powerdive

Sorry, this was meant to be funny, but I guess it didn't come across that way. My apologies.

Ed, just do whatcha did at Stockton. Hit sloping mainlake points, or secondary points and the cups (inside turns) between them, or the edges of flats just above the thermocline, and you'll catch fish. Only thing is, they'll be bigger.

My gosh, you guys are too kind! Sorry to give the wrong impression...I'm fine, but my wife had a full hip replacement a month ago (immediately following my personal 6-week walleye-spawn moriatorium). When she's able to fend for herself all day, handle her rat-dogs, no therapy or nurse visits, and such, I'll get back out there. Later this month for sure--can't wait! Bfishin, we'll have to share a boat someday. Just for the stories.....but I hope you'll actually try. I'm still gunning for a 15! Thanks.

Thanks, lmt out. Didn't mean to sound crotchety...due to a medical situation, I haven't been able to fish in forever. Gotta live through you guys right now.

Love these pissing contests. Bottom line, looks as though almost everybody agrees that Lew's baitcasters are both a great reel and a great value. Happy ending. Now you boys go fight about your boats.

Thanks for the non-info. So how'd ya catch 'em?

Nope, won't happen. Bad blood. BPS dumped the owner after he'd built their house brand rods & reels program from the ground up (making them hundreds of millions) over 30 years. So he mortgaged the farm (literally), bought the Lew's brand, and started working independently with his contacts in the industry to bring Lew's back to market. Several of us similarly-exiled BPS ex-pats worked with him early on, but now he's brought in a pretty good team of pros and corporate types. Due to the quality he insists on and his respect for the name (Lew Childre was his friend), and against all odds, he's making it. Hats off to Lynn.

I'd say that's a black crappie in spawning colors.

Haha! Welcome to OUR world.

If that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you need to find another hobby. Thanks for posting!

Then again...you see it in Canada too. For walleyes, there are "big fish lakes" and "numbers lakes"...don't really know why. Here, we have more info to work with. Stockton has the food base to support all sizes, and you don't hear of any die-offs, so the water's good. I really don't think genetics has anything to do with it, because there ARE some double-digit fish caught every year. It's not about the lake not being able to produce large walleyes, it's a question of why more aren't caught. 90% of it has to be due to the put-n-take management style + fishing pressure.

Superb! Thanks, Krazo!

My understanding is that MDC did plant northerns in the lake, and they did OK for awhile--even produced the 17-lb. state record. But eventually a virus wiped 'em out. Fisheries also stocked lake trout in Bull Shoals...not sure what happened there. Aside from everyone's beliefs about genetic growth potential, one of the pitfalls of stocking non-native fish has to be disease...and it can go both ways. I'm guessing the northern pike experiment turned out to be a good reminder. I talked to a really strange person--a deep water diver--at a Stockton ramp a couple years ago, and he swore that there were record class muskies in the lake, living permanently far below the thermocline up by the dam. He'd seen them, of course. While I believe there may be the odd struggling muskie in the lake (since they exist upstream), his story makes absolutely no sense at all. I've heard the occasional wiper shows up in the lake every few years or so, but I've never seen a gar on Stockton. Why is that?

The lake is slightly ABOVE power pool right now, if that helps.

Also, Missouri does not allow "party" fishing, in which people fishing together share the aggregate catch. You catch it, it's yours and yours alone. And the state requires that you keep each angler's catch separate and clearly identifiable on the water. While I can understand the reasoning behind that one, it still makes me want to throttle someone. Especially as it relates to family outings.

Correction: away from the lake, the possession limit for crappie is 60, due to the fact that the statewide limit on crappie is 30 fish daily. However, Stockton has special restrictions, so you can only keep 15 per day from Stockton, and they all must be 10" long or greater. Always be sure to label your freezer stock with species, number, date & place caught. http://mdc.mo.gov/regulations/crappie-regulations

Pfffft! Try finding walleye gear around here, or anywhere within 400 miles.

The MDC stocks Stockton every other year with hundreds of thousands of walleye fry. It takes about two years for the fry to reach the 15"minimum. The MDC considers Stockton a "put-and-take" fishery because natural spawning success is very limited. The result is that small fish dominate the size distribution; with the smaller minimum size (15") and high attrition, there number of fish making it to that 25"-plus range is significantly lower at Stockton than at other lakes. They are there, however. The shad forage base supports growth at all stages, and I believe the lake record is 16 lbs. The really big fish are just few and far between. I've been fishing Stockton for walleyes for 15 years and still have not caught an 8 pounder there. Then again, I prefer not to fish for pre-spawn eyes (I wish they'd close the season down here to protect the spawn, but as long as it's legal I don't begrudge anyone else fishing for them). If I felt differently and was determined to catch a large eye at Stockton, I'd do as bfishn and Josh suggested and concentrate on the late winter/early spring period, throwing suspending stickbaits to the mainlake points from midlake to the dam Otherwise, you'll only catch the occasional larger fish mixed in with the eaters. There are some largely unexplored patterns to investigate through the rest of the year, such as exploring the many acres of timber or finding shallow springs or current that could hold some big fish, but they'd take a lot of time to unravel. In general, think Stockton for numbers, the border lakes for trophies.

If true it would already be all over the airwaves, don'tcha think?

That would also be a world record...

Another approach that will accomplish both of your goals: troll points with crank baits (such as #7 Flicker Shads, Jr. Deep Rogues and Shad Raps) running at the 12-15' level. From the main lake all the way back into the coves. At that time the crappie will be crowding into the coves in preparation for the spawn and will stage by suspending over the deeper water. The walleyes will be jammin' the points looking to feed up after their spawn. Keep trolling and running your baits at that 15' level over and between the points (yes, even over 50' depths), and you should catch plenty of both species. That pattern will hold through May, most years.

Grat info, Paco--thanks!

Good stuff!

Applause and respect to Roger for the selective release. Nicely played, sir!

Well done, Russ!