slab slinger

Fished the Little Sac my whole life and kept fishing records every year. With this great Feb. weather it's hard not to try the whites early. My first limit of whites on the LS is always on or shortly after March 15. That seems to be around the time the first heavy surge of males head up the river. Not saying they're not there earlier but not in Good numbers. If your targeting river walleye nows the time to start getting serious till the end of March. Good luck guys.

Great looking boat. Should handle our beloved Stockton winds just fine. Nice fish as well.

When jerk bait fishing make a cast toward the bank or where ever then give it 2 or 3 long jerks to get it down. Then you have to find the cadence the fish want depending on how agressive they are that day. I always start slow. I mean SLOW I'll get it down with a couple hard jerks then let it suspend for up to a minute then I twitch it a couple times and pause... twitch pause... and so on. Most bites will be ocolorsn the pause so be ready. Fish it all the way to the boat alot of strikes will come when your ready to reel up and re cast. Just start slow and find the cadence. Jerk baits....there's so many choices today and so many opinions on the best but for me it's the old stand by Smithwick rouge. I do like the lucky strike RC stick as well. My fav colors are clown, bone white, table rock shad and Tennessee shad. Swimming minnows... Just cast and retreave slow. Very the depth or retreave. Sometimes hop the bottom.

I cut my teeth on walleye fishing the Little Sac River with my uncle. He is the only guy that has taught me about river eyes so don't know if it's the best info but it has been working for me for years. We would start around Valentine's day and fish till the whites we're at full spawn. He claimed only male eyes were in the river at this point females already headed back to the lake. We would float 215 bridge to Orleans bridge first. Targeting score holes on outside river bends and heads of riffles. Walleye like current breaks and ambush structure such as rocks and logs but dont over look current seams as structure also. We fished mainly road runners and bucktails tipped with minnows throw netted out of the river. Passing up the non productive water and really fishing out the key areas was our main focus. I'm no expert on river eyes or walleye in general but I do catch them following this in the river. Lake spawners I do best in March along the face of the dam and long gravel points. I throw jerk baits and swimming minnows. The best fishing I've found is the last hour of light and the first hour of dark. It's no secret the walleye stack on the dam face to spawn. Just follow the crowds and join in. Most walleye guys are tight lipped and don't share any good info so I hope this helps out.

You guys are on it with the flicks. They are a great bait for trolling. I mainly crappie fish and don't utilize trolling for much of the year but when I do I usually always pull flicker shad. For me there's not a better way to catch big slabs post spawn than long lining crank baits. I do spider rig suspended open water crappie some but pulling cranks is more productive with the reaction bite for me. Size 7 purple tiger on 10lb braid works May-June for me on suspended crappie. Wanting to extend my trolling times of year But I can't seem to put down the jig rod for to long. Thanks for info good topic.

Nice job. Congrats. Love to see sucessful bow hunters.

How did the comb eat? I haven't found a way I enjoy them or the beards yet. Might give this a try the next time I find one.

Wow...Congrats on the monster hens. Lotta fine eatin there.

You are correct on that portion of river being closed from Oct 15 till end of waterfowl season. From Aldrich to Orlean and almost half way to Taylor. Taylor and above is still open to all other hunting and fishing on or near river. There are some big submerged rocks above Taylor Bridge the first I know of for sure is at the powerline hole close to the clay bank cut out. The S curves are clear till the next set of S curves before the RR bridge. There's some nasty rocks around the RR Bridge but should be fine to run When scouted first trip. Pretty skinny water above Slagle Creek to 215 HWY. Above 215 is a gamble in a bigger boat but not saying it can't be done in a net with good operator. I usually canoe/float Flat bottom anything above 215.

