MrGiggles

Troll some crankbaits for a while and you'll find a brush pile every 20 feet, and you'll get hung in it if you're lucky. But when you actually go looking for them, nary a branch. On a serious note, the shad are over deep water, find the shad the fish are not far away. I don't bass fish so I can't offer much advice there.

Well if you see a guy in a 14ft Alumacraft tinny dipping jigs there its probably me.

I've been catching them here and there on bridge columns. Lately it's only been one or two and that's all though. If there's one upside, they're almost always big. 14"er caught last Thursday.

I grabbed a 6930 from BPS while they were on sale. It balances well on a 5'6" Shakespeare Micro. I have also really been liking the Abu Garcia Blackmax series. I don't know if you can beat the spinning reels for 20 bucks. Very smooth with a decent drag.

I've been fishing Stockton a couple times per week since July. I've learned a lot but still have so much more to go. Stockton is windy, but you can plan around it. If the wind is blowing hard out of the north the northern shores will be tolerable, and vice-versa. You have more than enough boat to handle it. Unfortunately I can't offer much advice on what to do this time of year because I haven't figure it out myself. Hooked a big walleye last night and lost it. I was casting a purple tiger #7 flicker shad close to shore and working it back at a slight angle into deeper water. I marked a lot of fish on a drop off ledge in 25-40 feet, suspended and hugging the bottom. Tried a jigging spoon with no luck. May be a good spot to work a jig.

Good job, great fish. What stick baits were you using?

56ish when I was out on Sunday. I'd expect it to be lower after these cold nights.

Is there a store in the area where you can buy Binks products? I bought a Fle Fly jigging spoon from BPS but haven't had any luck with it, looks very similar to the one posted earlier. Probably not the spoon's fault though.

Wish I'd have went Saturday. Went Sunday and the wind was blowing like crazy, and cold. Marked a ton of fish and bait balls, just couldn't get them to bite. Tried trolling and jigging a spoon. Did catch a bass and a bluegill off of a brush pile while trying to jig for crappie. Later this week looks like some stable weather finally.

Fishing was hot early in October (for me anyway.) Was catching a lot of big crappie and some keeper walleyes. Have fished five or six afternoons in the past two weeks and have nothing to show for it. Caught a few bass (one or two that were keepers), one short walleye, and a drum. No crappie. Have been doing some brush fishing, but mostly trolling in different areas with different color flicker shads. Maybe it's time to change tactics. Not sure what the deal is. May have something to do with the wild weather changes. How's everyone else been doing lately?

I fish in a 14' Semi V. Was out last Friday with 25mph gusts from the South and Sunday with a strong north wind. The lake was far worse with the wind out of the north. 90% of the time the lake is very calm and manageable. As mentioned, watch the forecasts very closely, and if the skies start to get gloomy, keep a close eye on the radar so you can get outta Dodge before it gets bad. If it does get bad, there is usually always a cove close by that will be calm. It takes seat time to get some confidence in your boating skill, but you can fish Stockton without worry, as long as you are prepared.

Caught a short walleyes last night. And a 13.5" crappie. Too windy for my little boat today. Out in the open the wind was pushing me 2mph yesterday.

Bring your rain coat.

Another great day of Slabs on that Racy Shad. Had 4 keepers total, with the biggest nearing 14". In only an hour or so of trolling. Also had a 17" walleye on a Pearl White #6, and I hooked something BIG around dark.. Stud white bass or a bucket mouth I think, never saw it though, headed for my other line, got tangled up, reared it's head and came loose. I have a minimalist approach to trolling, let out line till there is only a couple dozen wraps left on the spool. One has 20lb braid with leader, the other just 12lb mono. They will start to tick bottom in 12-14fow. I seldom get hung up now. I don't know why but it took me getting snagged on brush piles two or three times before I realized I can just drive around them.

Bass Pro has Berkley rigs in many flavors and styles for 1.99.

The slabs have been loving a #7 flicker shad in racy shad color for me lately. Trolled at 2mph in 15-22 fow around structure.

Something tells me that a lot of people with new bass boats lack basic financial sense too. There are a lot of variables, but financing a new boat for 10 years without paying it off early is almost a sure way to end up upside down.

Bad idea, you will pay almost double in the end, unless you make larger payments.

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/tournament-choice-lure-retriever#repChildCatid=19461 Mine has paid for itself 2 or 3 times now with all the Flicker shads that it has saved. Seems to work better if you send it down the line with the rope eyelet away from you.

The bite was a lot better than I expected. Had 6 or 7 short crappie, 3 keepers, and a 17" walleye in 2 hours.

I fished some Tuesday, I thought it would be the last good day for a while with the temperature drop incoming. Got a late start and went right to trolling, my previous hot spots were vacant, tried a new area that looked good and caught an 11" crappie and an 18" walleye just before dark. I was the only one at Master's. I may go tonight if I have time.

I'm hoping there will be a combo deal or promotion on half price Ozarks or somewhere like that after the initial rush. 40 dollars is a little steep for me. I don't like BPS, most everything is overpriced 10 or 15℅, but they're the only place around that you can get flicker shads and some other things, so I don't really have a choice about shopping there now and then.

Exact same bait, pearl white 5cm flicker shad. Both have factory hooks. The mono rod is producing more fish. Both baits are connected with snap swivels. Both rods are medium/medium I think. The Shakespeare is shorter though. Would adding a 20ft flouro leader to the braid rod be worth the effort?

I have a Cabelas Gold Label 6'6" rod with a Abu Black Max 3 baitcaster spooled with 20lb Stealth braid. I also have a cheapie Shakespeare combo as a backup spooled with 8lb Trilene XT. I do not have line counters or any of that jazz. I will let out as much line as I can and troll cranks around 2 mph. With the same lure, the Shakespeare seems to out-fish the Cabelas rod almost 3-1. I'm not sure why. Dive depth should be comparable since the two lines have a similar diameter. I'm wondering if the braid may be affecting the action some? I may add a mono leader and try that out.

They are not native to this area and the water temps here are much higher than their home waters. That's why they're so fragile this time of year.