Bassmaster21

I would love for anybody who ever finds out about any bass tournaments on Stockton to share details. I know there are some places on the internet to find stuff but there are also some "mom & pop" and fundraiser tournaments people host that word doesn't spread very much for. Would love to hear about them. Thanks!

Is the $50 entry fee per person or per pair? And is there a place I could see a schedule of events? Thanks

So which ramps on the lake don't have a sawhorse up and are still "operational". I know you can go around but I was curious which ones you the public could still use

Thinking about going bass fishing Saturday morning. Would only be able to fish from sunrise until about 10. Checked the weather and there is a 50% chance of scattered storms and rain. Im fine with rain but I don't do lightning. Also I don't want to be out there if the water is going to be rough. The wind says 11mph out of the NW. I know a north wind usually gets the lake rolling pretty good but is that a light enough wind speed to be okay? Ill be in a older (mid 90's) bass tracker P.S. I know you cant catch em without a line in the water but im more concerned on safety with this one..

Sounds like what I fished some early this summer and had some luck. I was down in turkey creek all the way back by the little bridge. Managed quite a few good ones there. Like you Saturday I had very minimal luck in the mid lake area on points. Just some small ones and nothing more. I think the fishing is about to get really good and hopefully I can drag myself out of the deer stand and get myself on the water.

Great report. I was also out Saturday morning and it was chilly. We were only out a few hours and managed about 10 shorts all on either a crawdad crank or a little crawdad trailer I used on its own to flip and pitch. We were in my buddies boat so he gets control of where we fish an he is strictly a bank fisherman - Picks a banks leaves the trolling motor on and zooms down it. Could have had more luck in other spots I thought. When you say "wood" are you talking standing timber or are you talking more lay down stuff on/near banks?

I bass fish Stockton A LOT during the summer. Two or three days a week. This summer got pretty tough. Hard to find fish and when I did they weren't very big. HOWEVER, this last spring I absolutely tore it up. Every time I went out me and a buddy could get a top 5 of 1415lbs or better. Starting to heat up again both literally and figuratively. Still not easy finding the fish but one can definitely catch a lot and several keepers if they fish hard for em. Kentucky's are really on right now. Not the biggest fish but fun to catch a lot of them. Picking those up with bright worms on rocky banks in coves. Got in to my first school of white bass surfacing last time out and pulled 6 fish in 3 casts then they were gone. Pretty exciting. Hopefully I can still get out every so often in the fall. Tough to fish around class, work, and bow season. Best of luck to all. Glad to hear some others still bass fish out there.

Does anyone know if the Elk River is Floatable? We have been planning on going out Saturday but all the rain is making me nervous. Would it be possible to float the Elk safely?

Hahaha. Well I appreciate all the help. I'm planning on dropping a few oaks and hickorys near some of my more consistent fishin areas to try and attract and concentrate some bigger bass. Thanks again to all

Does anybody know the rules/regulations on dropping brush in MO lakes? Is it legal? Illegal? Permits?

I've been trying for bass a lot lately and it's definitely a lot tougher than last summer. Always seem to have a little luck with grubs on drop offs and steep chunk rock. Cranking with shad colored cranks always seems to pick up a few as well. It takes a lot of work to catch many right now.. At least for me. Goodluck to ya

Thanks for the help!

I'm looking for some small bass tournaments on Stockton. Never done it before and looking to get my feet wet with some small tourneys. If anyone hears of any or knows of any I'd like to try and fish some if I don't have to work. Thanks!

Well if it helps I have night fished a few times on the little sac arm out of cedar ridge and masters and have set up in standing timber and 30 fow and not had any luck. I think the crappie are suspended in deeper water

Put in at mutton creek around 6 and saw a lot of fish surfacing around ramp. Threw a spook and had a few bites but no fish to show. Then fished around mutton creek and managed to catch two keeper smallmouth, one short largemouth, and one 5lb 2oz largemouth. Released them all. (Freezer is full from night fishing) Caught them all on a drop shot worm in electric blue. Fish a seem to be moving out away from the shallow brush. Not sure where they are headed

Got out around 6:30 and bass fished for about three hours. A little windy but between us both caught about 25 bass 10 keepers. All on an 8 inch red Carolina rigged lizard. No bites on anything else or any other color/size lizard. Didn't see any other boats. Great morning for bass

I am planning on making a few trips out to Springfield Lake next week and was wondering if the grass and hydrilla has greened and started to grow up? Especially on the main lake? That and the water temperature will dictate the plan of attack for the day. Those, and what we decide to fish for, bass or crappie haha. Thanks to all

Thanks for the clarification! Both were helpful!

