waterpossum

In the past I fished near Rich Hill, Missouri in February and March for walleye in a tributary to Truman lake. It was against the law to be on the water after dark. They patrolled and handed out hefty fines. In the late 70s when I started fishing Stockton lake the wardens were always checking for people after dark in Turnback creek for giggers. At the time I heard that a couple of local perpetrators received a lifetime ban on fishing. I have little to no respect for nighttime walleye fishing in the upper river arms after dark. It's an open invitation to the gigging and snagging crowd.

I have a metal roof on my cabin. The home I sold in Joplin had a metal roof when we sold it. There is a drastic difference in the insurance rates in shingles and metal. I saved about 50% by going metal

Did you launch on the Neosho river side at Twin bridges. The log jam up against the piers on the Neosho side can be good

Anyone know what has caused the Walleye showing up with high mercury levels. How is it that there is no warning for high mercury levels in crappie, bass or other species?

I can't say for sure, but even if you could it might be tough fishing. It's about 15 more miles to Cedar Ridge

I failed to mention about a mile out of take off I shelled my Mercury inline motor. Our day was spent fishing a bank back to the ramp. I guess we tied for last place.

The OLY Tournament (Olympia beer) I think was one of the sponsors. It was quite a spectacular event. Guys would start putting in at 4;30 am. The cove at highway 13 bridge was aglow with boat lights. Of course there were plenty of side stories, blown motors, lost and broken tackle, trailer mishaps, flats to name a few. But the one mishap I rember vividly was the guy with a jerk bait embedded in the top of his skull. There was two guys working on him. Someone handed him a bottle of whiskey to quell the pain. They shaved his head. Someone poured mercurechrome on the wound. A large crowd cheered him on. A side note; beer was free and flowing among the mongrel hoard.

I haven't fished Table Rock in a number of years. I first fished it in the mid seventies. Tournament fishing had just really started to become popular. I was privileged to fish with a lot of the early Table Rock legends. Charlie Campbell, Terry Thomas, Bobby Sullivan and Lefty Evans to name a few. I was never faintly in their league, but out of luck had some decent days. The weights were consistently better than todays weights especially considering the electronics and gear. Occasionally in the 700 boat Oly tournament a couple of 10 pound fish would come in. Then the tournament scene proliferated and the big big fish quit appearing. When I bring up the Missouri State Regatta tournament page nowadays it's appalling. April will probably be in the 80-90 range. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that keeper fish caught hauled released, caught hauled, released, caught hauled released are put under a lot of stress. It's not good for the health of the fish and consequently the quality deteriorates. I'm sure there's wads of off shore fish for the Scopers, but even more of those fish are being assaulted.

I'm with you 100%. I am 78 and still get around pretty good. The video fishing is not my cup of tea. Since dad first took me about 70 years ago the thrill of fishing was always about the anticipation for me. Some days the bite never occurred a few days a year were good and just ever once in awhile phenomenal. I do understand the fascination with watching fish bite and being able to follow them around, but falling in with a pack of boats to catch fish is not for me. I recently had routine service work on my boat. Yesterday I put in at State Park Marina to run it out. As I passed the outer barrier wall there were 12 boats crappie fishing. All within a 50 yard radius. This is the new norm. Drive to the 245 bridge when the crappie arrive. There may be as many as 25 boats in a cluster. When I loaded out yesterday one another boat was taking out. They had 42 crappie. He said most of the boats had or were near limits. But they assured me crappie populations couldn't be hurt. I don't believe that one bit.

This was only 16" but weighed 1-12

I built a home on 26 acres by Stockton lake about 6 years ago. I have always enjoyed the winter fishing because of the solitude. That is no longer the case, especially with the advent of video fishing. It's not uncommon on a relative mild winters day to have the parking lots in overflow. Driving across the H or Y bridges looking out across the lake most all boats will be offshore screen staring. Some of the lakes Quillback described are lakes that can triple in size over a season making portions nearly inaccessible. I still have a few small places (not Stockton) that I fish that are loaded with crappie) Over the course of a year I may keep a total of 50. They are also places that hold real slabs, which I release. Talking 15" plus fish. They are rare, but I have been able to catch two or three a year. I have fished Stockton since 1980 and never caught a two lber and never will. Probably sometime or another I may have caught a 1-12.

The loons are plentiful up here at Stockton lake. Yesterday there was a hoard of crappie fishermen chasing the crappie. I have a bad feeling about future crappie populations considering the literally hundreds of fish being taken

Is there a good population of crappie 10" and above?

I had fun fooling the frogs with a small top water bait. Casting just past them and slowly just spitting water with the lure. I guess they thought it was a dragon fly or bug. They would explode on top of it

Bass fishing and tournament fishing in general is an excellent way to spend a lot of money and lose a lot of money for the vast majority of people.

I'm 78, obviously not my deer. Just a friend from Kansas. Bow

You realize that Kansas deer season opens December 1 every year to at least avoid a good portion of the rut.

I live on Stockton lake. What you say is spot on. Just me and the wife and 6 or 7 is usually enough unless the daughters visit. Last winter there would be 20 boats over the channel at the 245 bridge hauling them out by the hundreds. Some guys are posting two or three times a week of their 30-45 fish limits.

Is that the ramp just below the bridge on Kings river? Is it private ?

A few years ago I had a membership to Red Arrow located at the mouth of Horse creek on the west side of the lake. There was no heated dock, just boat slips to fish. There was a restaurant there also. I haven't been for a few years so I'm not familiar with what is going on there now

Has there been a recent stocking of trout?

I think at one time a world record trout came out of this body of water. Is there still giant trout to be caught?