Smithvillesteve

Could you run that by me one more time?

Priceless Dan!!

Nice fish! And even better that some rain is helping out down there. Looks like good chance of rain later in this week down there also. Keep fingers crossed.

Catch and release v food on the table is and has been a "touchy" subject on this website. I fish for walleyes primarily at Stockton for a tasty meal. Plus, the challenge of catching those critters! But for some reason i release all walleyes over 20 inches. I think I just see this as such a beautiful fish I cant bring myself to keep it for a meal. But 15 to 20 inches I will keep. Mr Bass is a different story. I release all bass. I might keep some white bass to eat every now and then. I have advocated they reduce the length limit to 12 inches for spotted bass. I have heard they taste pretty good. But now you got fishermen that are not real knowledgeable about the difference between the spot and the Largemouth. I was bringing in some whites, crappies and a couple of walleye to clean at Mutton Creek Marina last year and there was two "old boys" with a 5 gallon bucket that had 6 or 7 LM bass in it and all were around 3 lbs! It broke my heart to see these fish headed for the cleaning table. But these guys were totally legal in what they were doing and who am i to say they are "wrong" in what they are doing. But the LM does not get stocked in Stockton like the walleye. We need them to have a successful spawning season. If you keep bass to eat please dont be mad here. I realize its just a matter of opinion. And my wife always tells me mine isnt right!!

Some very interesting takes here to say the least. Not sure we will ever know for sure what these walleyes are doing in Stockton Lake as far as the spawning process. I am thrilled to hear that more bigger fish are being caught there. For a long time all i could catch was a lot of 14 inch fish with the occassional keeper at 15 inches. Some good info boys and interesting opinions on the topic. I am still looking for that 30 incher myself. Got a couple of 28 inchers up in Canada. I think if i caught a 30 inch walleye in Stockton I would get measurements and get a good replica mount of her. Even though we are not sure if she can successfully spawn or not. I couldnt bring myself to put a fillet knife through that beautiful fish. Just my opinion on that.

Nice eye lmtout!! Couple of questions for you. 1) Walleye do not spawn in Stockton Lake right? But i have heard that they will go through the motions. Run up rivers this time of year. Is this correct? 2) Thinking of going this weekend. Heard good chance of rain and some wind but I'm thinking that could be a good thing. Any advice? My buddy likes to troll whereas I have been more of a jig/crawler guy. I see a guy caught a nice one on a spoon. What about a jerkbait on main lake points? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Dont know you personally Cheesemaster but if you on here I am figuring you are a good man. and I enjoy your posts. Hang tough my friend.

Canadians have always been nice to us!!

I really like the Ned Stickz. Seems to catch more quality fish for me than the TRD. A little longer and skinnier. And has the end with fingers. Those Ned rigs are fish catching machines!! And i see some manufacturers are copying Dave's jig heads now. But I will be loyal to Dave!!

From fishing uphill to Pink Floyd!! Gotta love this forum!!

Bill! Couldnt you wait until after the OA tournament to post that info!!!! Good information as always. I guess i just dont have the patience or whatever to do that. I am willing to bottom bounce baits in 35 fow at Table Rock. I havent fished the deep 50-60 fow with a swimming grub, spoon, A-rig etc. Guess i need to get out of the box a little bit!!

Thanks for sharing. Always looking for ethanol free gas in the lake areas!!

The fishing report in the KC Star this morning on TR: 50 degrees, very clear,10 ft low. Outlook: White River Lodge reports: Black bass fair on suspending jerk baits in 5 to 10 ft of water and on crawdad colored crankbaits in the river arms. That was it.

Excellent report Mr. Babler. Let me ask you this. The KC Star will not report all of that info. Why? Too long for them? As a reader of the KC Star and an avid fishing report reader on Thursdays I wish they would report all of that info!!!! Anyway, I hope you will report as detailed a fishing report on here every week!! Is that asking too much?:)

Alumacraft is a high quality "tin boat". I have a Lund and you simply cannot beat my boat up!! I wanted a deep V aluminum boat since I go to Canada every year, had little boys fishing out of it, and fish rough water at Stockton. The only negative I have had is a deep V has a tendency to swing a little bit when running the trolling motor. When my boys are done with their college I will be looking to upgrade. I wouldnt hesitate to go Alumacraft.

