MrGiggles

At least Stockton is big enough that you can get away from the floatilla. I pulled a wakeboard for most of the day yesterday and had no trouble finding quiet coves. It's one of the reasons I don't hit Pomme as much in the summer, it's too small for the amount of pleasure boat traffic. Nowhere to hide there, except the stump fields.

Like I've seen Wrench post, now is about the time of year where it seems like every other fish in the lake disappears and the drum come out in droves.

Money won't buy you happiness, but it will buy you comfort, and it offers mobility should you decide to change careers. Better to be an engineer and decide to be mechanic than the other way around.

The thing is, 17-18 year olds aren't known for exceptional forethought. You get a lot of students that find out partway through a degree that it's not for them, that job prospects are actually garbage instead of what they were told, or will not pay their debt in a reasonable amount of time. The end result is a student debt crisis. I would also venture to guess that a significant percentage of that age group really do not actually have a good idea of what they want to do with their life. I know that a lot of my classmates were really only in school to be doing something productive, that was even a lot of the reason I was there. I should've just went to work for a couple years and got a plan together, instead of wasting time and money, hindsight being what it is. All I was told is "you're smart, go to school", and if you don't go now, you never will. Some are driven enough to have a good plan from the start and stick to it, which is very admirable, but it doesn't seem to be the majority in reality.

I don't think it should be free, but it should be affordable. The days of working part time to put yourself through school are long gone for the most part. I'm the one that should shut up, talking about a period of time that I wasn't even alive during. And thank you for the kind words.

Fair enough. I'm a little jaded and pessimistic after digging through the job market. Seems like you're darned if you do, darned if you don't.

Sure. But there was a time when any degree would get you in a job that paid reasonably well. There's a lot of people out there with degrees that are working retail. The job market has always, and always will be, good with the right set of knowledge, skills and abilities. That's a "wherever you go, there you are" type of statement.

True.Those degrees are also going to cost you 30-60k in tuition alone. What I was getting at is that a bachelor's alone used to set you apart, not anymore since the market is so saturated.

Demand increased significantly, and along with that, the government provided an almost endless supply of loans and grants. It's capitalism, supply and demand. I don't know of any easy solution. We are at the point now where a bachelor's will hardly pay for itself under most conditions, but at the same time you pretty much need it just to get an entry level position. You can make excellent money in trades, at the cost of your body. That said, things are a lot better in that regard than they used to be. Although sitting in an office chair isn't all that good for you either. And people wonder why millenials aren't having kids, aren't buying houses, and are generally pissed off... Gen Z has it even worse.

Generally speaking, there's usually a good reason why certain places have a high turnover. There has never been a line to work at Walmart or fast food joints. If nothing else, seems like getting unemployment checks made people start to realize how much they've been getting screwed. I'm glad these companies are finally upping the ante to get people in the door.

Can catch them on about anything, but jig/crawler and bottom bouncing are most popular. Swimbaits and crankbaits work too. I've never caught anything but drum and whites on a spoon in the summer. I'm hoping to get out a couple times this week.

Just curious about how you collected temp data back before we had these fancy graphs? They say that global warming is only like a third of a degree per year, hard to imagine it would cause such an increase in water temps, but I'm no scientist. Still very interesting data. Climate change is no big hoax, just seems that people don't seem to understand it is simply a trend over a long period, and that instead just causing warmer temperatures across the board, it causes more extreme swings in all types of inclement weather, drought, floods, heat waves, cold spells, etc.

It's not looking very good. About the only thing going for it is that it's reasonably accessible. But to earn a STEM BS, get a job that pays not so well, and then have to go back and get Master's just to get anywhere does not seem appealing. Plus you have the competition to get in. OTC requires all students to go through a placement skills (I forget what they call it) course before graduating, need to have an excellent resume and they schedule a mock interview before you can pass it.

I can't see your post, just says expand.

I put a hurting on the whites last night by the dam outlet. Couple smallies and a spot mixed in too. No walleyes though.

