Smithvillesteve

They talk about a "gopher head" jig. I have never heard of that one. Any advice on where a guy might buy those? I am in the KC area. So Rogers, Dicks, Cabela's, Bass Pro would be good for me. Also, am i correct that they use mostly a 1/16 oz jig head for the Ned Rig? I am looking forward to getting down to Table Rock in the next few weeks and trying the Ned out. My buddy has a place on the White River just up from the Big M. My moral dilemma is should i keep the Ned a secret on him? He always kicks my butt down there fishing!!!!

Thanks for all the valuable info boys. Amazing. One thing i have figured out in my lifetime is that 99.9% of people that like to fish are just plain good people!! I was committed to the jerkbait one day last year in late winter/early spring at Table Rock. I stayed with it for several hours. Determined to show my buddy i could catch a bass with it. Never happened. But hey, that could happen with any lure when bass fishing. Thats why we love the challenge. If somebody could show me a pic of the Ned rig that would be greatly appreciated. Sounds like a mushroom head jig with a half of a worm basically right? Is it rigged like a grub then? Or sideways like a wacky worm setup? Once again, thanks so much for the valuable info several of you guys gave me. Smithville Steve

Happy New Year to all the users of this site! A couple of questions for anyone out there willing to give me some helpful info. 1) I've used a jerkbait several times in the winter and early spring at Table Rock and some other Mo lakes and have NEVER had any success. Now, i dont have much confidence in it because of that so i always go back to my jig and pig or a grub. I've tried reeling fast 5 or 6 cranks, then a jerk, jerk pause technique most of the time. No success. Any info here on the jerkbait would be welcomed. How? When? Where? 2) What is "the Ned?" Thanks and good health and fishing to all!! Sincerely, Smithville Steve

Thank you very much LoweSTX175. You are a better man than i am fishing in this weather!! Although i was in a deer stand a couple of tuesdays ago in 6 degree weather.

I love fishing Stockton lake. Just an absolute beautiful lake. I have some questions i hope somebody out there will answer for me. I like this forum very much and appreciate the info you guys put out for me. Questions: 1) A lot of you reference the "CC" area. Where exactly is that? 2) A lot of you reference the Cedar Ridge area. Where exactly is that? 3) A lot of you reference "Chicken Rock" on here. Is that the big rock north and east on the point across from PT 1? Up the Big Sac arm? On weekends there will be family's in pontoon boats there with kids jumping off the rock? Thanks, Smithville Steve

You need to change your name from CrappieMaster to WhiteMaster!! Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had a great time with your Dad and that is always special. My Grandpa and Dad used to take me out fishing for white bass a lot when i was young. We loved it. And pound for pound that is one fighting fish! I dont fish for them much anymore, although i will catch some when i am targeting their cousin, Mr. Hybrid. I have been wanting to get down to Stockton for one more trip before I start getting in my deer stand. But the Royals run in the playoffs has me waiting til they are done. Good to hear you release some fish also CrappieMaster. You are a good man!!

Funny stuff Bob!! Gary Burton is a good man. I taught Soc Stud for 20 yrs at Platte County hs and i knew Gary when he was teaching at Smithville. He does a great job with his bait shop in town here and runs a great tournament on thurs evenings at the lake. 2 buddies of mine and I went down this past wed, thurs and fri and had a good trip. One of my buddies is 73 yrs old and all he can do is troll. We caught lots of fish, mostly small. But we had whites surfacing around us thurs and fri a couple of times and had a good time with that. We love that lake. Had the lake to ourselves for the most part for 3 days. I'm still learning the lake a little bit. You need to take me out sometime. At a discount!! I'm retired on a fixed income!!

two buddies of mine and I spent last wed, thurs and fri fishing at Stockton. One of my buddies is 73 yrs old and about all he can do is troll. Bad shoulders and wrists. Oh, and he can drink his margaritas too I almost forgot. Anyway, we caught quite a few fish trolling. Probably around 20 walleyes and 20 bass. Mostly all small fish however. Only 2 15 in walleyes and a couple of nice 15-16 bass. We released everything. My 1 buddy got really hot with a Rick Clunn crankbait that ran about 15 ft deep. black top with a clear body with a bb rattle inside it. Had a square bill. Never seen a deep diver with a square bill before. We fished the main lake wed and thurs and went up the Big Sac friday. I would try and target 15 ft of water and every now and then you will look up and be in 10-12 ft and thats ok. Might want to have a lure knocker when you get hung up. Good luck.

