dan hufferd

Yes, I fish Stockton mainly. I have to say this..after the first year fishing Stockton I was ready to sell the boat! I just could not make anything awesome happen. Then around mother's day my wife and I started catching crappie on crank baits, bass on magnum finesse worms, then all summer until the January flood we filled the freezer with walleye. It was a great year.

I took some of the walleye tactics that I learned on Stockton to Table Rock and was able to make it work there too. A friend and I caught more than 30 large blue gill in deep water along with I don't know how many spotted bass and a few eater walleye. I just have not explored Table Rock enough to be real confident there.

I am not very good at fishing this time of year. My goal was to catch a walleye from Stockton for each month, that is one per month. January got here and just like magic they were gone.

I will set this goal again for myself as soon as I get another walleye in the boat, and start my year from there....again.

Here is a hint I will have a kayak for shallow water fishing by January. I think I have learned a thing or three this winter I guess we will see.

This winter lake fishing thing has been very humbling.

If you need some help on Stockton, maybe we can trade info about lakes? Where do you fish? 

I fish Stockton the most since I can be at the ramp in an hour and a half. I used to make a couple of trips to the rock a year but haven't gone in a couple of years.  

I've only done a little bit of walleye fishing, bass is more my thing. My friend at Stockton typically trolls cranks and a bottom bouncer for walleye and I've caught a few going with him.. It's not an easy lake to fish. Typically this time of year I fish areas with the right chunk rock with some pea gravel and catch quite a few.  Then when summer sets in I usually focus on brush in 30' or so. 

That sounds like, the same plan that I ended up with. I would like to fish the river inlets next Jan,Feb, 1st couple weeks of March next year focusing on walleye. I think that would fill in the gaps for me. I don't know. 

I become very goal oriented, which can quickly take the fun out of fishing.

I am right in the middle of the 2 lakes. Big M, and Ruark Buff are almost the same for me. Add an other 10 minutes to the journey and I can be on upper Bull Shoals, Beaver creek Access. 

When the summer gets going the walleye seem to be everywhere 18 to 24 meets the bottom. If you don't like the trolling thing snap jigging something flashy works pretty well. I have some small 1/2 spoons, shiver minnow, or jigging rap, just a night crawler on a jg works great too sometimes.