rntmvp6

If they continue to pull these lakes like they have this week, there will be many eggs left dry as the males will pull off guarding there nests. The key to a good spawn is stable water levels especially if the water offers cover for the new hatch.

Was up middle of last week. Water levels are up inside brush on the bank. Water temp was 51-55 on the north arm all the way down to water inlet. South arm was much cooler, 45-48 degrees not counting the very back creek which was about 53 degrees. Fishing was tough but it was post front conditions. Yet to figure that lake out but have only fished there 4 times this year being the first.

Lived on that Lake for 2 years and they do live down there. I have had 12 footers hit the sides of my boat in shallow water and even had one during teal season hit my boat and splashed his tail sideways completely drenching me from head to toe. Amazing how much power they have and how big they can really get in the wild.

My son who is 5 caught a 23" Walleye a few months back and I am wanting to get it mounted for a Christmas present. I'm not familiar with any places in the Springfield area so I need some opinions. I would like a reputable taxidermy shop whose work will last many years. I have some mounts from a place in NE Arkansas that are over ten years old that still look brand new. Does anyone know of anywhere around here that does work like this? Thanks rntmvp6

Took my son out today. Put in at CC and ran toward Birch. It started raining very early and the wind kicked up as well. Decided to start crappie fishing at the start. Found fish in standing timber in Birch and out along the main river in 10-12 foot of water. They were at the bases of the timber and never found any suspended. All my fish came on a jig red body with chart tail and a white painted jig head. Cuaght a few shorts but most were 11-14 inches and made a nice mess of fish. After a few hours I got tired of getting my 5 year old untangled from the timber so we started throwing shallow square bill crankbaits for bass. We found a large school of 13-15 inch bass and caught about 30 in an hour in about 1 to 4 foot of water in a small pocket not far from CC boat ramp. The fish were on medium size chunk rock bank with wind blowing into it. All in all for the weather conditions had a great day and left the lake with a excellent mess of crappie and 1 nice catfish that was fooled by the crankbait.

I dont know if this is the case but a month or so ago I was catching 90% shorts. This however was by fishing 3-6 foot of water. Once pulling out to deeper structure is when I would catch the keeper sized fish. It may be that the smaller fish are sitting on different structure points compared to the bigger sized fish. If this is not the case then 3-5 years from now we will most likely see the crappie fishing get slow. Stockton is a big lake and those suckers can sure hide anywhere. Guess we will just see how it all plays out.

My opinion is the city or conservation dept is one sided on this issue. It's the dumbest law I have ever heard and I have lived and fished several different states conservation lakes. I live 20 min from the lake and have never fished there because of this law. I would love to go fish there but I have a 35 on my boat. I also have a son who loves to fish and he is 5 yrs old, but it takes over an hour each way to get to another body of water so I rarely get to take him. I am respectful of the motor limits and would not run my big motor if there were motor restrictions like all other conservation lakes. If they made hp restrictions for the lake, the person should still be able to take off their prop and leave the motor trimmed up at all times to ensure the motor was not used. There were also people saying big boats can go so many other places which there are many other lakes around here. This is the same for kayaks. There are streams and small rivers all over they can go to. We can all share the same water and passion. Because of this law my son will not spend as many days on the water because of this idiotic law. Not to mention a 6hp motor will flip a kayak from the wakes just like a 10 or 20 hp motor. If they are going to restrict motor size there should be an alternate law that allows boats to still fish there even with those motors. I pay my taxes and buy all permits (fishing, hunting, deer hunting, turkey hunting, duck and goose) that fund places like this and I will never get to enjoy them. Makes no sense to me. I guess I can expect for this never to change and I will continue to drive 1-2 hours each way to put a boat in the water to take my son fishing. Its sad that a 5 yr old must learn lessons in life so early about how the world really works.

Well we havent had a chance to go since but he asks me just about every day to go out. He is still talking about that fish, and how he cant believe he caught a bigger fish than me:) Cant wait to go again and once he gets bigger teaching him the ropes of tourney fishing.

Thanks everyone. Funny thing my son kept picking it up out of the livewell by the lip. Kept telling him not to but he is all boy. He just kept telling me he knows and its ok. They all learn at some point.

Put in at CC yesterday with my son who goes everywhere with me (fishing and hunting both). I have helped him reel in many fish over the last couple years that I helped him hook up. I tied him on a bandit crankbait yesterday and got on the trolling motor and started trolling figuring this would be the easiest for him since he just turned 5 years old. First pass over the drop of the old road bed he hooks up with a 23 inch Walleye and his excitement was crazy. After letting him fight the fish for a few minutes he finally got the fish up to the boat and I then reached down to get it for him. I have never seen my son so excited. I knew he would be a future hunter and fisherman but this fish put that expectation to extremes. He went on to catch a white and a couple crappie as well trolling yesterday. After the walleye catch we spent 30 minutes calling everyone he could think of to tell them. The fish will be his first to go on the wall. Watching my son catch that fish was the most exciting thing I have witnessed on the water in a long time and I am so proud of him. After he caught the fish he even said thank you to Jesus for helping him catch his first fish. So to sum it all up, it was an excellent day on the water with my son.

Killed one on Stockton opening day. Second week I went one day and was the first day in 6 seasons I stuck out. I have had the crazy easy luck on Stockton since I started hunting there, hope this doesn't start up a dry spell. Also went to Kansas and killed 2 big rio's out there on the first Friday of season. The other guy I went with killed his 2 on the same day. Drove 6 1/2 hours to hunt one day and drive back. Cant beat that. The good Lord blessed me this season and I am so thankful for each and every trip.

Yes some people is right. I have had this happen so many times its stupid. Two scenarios are the most common for me. Fishing bass tournaments boats coming up and running right over the spot I am fishing half a cast away and the other is during duck season. I cant tell you all how many times I have set-up for ducks after waking up on no sleep and come 20 minutes before shooting time have a group of guys come in and set-up 50-100 yards down wind of me. I know its all public land but there is a large group of fisherman and hunters with no respect when they are out on the water. Drives me crazy. I am sorry for your bad luck. At least you caught fish to make up for it.

I realize this spring has been warmer than most. I find it impossible to believe the spawn is even close to being over. The two big factors on most of the lakes around here and even many throughout the central U.S. has been the water cool down over the last few weeks and THE FALLING WATER levels. The fish are not going to move up and continue to make beds until the water temp and water levels stabilize. Just prior to all the rain and cool down, I could go to Truman and catch my limit of crappie with ease up in the brush. The key was rising water. Once the water started falling, those crappie started pulling back out further and further toward the creek channels. I lived in SW Arkansas for two years and have fished many spring spawns down there on a very shallow lake. The crappie come in waves up to spawn. I will say year in year out the best time to hit the spawn is from April 15th through May 15th. With that lake 6 hours south of here and much warmer water temps on average, my opinion stands that the spawn is still not even close to being over even considering the warmer than normal March we had. Just my two cents.

I was out on Thursday and found my limit sitting in about 10 inches to 2 foot of water close to the bank. Was using a red/chart jig. Water temps ranged between 65-67 degrees. Took about 3 hours to catch a limit. Out of the 15 (2 were females with eggs ready and were oozing out of their bellies and the rest were males). I have been catching them this way for the last 2 weeks, well just prior to the big rain that put the lake on the rise.