Thanks MJK86. Appreciate your input. Yea, I never think about a jigging spoon down there and i dont why? I use one a lot of the time when i fishing for Hybrids at Truman and have picked up a few walleyes doing that.

A buddy of mine and I will be coming down to chase some "eyes" around after the Labor Day weekend. We are both retired so we are not messing with those holiday crowds. Any advice from you boys? I usually troll around the main lake area and if i hookup with one we try and go back and put a jig/crawler down in the area. If that isnt successful we go out in 20-30 ft of water and drift or fancast main lake pts. Hoping for cool temps next week with some cloud cover. Any advice from you boys is deeply appreciated.

We fished for some "eyes" wed evening and thurs afternoon/evening. I had a couple of buddies with me, one kind of elderly, so we trolled crankbaits mostly. wed evening was great. We caught 6 walleyes, 4 keepers, 2 nice big whites, 2 nice crappies. Had a great time trolling around, telling stories and catching fish. We came back thurs around 1 oclock and it was cloudy with a little chop on the water. I'm thinking this is a great walleye day!! We caught 2 small walleye early and then everything just shut off. If i was by myself i really would have liked to drifted a jig/crawler around some main lake points or pulled a spin rig around. Not trying to sound like Al Linder but I think I might have been able to get on some fish. But it was a great time taking two old friends down to that beautiful lake and catching a few fish.

darn Bitethis!! You need to write a book with those details! Glad you had a good time with your buddy. I really believe the key to your story was overcast skies. And maybe some wind. When i go down to Stockton if its sunny with little or no wind I just dont do much good in that clear water. But I am usually chasing some "eyes" around. I plan on going down sometime this week. I'm retired so I'm keeping an eye on the weather for some clouds. And good moon phase coming if you believe in that. I will close with this. I had one of my best friends pass away saturday morning. That cancer monster finally got him. He fished with us down at Stockton several times. Went to Canada with us. My point: get out fishing with your friends as much as possible. Enjoy the great outdoors. Enjoy each others company. Thanks for the info Bitethis. I am doing more bass fishing lately and I love the smallies down at Stockton. I want to try that Biffle Bug. I looked it up online.

Bass fishing can be tough boys. Even the pro's have a bad day. Looks like "dog days" have arrived. I appreciate the advice you guys put out here however. A friend of mine and I fished Smithville tournament thurs evening. He caught a couple of nice bass on that Biffle Bug somebody mentioned. Put it on a Gene Larew wobble jig. I would thing it would work down there. The great news is nobody mentioned catching any bass with ripped lips. That was just terrrible. And hope we have seen the end of that. I'm coming down thurs and friday but planned on targeting some "eyes". Any good advice from you boys? Main lake points? Jig and a crawler? I've tried finding a "slow death rig" here around KC area and cant find it. Everybody have a great holiday and stay safe!

After catching a limit of crappies on mon at LOZ and tues at Truman I went over to Stockton on wed. for walleyes and bass. Looking for a little better "tug". Bright blue skies and a lot of wind. I want to say "thanks" to the boys at the Marine shop on the little road that cuts down to the lake by Orleans Trail. Cant remember the name. But they attached a new transducer for me as soon as I drove up. I started throwing a white road runner with a white grub and caught quite a few bass on it in the shallows. Had a real nice 17 inch smallie. Quite a few spots. Caught a few on a crawdad colored crank. And a nice 17 in largemouth on a shad colored crank. But couldnt find any "eyes". Paper thurs up here said wallys were good on points using jig and crawler. 6 to 12 ft. I sure couldnt find em. Anyway love that lake. And love looking on here at the forum. I'm a long time reader first time user.