Smithvillesteve

Today's fishing report in the KC Star had white bass surfacing at Stockton Lake. Listed it as "excellent". Early and late.

Thanks for the report Imtout. You are the walleye man!! I will be fishing down there friday and will try the bottom bouncer technique. I am new to that technique. And i cant find any 2 oz bottom bouncers anywhere!! Have not tried Cabela's or BassPro. Bought some slow death rigs at Rogers here in KC yesterday. They only had light bottom bouncers, 3/4 oz. Hoping i can beat the holiday weekend crowd by fishing friday.

Thanks Ryan for sharing your info. Deeply appreciated. I use the paper worm bedding when fishing with night crawlers. I too hate the dirt/mud in my boat carpet. The bedding is excellent. I dont use spoons a lot. Sometimes up at Truman when trying to catch hybrids. I will have to give this a shot. I will also try the bottom bouncers. Once again, thanks Ryan.

Thanks for the report Ryan. I will be going down to Stockton later on in the week and was wondering what was going on with the bass and the walleye. Sounds like you and your Dad caught a lot of fish. Thats great news. Enjoy fishing with your Dad. I sure wish i could fish with mine. If you could, could you expand a little on your techniques? I know you said spoons and plastic worms for the bass. How deep? In the thermocline? And the walleye? trolling cranks? jig and crawler? bottom bouncers? Not trying to be too "nosey" here Ryan. But any advice would be welcomed.

Priceless!! I took my two boys fishing with me at a very early age. My youngest just loved it. He would be fishing by the ramp as I took my boat off the water. I had to pry him away. Now, he is 19 yrs old and we go to Canada every year and fish for a week together. My favorite week of the year. Thanks for sharing your story. Brought a tear to my eye!! Nothing better than getting to fish with your son.

I can not thank you guys enough for the valuable information provided me here on this forum. I took a couple of buddies down last week. All they want to do is troll crankbaits. We caught quite a few walleyes but only 2 keepers. A lot of 13-14 inch fish. We also caught a lot of smallies and spots. Mostly small. I stopped at Woods Supermarket in Stockton and bought a couple of bottom bouncers. But they only had 1 oz. I tried one for awhile on the big flat south of 215 bridge. Used the gas motor, 40 hp, as slow as i could go. Tied on a spin rig to the bottom bouncer. Only fished it for about half an hour and didnt catch anything. Never felt it "tick" the bottom. I was in 15-20 fow. No clue how fast i was running and really think i needed a 2 oz. Cant wait to get back down there and try this technique using a lot of the info you guys have provided. Thanks again.

I dont fish for crappies very often at Stockton Lake. But let me say congrats to you two boys!!

I am coming down to fish Stockton for a few days and have a couple of questions. Any info would be deeply appreciated. I would like to try the bottom bouncer technique with a slow death rig or spin rig attached. I have never tried this technique before. From reading the info on here the last few weeks it seems as if trolling this method 1.5 to 2 mph is the way to go. Is this usually done with a gas motor or trolling motor? I've been told the bottom bouncer gets hung up a lot.Is this technique better utilized on flats that traditionally would have mud bottoms instead of rocky points? I love this forum and all the information several fishermen are willing to share. I usually troll a crankbait and cast/drifta jig/crawler. This time of year I usually focus on main lake points. Any advice would be deeply appreciated. Thank you very much.

Quillback you are the man!! Not being from that area i forget about a guy like Pete Wenners and his reports. I cant thank you enough Quillback. Excellent report. Sincerely appreciate your help.

Thinking about coming down to the Rock mid week. Be fishing around the Big M area. Any advice would be welcomed. Will be bass fishing. All catch and release Champ!! Looks like the weather will be in upper 80's with a chance of rain. I can deal upper 80's this time of year. My plan is to hit bluff ends and points. Mostly use finesse tactics. Ned, drop shots, Carolina rigs. Any advice on where, what, colors would be deeply appreciated.

Thank you Slab Slinger. Yes, i have fished those bluff ends in that area and the big chunk rocks that fallen off the bluffs. Picked up a few small smallies. There is also some good points in that area. Deep water close by. Appreciate your input my friend.

Thanks for the report. I'm thinking about heading down mid week. Looked at the weather and it is supposed to drop down into the high 80's. Also looks like lake level is dropping down slowly. I'd like to target some eyes but tough to do there with sunny skies. Looks like the guy from Stockton Guide Service has been on some lately. Also like to fish for smallies. Any advice on that would be appreciated. I will try and hit some bluff ends with plastics, Ned and drop shot.

There was a guy cleaning some white bass last week at Mutton Creek. Claimed he was trolling spinners in shallow water. Less than 10 ft.

I'm certainly not a qualified drop shot expert myself. But my Field and Stream magazine had an article on it and i cant wait to try it. This guy said to use 10 lb braided line with flurocarbon leader. He uses a small finesse worm and he texas rigs it so he doesnt get hung up in brush. I havent been down to Table Rock in awhile but i got my set up ready to go. Need these lake levels to stabilize!! Good luck.