Okay, so this may be a dumb question but where exactly is mutton creek? I know where the park and boat ramps are... but is "mutton creek" that long cove where the ramps and boat docks are or is it the arm of the lake after you go under the Y/215 bridge? I know my way around the lake well but i don't know where all of the ramps and locations of the lake are. Thanks for any help!

I am all for releasing fish to help the population continue to thrive but when people need fish to eat they got to keep them. If they arent going to eat them then that is a different story. If a large enough impact is being made on the population out there then maybe those concerned about the big fish being kept should relay concerns to the MDC. Im sure they would know the best way to help the fish populations. Also, on a completely different note.. There is still a 6hp limit out there is there not? I see tons of boats out there with 7.5, 9.9, 15 and even bigger hp motors and it drives me nuts. Also, are jug and limb lines legal out there too? I though those werent allowed either..

Wont bass with "short genetics" still grow to be fairly big if they live long enough? A lot of the genetic culling that people do to manage deer herds yes involves taking deer with poor genetics so they cant continue the line of poor genes BUT, they know for a fact those "bad genetic" deer are old/mature. It is much harder to tell how old a fish is. I just keep anything legal if I am in need of fish in the freezer but if I dont need any fish I let them all go. There are too many fish and not enough people consistantly keeping large fish to make a big impact in my opinion.

Went out yesterday evening and put in at Bona (Cedar Ridge whatever you prefer) at about 3 oclock. There was a tourney check in then so boat traffic was high. Not only was boat traffic high so was the water. I think its up to 871 or 872 now. I also think it has an effect on the depth of the fish. Caught 4 largemouth (one keeper size) in about 18 feet of water with jigs on main lake points. Which seems a little deep to me for the time of year. Water temps were between 55 and 63 depending on where we were on the lake. We are creeping up on spawnign water temps and I have no clue where to find the fish. I cought those four on grit and luck alone. No rhyme or reason to it really. The challenge is all part of the fun though right? Going back in a few weekends and will be out a lot come mid May and this summer. This has been quite an experience with my first spring at stockton being the way it is with weather and water levels. Always looking for new advice and ideas. God Bless

I have tried for crappie out there so many times and caught ONE. The bass however are a different story. I can go out in a morning and catch the crap out of them. There are lots of good sized ones in that lake too. I agree with what MSUfisherbear said about the lures. I see so many boats out there and very rarely do I see anybody catch much of anything. By the way some of them act they look like they know what they are doing but never seem to catch many. I do believe that the fish overtime learn to stay away from certain lures... Example: A few years ago I threw a buzzbait religiously out there. Couldnt keep them off of it no matter the weather or time of day and I never saw anybody else using them. Now every other angler is using one and I haven't caught as many on them. In general though like MSUfisherBear said, just keep trying new things. Very rarely do I leave the lake on a morning and have caught less than 10 bass. Its all about the amount of casts to quality spots you make out there not necessarily the lure choice.

This is my first spring at Stockton and it couldnt be a worse one to get started with let me tell ya. This weather has got the patterns even harder to figure out. Anyways I am heading out this week with a friend and really want him to catch some fish.. We'd prefer largemouths or smallies but he'd be happy with anything! Weather is supposed to start warmin up here later in the week. I was gonna put in at Masters and fish Maze creek with bass jigs and spinners but if no one is having any luck we'll just get some minnows and catch what we can at the bridge piers near mutton creek ramp. Any help would be appreciated!! God bless

I didnt have much luck today, but caught two quality fish. One 3.5lbs and the other 4lbs. Both on a jerkbait in about 15 feet of water. Just oving down a bank in a cove. Nothing really stand out structure wise.