Had a great time fishing with friends wed thru sun that included the 39th annual Rod Scott tournament sat and sunday. Fishing was pretty tough the entire trip. My 2 buddies and I were used to catching 75 trout a day the last few years. Not this year. 20 fish days was the norm. We did catch a few real nice one however. Several in the 14-16 inch range. That is a nice trout anytime anywhere!! They ran some water the first few days and then none sat and sunday. I threw my box at them wed thru friday. Spoons, in line spinners, big jigs, crankbait, jerkbait. Not much luck. With no water running sat or sunday we threw small jigs, in dark colors, with a strike indicator. I had a nice 1.11 lb rainbow sat and had the early lead in the tournament. One of my fishing partners caught a real nice 2.7 rainbow sunday morning to push me out of the lead. Another guy brought in a 2.15 rainbow to win the tournament. Pushed my buddy down to 2nd place. And me out of the money!! Story of my life. Fun trip, good friends, fond memories.

Thanks Dave and Tanderson15. I will check it out!

Bill: Thanks for the detailed report. Sounds like those Falcon rods are the real deal. There were several Falcon Cara models on TW. The T-7 models on there were all over 7 ft. I dont think i want a jerkbait rod that long!! It sold for 200 dollars. The Falcon Cara McClelland ST Micro sold for 250 dollars. I never saw the Falcon Jerkbait special on there or the Cara weightless worm rod that Champ and Dave were high on. I may be coming down your way in the middle of next week. Wish you had some preowned rods left. But what is the bottom dollar price for one of your Falcon rods that would be good for a jerkbait? Once again, thanks for your detailed report.

Phil: Thanks so much for the report. I am coming down on the 25th thru the 29th. Any fishing reports you can get for me is much appreciated. I know you are a busy man but we greatly appreciate your reports as we get closer to our tournament!!

Boys I cant thank you enough for all your input. With all the cold and ice up here in KC i spent about 3 hours on the computer researching jerkbait rods. Top ten lists etc. A lot of the rods ranked highly were rods that you boys recommended. Also found a good article on what to look for in a jerkbait rod and you boys have backed up a lot of that information. I wanted to contact Mr Babler and see if he sells the Falcons, at what price, and does he ship? The rod that kept getting a lot of "play" was the Lew's Custom Speed Cast Stick. 6 ft. 7 inch M. 129.99 at Tackle Warehouse. I know some of you recommended that rod for my price range. Once again, I cant thank you boys enough. You guys have helped me with everything from long underwear to line.

Hope all you boys have had a great start to the new year. I am in the market for a new jerkbait rod. In the 100 dollar range. Brand name, length, etc. If the rod can be used for more fishing techniques all the better. But mainly looking for something to throw jerkbaits on. Once again, as always, I appreciate any info you boys can give me. This site is so valuable for this sort of thing as I really value your inputs. Thanks.

What a beautiful fish!! Hope she makes it. You mentioned lots of water Phil. So they are running water now? I know Table Rock is about 8 feet low. Not sure that matters to them. Bitter cold weather need power? Not sure anybody knows what triggers it. Congrats Steve. Warmer weather headed your way.

Very much looking forward to this event. Last year was my 1st appearance in this tournament and i sure enjoyed meeting a lot of the guys that appear in this forum. Putting some faces to the names was fun. I met RPS and he willingly shared some of his walleye tactics to me. Very nice guy. Hated to hear that his boat was vandalized. One thing I would like to see us do is go around and announce our forum handles to everybody in attendance. Thanks Quillback for putting this together. And good idea Phil for the 10 dollar donation to the winner for charity. Looking forward to March 11.

A sincere "thank you" to all you boys for giving out some valuable information to a novice trout angler. I only get down to Taneycomo once a year, a tournament my buddy puts on in late Jan. But I would like to start getting down there a little more often to fly fish. I am starting to kinda get into that. Once again, thank you for the great info. You boys, and gals, on this website are outstanding at sharing information.

That is an awesome day!! Congrats to you!! You willing to divulge more info? Jerkbait? Crankbait? Jig? I have never fished Stockton in the winter time. But I always check the forum page to see what some of you boys are doing down there. One of my favorite lakes.