As far as lower ends or the rivers I only can give experienced input on the LS. How big is your rig length and do u have 4X4 truck or not? LS ramps and put ins include Aldrich, Orleans Bridge and Taylor Bridge. The 2 Bridges up river you'll need 4x4 but shouldn't have much trouble. I use Aldrich and run up with my bigger rig and either Bridge ramps with my FB. Hear that Taylor ramp is in bad shape right now. I can tell u that the both Orleans put ins are fine. As for fishing...well you know the spawn runs are best on walleye and whites but bass and crappie fishing is fair most of the yr till winter. Smalls I have caught have been farther up river between 215 and Taylor. Haven't caught a ton of them but good size when I hooked one. Running the river well it changes every year as you already know. Not really no impassable areas I have found. Lots are plentiful from Aldrich to Taylor but nothing crazy really. Gravel bars won't show till you get above taylor and big rocks are hazards as well. Haven't ran above Taylor since spring so can't help much there. Good luck and he careful.

That's a pretty hen. I have struck out the past couple weeks at my fall shroom spots. Thought it may have been from lack of rain the past month or so. Found all these around a pond. More moisture there??? Don't know but sure was surprised with the size of them with the dry spell we're in. Haven't found any oysters yet so far but sure like them as well. Found a mess of honey mushrooms and pear puffballs as well but not much in these 2 types myself. Thanks for cooking ideas I need to branch out with shroom recipes instead of frying everything all the time. It's catching up with me as I get older. Haha

Thanks. How do you cook your Hens and Chickens?

I was scouting a new hunting property yesterday and stumbled upon a nice hen of the woods. Combed the area and found the rest of these. All chickens were on dead Headge trees and the hens were on a dying red oak. Ended up with 4 chickens and 3 Hens. I offered the land owner them all but they only wanted 1 chicken so dad and I left with more than plenty for ourselves. Was a nice surprise and will enjoy eating them for the next couple days. Good luck to all the shroom hunters. Hope to see more shroom posts before the fall seasons over. Oh any good hen or chicken recipes you wouldn't mind sharing would be greatly appreciated. I have just been pan frying them in butter and onions.

Cedar bluff is the bluff on right as you enter what I consider the mouth of the river.

Last Friday Found whites up the LS river between cedar bluff and Orleans bridge. Lots of surface action and plenty of fish. Small blacks are plentiful as well.

Thanks for report and great cave pics. I have been pretty far back in the spring cave. It's really neat back where the spring comes out of the cave floor. It splits off kinda and gets real borrow to the left. I only made it a little days before I got stuck and backed out. I Haven't been back to it in years. Cool to see pics of it again.

Late summer crappie, well summer crappie on Stockton have always been tough for me. I usually get a few each trip and that's it. Don't really know where they go or if they just don't bite but I struggle on Stockton for summer slabs. Sounds like you done exactly what I would have by searching and staying on the move until you found a bite. Me and you both know there's 2 other lakes that are great summer crappie lakes and that's why I switch lakes almost every summer for slabs. I consider Stockton my home waters every season of the year but summer. Sorry I'm not much help on Stockton summer slabs.

Those are some pretty fish. The small jaw on the gravel is a nice one. The white must not be a boy scout, think he's lost a bit. Looks like you had a decent trip good mix of fish. Glad to hear a report. Thanks for info.

Looks like you had a great day. Nice dub limit. Glad to see the bite may be picking up. Thanks for report.

Glad to hear the crappie bite is finally picking up. Thanks for report.

The last time I went out I was counting on them to be and struck out. I have asked everyone I know that question and all have said they have seen NO surface activity yet from the whites. They may be there just have to troll and cover water till you find them. Don't know what the deal is this summer, they should be going strong by now.

I have been building PVC crappie structures and getting everything ready for Bow Season. Saving up gas money waiting for fall bite to get here. I'm ready to fish now, but figured I should get somethings done while the bites not hot. Haven't got any good reports on or off here for a while now. Hope it picks up soon.

Had requests for location and payment info. Dad's Located in Springfield. Pick up and cash only.

SOLD

Yes it is a steal for someone at $150. A great rod for great price. His boats in the shop and he's selling a few things to get repairs paid for.