I do some side work already, usually getting $25-50 an hour. The boss doesn't care as long as his stuff gets priority. Up until recently my plan was to continue ratholing money away, buy a piece of property, and build a shop to get my own practice going. But with property and building costs skyrocketing like they are, who knows. The 120 acre farm next to me sold for just under 1 million, decent lots are bringing 10-30k. Not to continue the "woe is me" stuff, but I got dumped last week. That's what started this whole spiral of introspection, mostly as a distraction from the heartbreak, but the fact that my career needs work remains. It may end being the best thing that's ever happened to me, who knows how long I would've stuck around here. SBU has a program in wildlife conservation that I may look into. They're right down the road. Still don't know how serious I am because of the crappy pay and competition. Looking through the program, I already have at least half of the credits needed, really just need a couple chemistry classes and all of the bio stuff.

I'm sure that they still do their electrofishing surveys, but I don't know if they bring any up for spawning. Their 2019 survey says that 94% of walleyes that came up were >15", and 23% were >20". I don't know if you can access the full surveys to see how many large fish were found. Would be cool to see though. I caught more big fish from 2017-2019. 2019 was my best year with one 23" and one 24". I don't know that I caught any over 20 last year, but didn't fish as much because of Covid. 2019 was such a good year with the high water, everybody else stayed home and the fishing was excellent if you're able think outside the box a little. There was several days where I was the only guy out there, had to get my feet wet while dunking the boat from the parking lot, but it was worth it. I read somewhere that MDC is managing Stockton as a numbers lake, not for size. Bull is the place to go for big ones.

If you wanna stir up some drama, keep a limit of good sized bass and post it on the Stockton Facebook group. I don't know of anybody that C&R's walleye, me included. About the only time I turn a keeper loose is if I only catch one or two and don't feel like dealing with them. Of course, my skill level isn't causing a lot of damage, but there's a lot more guys out there fishing for them. I don't have any problem with people doing what they're legally allowed to.

Yeah. Seems like it can be fun, accessible, or pay well. Pick two.

Thanks, kind of puts things in perspective. I have always been the type to play it safe, probably why I'm as behind as I am. Buying a property of my own has been a goal of mine for a long time. Did a little more digging into those Fisheries Tech positions, looks like a bachelors in biology, wildlife conservation, zoology, etc. is required if you want a full time, salaried position with benefits. I could probably get in as a temp doing the grunt work here and there, but otherwise, not looking good. Even that salaried position pays less than I make now. Kind of disheartening. Would be a fun job, but I can't see how the schooling for it would be worthwhile.

I don't see why diesel vs. gas would make any difference in tire cost. They make gas duallies too. Diesels cost more to buy, but also hold that value better, that's more or less a wash. You're right about everything else though. Fuel is more or less a wash unless the diesel is hooked to something and pulling hard 90% of the time. That diesel may get 20% better fuel economy unloaded, but diesel usually costs at least that much more at the pump than gas.

First world problem, I think you mean. A fulfilling career, more like.

Starting to wonder if it would be worth it to get an Associate's in Biology or conservation science... I already have most of the elective and gen ed credits. Would probably be 3 semesters worth, most of which could be done online. Not sure if I would ever want to be on the science side of things, but it would definitely better the odds of getting in. Decisions, decisions.

I meant taking a fleet maintenance position somewhere else, not staying. I don't really want to stay here any longer than necessary, but won't quit until I have something else lined up.

From what I understand, the brood stock in Stockton come from Truman dam. They shock them, haul them up to Lost Valley in Warsaw, give them a belly massage, and hatch out the fry which are stocked all over the state. Whether or not that was always the case, I don't know. I believe a slot limit also only really works in lakes that have natural reproduction, of which Stockton has very little. The big fish aren't any more likely to pass on their genetics than the dinks. I have caught a couple that were hump backed, but none that appeared skinny. Even the small ones have pot bellies a lot of times. It does seem like for every one keeper there are 2-3 that are just a hair under 15".