Unimog

Friday had okay results on the ends of bluffs so I started on that Saturday morning. Would catch one or two over by the quarry and Crabtree on each spot then move on. That afternoon I guess others had the same idea because there was a boat on many of the main lake points. Went into a cove on the secondary point and caught two drop shotting a brush pile in 30'. It was definitely fun breaking in a new combo. Left there, fished a brush pile my hawker point and caught a single there in a wobble head. The rest of the afternoon was hot, slow and recreational boaters out in full force. I guess that's what happens when you haven't fished Stockton in a month.

I put in at RB ramp around 3:30 and the best spot I had was a point at the end of a bluff wall. Caught a couple on a wobble head and played with the c-rig and got one more. Other main lake points didn't do as well or at all. I haven't been down for a month dang near and it showed! Going back out today, we'll see what happens.

One of my favorite lures, however it's not a bite I've ever really seen materialize on the lower end of Stockton where I usually fish. Around home I fish them on 20# fluorocarbon and a heavy action 7' crankbait rod.

The cabins at state park look nice but there's not much fishing right there. The only other lake cabins I'm aware of are the ones at Orleans trail.

Love how pictures get flipped!

A test light is your friend in a situation like this. Your running light will go to one wire in your LEDs and the brake/ turn to the other.

Ok that's good to know. I've had some old strike king lizards by z-man in a box for 3-4 years in the plastic bags. Seemed to warp the divider some but I've got other deformed Plano boxes too.

It is pretty great stuff, nice report! I would be happy with something that had the same floatation and not made of elaztec. I have the elaztec in its own 3700 box waiting to see if it deforms it. I've read stories in this forum of it making big mess of things.

Spinning tackle?

Wow, imagine that fish pre spawn! I caught a pre spawn 8 this year and thought I was doing good!

How did you have the brush hog rigged? Thanks for the report! Was there any type of area that seemed better?

Were you primarily fishing football jigs for the bass?

Just a comment on the Carolina rig. I see things called a Carolina shortcut and ez rigs sold, apparently marketed to rubes who can't figure out how to put one together. Basically the weight and bead is contained on a wire to which you tie your lines to. To me the key to feeling a bite on a c-rig is the ability for the line to slip through the weight thus not having the weight totally isolating you from the lure. I feel if you care at all about bass mortality, don't use these things, tie it up yourself like it should be with the ability to slip normally.

I think most all the fish are post spawn by now but there a few that seem to be looking to spawn. About 1/3 the way into hawker I saw some really shallow fish in a pea gravel area that seemed to be trying to bed. I made a couple pitches to them but they took off obviously not locked onto anything. Chunk rock seemed to be the deal today though I saw practically no one else doing this. First cast right by the ramp with the Ned caught this decent starter fish. Caught 3 fish on my first 4 casts this morning which is fine with me. Ended up with probably 10 just trolling around by the ramp. Tried a few different coves over on the little sac arm but none had the kind of chunk rock I was after and I caught nothing. I'd planned to get a sandwich at state park so I headed up there and recalled catching several close to state park. Again, an area with bigger rock. It was so darn windy I picked up the Carolina rigged lizard and caught 4 in that spot. Could have probably caught several but the wind was bad. Headed back toward the dam, and made one stop over in the west side and got several more. This was a better one on a zman lizard again Carolina rigged. . Saw a lot of people right up close to the bank. Couldn't tell what they were throwing but I didn't see anything being caught. They were around the brush which I wouldn't think was flooded enough to hold anything. Maybe I missed out both days?

I fish it on a baitcaster with 10 lb fluoro. Probably should go lighter on line. Started trying the hula worm today and it works well too.

Don't know why the pics got flipped....

Got on the water about 11 at the dam and started on a secondary point with a jig. Had a bite but didn't take it so I threw the Ned rig in there. Caught 3 small fish then hooked into this decent fish. I then moved out onto some main lake points and couldn't make anything happen with a jig, wobble head and Carolina rig. Went into a cove just north of the mile long bridge back toward the back in an area I've had good luck in and got this 4# on a Carolina rigged watermelon red lizard. Went into hawker cove and caught 3 in one area on the Ned then continued south on down to mutton creek. Fished the point across from the campground and got a couple shorts there. Headed back toward the dam and made a stop in Orleans trail cove and caught 3 on the wobble head with a Pit boss again in watermelon red. Going after it again in the morning, hopefully a more identifiable pattern shows through. I couldn't get bit on the main lake. Water temps were around 70. Anyone else fishing tomorrow?

So is a bigger Ned rig back to a shakey head?

The beetle spin was made for some time by bass buster in Amsterdam mo, just a few mile from me. It was eventually bought by Johnson outdoors and the plant closed. To me what makes the Midwest finesse is the high floating property of the z-man plastic. You don't get anything even close to the same action with a salt heavy bait like a Yamamoto senko. Maybe a beetle spin plastic floats but I don't have any handy to test.

I got a yeti last year as a gift and have yet to use it. I'd seen the above video and that was enough to convince me that a Coleman extreme was all I needed. I just can't see parading around in my pickup with a $350 cooler in the back waiting to get stolen. I also noticed for the size of the cooler the inside is quite small.

I know one thing, the kids sure like to do burnouts and donuts around the ramp parking lots. I was tempted to call on a couple idiots not long ago.

Thank you, I haven't made it down in a couple of weeks and noticed a lot of males guarding fry on a local lake. I primarily fish between the dam and hawker and the water was a few degrees cooler.

at what stage of the spawn do you feel the majority of the fish are in jim?

As far as hurting the fish goes, the same argument can be applied to all soft plastics in the hands of a novice angler, an inattentive angler or someone who just plain couldn't feel the bite. I have seen some of the private fishing lakes not allow Carolina rigs at all to avoid gut hooking and killing fish. Regardless of the method, it's up to the angler to exercise care in its use....much like everything else.

That's awesome, I don't think I've had the ball and chain work as well as it has the last 2-3 weeks at stockton.