top_dollar

That place did always have a strange sorta vibe going on. Like walking into a gas station in extreme rural missouri...the 4 people in there all appear to be related, and only 1 of them is actually "at work". They all just kinda stare in painfully awkward silence....Get your beverage and snacks (something that is 100% sealed and prepackaged), gas up and get out.

So when might I choose one over a traditional walking bait? I use a WTD topwater 90% of the time, just cuz its what i know and have confidence in. If im in thick weeds or something ill use a weedless walker or walking frog, but are there situations/conditions where a wake bait does better than a WTD bait? Or do you just gotta try em both and see what they like? Id like to venture outside of my comfort zone by using wake baits, prop baits and various other topwater lures, but i have quite a bit of success with the top dollar, spittin image, and spooks...they just need a severe hardware upgrade.

Nice work with the spoon! Thanks for the report.

I really love that second picture! Thanks for the report.

Correct.....this thread was started to garner attention and start a fight. It worked well. I like to troll also, but mainly for crappie and walleye.

Wopper plopper is a fancy buzz bait ND those things are crazy popular. ( for good reason)

what a gold mine of information right here...im going to try this next time im on stockton!

Never heard of anyone longlining spinners before, interesting technique! How deep they run? For twist you could try braided line?

I'd say your an expert based in your posts! Last summer walleye fishing in Stockton was great with jigs and crawlers. Great numbers and better size too.

What part of the lake will you be fishing? They were biting extremely well last week on flat gravel points in 25 to 30fow right off the bottom. Most came on night crawlers fished vertical. If youll be near kimberling ill PM you some good spots.

No expert...but trolling crankbaits and jigs tipped with crawlers is hard to beat and easy to do this time of year in Stockton. Drag crankbaits that will run 15 to 20 feet deep (even deeper sometimes), and jig worms on main lake points, humps and islands. Jigging worms and spoons early and late works, but also I often do well with walleye in the middle of the day trolling crankbaits at 3mph or even faster. I almost always fish between the twin bridges and the mile long bridge, but those techniques work for me there.

Excellent information! Thanks for the detailed reply.

Can you elaborate a bit on your technique and equipment when using jigging spoons? I use them frequently with good success...but obviously you do too and I'm always interested in learning different presentation methods and why one would chose to employ them. Also for a 1oz spoon, what equipment do you use? I use a med heavy fast action casting rod with metered braid fishing line. I worry about a lack of give with that setup, but have yet to have a fish come off mid fight.

Thanks guys I'll look into both of those options.

Trolling large deep diving crank baits in the summer has produced some of my largest bass. I firmly believe that if a bass angler stuck to casting large deep crank baits would produce some big bags. I have also caught several very nice bass jigging spoons for walleye. Jigging crawlers for walleye though will catch dinks.

Speaking of bass pro shops...I was mad at them when I walked into the giant theme park esqe self proclaimed "grandaddy of all outdoor stores" looking for a couple of cheap fiber glass down rigger rods (they are great for longline trolling) I asked the guy...he had no idea what I was talking about. I said 9 foot super floppy glass rods...blank stare. OK thanks guy. I couldn't find anything even close. I found some 7foot browning silaflex rods and picked up a few. They worked alright but too short and too stiff for long lining with metered braid. they would probably be excellent rods for casting deep crankbaits, especially at 40bucks a pop. Note..when storing 2 piece rod tip sections in a separate box....don't forget that box. :/ had a bunch of reels and butt sections. Lol oh well...bought 7 new fishing rods worse things have happened lol.

Haven't tried the whopper plopper yet, I'm late to that party...by the time I use one fish will be all plopped out. I did however order 3 of those stutter steps...those look like an all in 1 type bait.

Nice work! Those are two giant eyes! I couldn't manage to troll any up. I was over commited to the spoon and it cost me lots of worm fish. I felt like I was trying to force feed them the spoon as well. It was tough! I saw em on the graph and fish would willingly eat a crawler, but wouldn't touch my spoon. I don't get it...the crawler fish were spitting up spoon shaped shad.

This is how i fish a crawler. It works a lot better than a split shot cuz you rarely have to retie it, doesn't pinch/knick your line, and minimizes twist. Sometimes you may want to slide the sinker up a foot like a traditional split shot rig, however the further the weight from the worm the higher the likely hood that the line will twist up around the weight. I've found that this rig less than an inch above the hook works most efficienctly when probing deep areas. On windy days you can up to a 1/8th or 3/16 Oz weight, but I like the 1/16.

That's precisely the hooks I have on that! I like death traps and gammys. The feather is a must on top water lures imo. I'm willing to go over the top with a top dollar cuz they work so well for me. I can't believe those lures aren't available anymore, there really is nothing comparable that I can find.

I like to paint lures up at work. I have painted hundreds, this is my last batch of top dollar lures.

Got out for a bit of trolling yesterday evening. Bout 2 hours dedicated fishing. Caught 7 smallies, 1 spot, a few white bass, all were 12 to 17 inches. Was targeting walleye...had 1 very nice fish on a few seconds. Solid heavy weight with occasional head shakes, came off mid fight. Kinda thinking that might have been my good eye. Last year I caught 2 trolling cranks in the same location. I was pretty upset as I go to great lengths to make sure when I hook a fish trolling it comes to the boat, and it's rare that I lose one anymore. Caught fish trolling 2.5 to 3mph on main lake gravel points with deep water near, and bluff walls with tree tops about 20 feet down. Pulled flicker shads 17 feet down over 17-40 fow. This morning was my last...slower today, but same as last few days. Crawlers, spoons, long flat gravel points 15 to 25 feet down. Not much love on the spoon yesterday or today. Nightcrawlers worked well though (although I'm sure some snub their nose at live bait)..I use a 7 ft light power, fast action spinning rod spooled with 4 pound mono. I attach (in this order) a rubber bobber stop, a 1/16th Oz slip sinker, a bead, a rubber bobber stop, another bead, then a #6 or 4 gammy bait holder hook. The distance of the weight to the hook is easily adjusted, but due to line twist I usually just have about a half inch between the hook and weight. I'll post a picture. The crawler is threaded on so it's perfectly straight. As was mentioned fish like to swallow the rig. This can be alleviated by being attentive, when you feel a bite, lift up slightly, if you feel weight set the hook immediately. Often times you'll miss the bite and lose your worm....it happens as it's a 9 inch worm on a half inch hook. When you get it down though you'll hook up on 75% or more of your bites.

Bluegill are biting very well. More of the same as yesterday. Crawlers fished vertical 25 feet down. They are easy to see on the graph, like a bunch of squiggly lines a few feet above the bottom in 25 to 30 fow. Catching a good mix of bluegills, black bass and catfish. Gravel points with shad present. Struck out with a spoon today.

Trolled cranks this afternoon for walleye...none. caught 4 smallies all bout 12 inches long. Went bluegill fishing, found them on the bottom in 23-28 fow way out on the gravelly side of a main lake point.

I wait til they poop out the hook and reel em in backwards.