Not trying to sound too heavy here but its great you are fishing/thinking about/remembering Sac River Jim. I didnt know him personally. Just on here. I had a wife die of leukemia back in 1984. I dont think about her everyday. But sometimes when i am fishing alone, in the back of a cove and i realize how beautiful it is outside, I look to the heavens and think about her. Everybody have a great holiday weekend.

There is an old boy down at Tanneycomo that likes to park his truck at the ramp where we launch and "watch the show" as he puts it. Last year we had a guy that backed his truck so far into the lake he couldnt get it out. Had to call a tow service. Very shallow at that ramp and when they are running water is not easy to put your boat on your trailer. Better know what you are doing. But there is always idiots at a boat ramp. I'm retired and have the luxury of fishing during the week. I come home on the weekends. But last week i took a couple of buddies down to Truman for wipers on a saturday. We were trolling in a cove where a major marina was. Big mistake. Seadoes were getting it between my boat and the bank!! Unbelievable. We got out of there quickly. These people had no idea. Clueless to what was going on around them. I fish LOZ in the late winter/early spring. Then I'm done. Everybody have a great holiday weekend. Be safe out there!!

I think i saw that scene in Caddyshack!! Rodney Dangerfield was driving the boat!!

How about some info boys? What is a slow death rig? A pic would be really nice. I was in Cabela's the other day and never saw anything in the walleye area that said "slow death rig". A couple of buddies of mine will be down Sat, Sun and Monday. Hoping to get on some "eyes!!"

Great to hear you are back on the water Agressor. We cant let them win!!

I have caught several fish on the Ned Rig this year at Table Rock and Stockton. I have had one small bass get the hook in the gullet and killed it. 90 % of the fish i catch have the hook in the top of the mouth. I believe that if i fished a plastic worm as much as i have the Ned Rig this year i would have had a lot more fish with hooks in the gullet. Especially if I Carolina rig it. I have had several trips this year where the fishing was pretty tough and the Ned Rig has saved the trip. Yes, i do believe the Ned Rig has a tendency to catch smaller fish. Although a buddy of mine caught a nice 4 lb LM at Stockton on it. I just think it is another arsenal in my tackle box to hopefully allow me to catch fish. There are times unfortunately when every fisherman kills a fish. I dont care what they are using. It happens. I do know for a fact a bass wont live in the frying pan!! I release all bass. If a fisherman wants to keep some bass to eat thats his right. I dont complain. But i dont think we should rip fishermen for using a Ned Rig, an Alambama Rig or a spider rig. As long as it is legal. Just my two cents.

Dont let this beat you Agressor!! 99% of people are good. 1% makes it bad for all of us. I gotta believe fishing is important to you. Find a way to make it happen. And like a previous writer, be thankful you are ok. All the material goods can be replaced. 2 years ago i was putting on at Crabtree Cove and a guy was pulling off the ramp and told me to be careful. Somebody had dumped a bunch of wood screws in the water on two of the ramps. There are a lot of morons in this world!! Take a look at Baltimore today!! Hang in there Agressor!!

Thank for the info Dave. I'll be going down to TR this thursday thru sunday. I'm going to need some more jig heads as all my friends are borrowing mine as they watch me catch fish!! I have a question: You guys on here talk about a "swing jig". Is that the same as the wobble head jigs? I see rain in the forecast for friday, sat, and sunday. You guys down south are getting all the rain. We could actually use some up here in the north. Smithville is actually 2 feet low. I caught a nice 6 lb LM on the Rock Crawler on Smithville last friday. And just read in KC Star where a guy won big bass honors sunday with a 9.2. I may have to cancel my yard work and get out there today!!

Anybody got any advice on how to fix my boat leak? I have a V bottom Lund boat. I was in Canada last year and was breaking ice with my boat and that may have caused this problem. Not sure. Going outside today to fill up with water and locate the area(s). I really dont want to take out the flooring. I cant turn it upside down. Any help would be deeply appreciated. I got a good working bilge but this is kind of a pain in the butt!! Sounds like the bite is on down at Table Rock. Hoping to get down soon. Thanks.

Thanks for the input boys. I will definitely give it a shot up here at Smithville. By the looks of some pics here on the site it looks like the Table Rock area got hit pretty hard by heavy rains. Now a nasty cold front has arrived. Ahhhh, gotta love spring time in Missouri!! Headed to LOZ for crappies monday and to Stockton tuesday for bass and eyes. Weather supposed to be back in the 70's. Cant wait to get back down to Table Rock though. I love that lake. Hopefully the water will be clean by then and everything is stable. You boys down there hang in there!!

Good video Dave. I got a question. I see some of the guys on the forum will fish the Ned Rig on Stockton as well as Table Rock. Both very clear waters. What about up here north? I fish Smithville Lake and i guess the water clarity at around 2 ft right now. Will the TRD work in water with that much color to it? Thanks for any input to my question.