sold on throwing a big swimbait. You don't get as many bites, but the ones you do will usually be quality. I make sure and put a split ring on the swimbait so it has a nice wiggle to it.

Put in at the north Mutton Creek ramp around 5 PM. It was a little "warm", but was just a beautiful time to be out on the lake. I think we missed most of the pleasure boat traffic, which was good. Headed down lake towards Greenfield and caught some decent bass hanging in deep water off a steep bluff on brush hogs. Tried a big worm, but the extra action of the brush hog seemed to be the ticket. I also caught a 3+ lber on a swimbait in the same area, but it was sitting out deeper suspended on some timber. The shade of the bluff seemed to help hold those fish in this area. Started to fish a creek arm at dusk, actually caught one on my first cast in this area, and then the wind and lightning kicked up really good so we headed to the marina to get the weather report. Now here's the thing, I have a really nice phone that I can see the radar on, but since I cannot get a signal in that part of the lake, it is pretty much useless! Anyway, got to the No Wake Cafe in time to catch Jill Gilardi's forecast. The storm was actually headed North, which never happens, so we went back to our spot and continued to catch some more bass up shallow. Hated to miss that primetime dusk bite though. There were also some bass definitely sitting on main lake points with smaller rock feeding after dark. I think a lot of the bigger bass are sitting in the brush piles, so I would hit as many of those as you can. Hope this report helps. Good fishing everybody!

Thanks Hamme Time.

Thank you very much for posting these night fishing reports. Very few people do seem to night fish at Stockton, as I very rarely have any competition for spots, but it makes it that much harder to have an idea what they are biting on when there is not nearly as much feedback as there is say on the Table Rock forum. I am planning on going tomorrow night, and I hope they turn on a littel bit! I will probably start out on some main lake points and possibly work my way back in some creek arms at night if I don't find them out on the main lake. How deep did you have to fish that single spin to get bit?

Thanks Jason.

I personally like to texas rig about any craw like bait at night. Jig and Pig and an old black worm work well too. If I find out what they are biting on I will let you know. It is forums like this one that help people like me who don't get to fish nearly enough! I appreciate everyone's input, help, and advice. It saves a lot of wasted chucking and winding!

If I am able to get down there this weekend, I will definitely post a report.

It definitely sounds like some guys were catching them! Thanks for the reply.

I would also be very interested to hear from any night fishermen. I went to the Rock last Saturday during the day and we were catching smallmouths and Kentuckys on football jigs from 13 Bridge to the Dam. But I havent' heard anyone say that the night fishing was getting better. With all the pleasure boat traffic at T.R., I like fishing at night better most of the time anyway. I would appreciate any advice on spots that might be worth trying at night. Thanks.