olfishead

Wow, looks like fun! One of these days I'll get out again. For the foreseeable future I'll be building a shouse for my son.

You didn't show my entire post, did you? You might apply for a job with the biased media, you'd fit right in!

Another over-priced and vague quote from a so called boat mechanic and want-to-be fish biologist. That's the problem with this mechanic he never gives a straight answer on price. It's always PLUS some more. Glad he's not a biologist he wouldn't be able to give a straight answer on anything as complicated as fish biology.

Yeah, it's more about trolling now, mostly by a know-it-all mechanic.

Ok, I was wrong, you've apparently been drinking something stronger than coffee.

It's no use, "toothpicks in a glass of water" LOL, you can't reason with an idiot.

Yes, there's usually two sides to every story and neither of them is intentionally rude.

Exactly, septicemia (bacteria) or saprolegnia (fungal) or combination. Often caused by stress due to water quality problems, handling or parasites. A common problem in Pomme in muskies and white bass. Having been the fisheries biologist on Pomme for many years I saw this especially after heavy spring rains flooded vegetation that in turn caused low Oxygen as the vegetation decomposed, causing stress and weakened immunity. Also related to influx of nutrients. (Time for coffee) What ARE you talking about???? MDC never considered "jacking" with the gene pool of the white bass at Pomme. More coffee shop talk.

There were a lot of glass shrimp in the upper end of Truman in the 80's. I don't know about now???

Probably around 14 inches but I didn't fish Stockton much between 1980 and 2012.

Wow, I don't know where that video was taken but they might as well used a fillet knife to see what that muskie ingested. Rediculous method. We certainly never used that method at Pomme. When it comes down to it they feed on whatever swims by with lots of variables.

Only time will tell huh? I agree that fall is usually a tough time of year to catch the larger crappie, but due to the increased pressure caused by covid 19, the older, legal sized year classes took a big hit this spring/summer. However, I'm sure that we have a huge 2019 year class that should reach the 10 inch MLL about fall of 2021. Mopanfisher is exactly right in saying that regulations can not be changed on a yearly basis, that is a long, complicated process that requires lots of justification. Fish populations are managed for long term sustainability with optimal production by considering long term characteristics of the population and exploitation. There are lots and lots of considerations and there is no way to predict some of the factors that will effect changes in recruitment, harvest, growth rates, etc.,etc. The covid pandemic fishing pressure increase is one of those.

Yes, and sometimes but not often an individual fish of a different will get mixed in at the hatchery when more than one species are raised at that hatchery.. I learned a long time ago to never say never, back when the MDC said there were no mountain lions in MO and later was proven wrong. I verified a Pacu (S. American pirana) from Pomme too!

Yes, and sometimes but not often an individual fish of a different will get mixed in at the hatchery when more than one species are raised at that hatchery.. I learned a long time ago to never say never, back when the MDC said there were no mountain lions in MO and later was proven wrong. I verified a Pacu (S. American pirana) from Pomme too!

Mocarp, I finally had time to maybe shed some light on your questions. I don't remember copper nosed bluegills being stocked, (I really don't think they were) but do remember sampling for mississippi and brook silversides to monitor whether or not the stocked Mississippi's were gaining in densities. To my recollection they held thier own at about 20% of the population for several years. I'm not sure about more recently. I remember stocking threadfin shad from Oklahoma. They did not survive, we thought due to the really cold winter of 1975 or 76?. As for the decline in plankton and algae abundance, that is typical of an aging deep lake. The topsoil that includes the nutrients gets washed out to deeper water and/or flushed completely of the lake system. Then nutrients are tied up in the undisturbed deep water sediments. Sometimes there is a well distributed source of nutrients (like septic systems around lake of ozarks) that constantly feeds the system. Also, there is a gradient of suspended nutrients/silt as you move down the lake due to the influx from the larger streams. All of which is enfluenced by water releases that flush nutrients thru the system. Tiger muskies died out from natural mortalities in the late 70's due to no natural reproduction. Hope this helps.

More than likely a gar.

Tiger muskies were Stocked in Stockton around 1972-73, very few showed up in angler's creel and very few reports of them being caught. So, MDC discontinued stocking them. Muskies stocked in Pomme escape thru the dam into Truman and occasionally get caught in Lake of the Ozarks and Truman. I know of none that have been caught in Stockton.

I'm not sure who you got that information from, but I was highly involved with sampling and collection of walleye broodstock in the 80s. We never determined that shocking had any negative effect on spawning. The collection of walleye broodstock was shifted exclusively to Warsaw because of the better densities of fish and closer proximity to Blind Pony Hatchery where the fingerlings were raised at that time. The increased walleye stocking was just due to the designation of Stockton as the flagship walleye lake in a new statewide walleye plan. Director Conley was a big proponent of a strong walleye program.

I suspect that they did that, purposely blocked the ramp, due to safety concerns. There is a huge, sheer, drop-off at the end of the concrete ramp. It is probably not very far out/deep in the water. If you back a boat trailer off it you could tear the axle out from under your trailer when pulling it out. BTW that's an MDC ramp.

Another theory, They are smart enough to go deep so they won't have to listen to all the campaign adds and are so sick of all the lies that they won't bite. (Not going into by which party, just saying for a friend.)

I'm Not sure of where the Broodstock walleye are collected now, but a few years ago, and for several on consecutive years, they were all collected below Truman Dam, which are lake of the Ozarks fish that originated from the Missouri River basin. I was never in favor of dropping the length limit on eyes from 18" to 15". The main reason for that was that eyes (larger than 18") rarely showed up in angler's creel, so that stocking walleye was producing very few "take home fish" according to creel census information. The options included 1. Lowering the LL 2. Stop stocking eyes. My opinion, at that time, was that a 16" LL would allow more fish to be harvested, a better quality fish and would better justify stockings. But, the Conservation Dept. was, and still is, committed to keeping regulations as simple and uniform as possible while keeping with the criteria of good biological science and public cost/benefit. So a 15" LL was implemented because it aligned with the existing 15" black bass LL, and met the above criteria. Although extensive surveys were done in the 70's, we still were uncertain where those fish were going, ie; natural mortality, illegal harvest, un-documented harvest, etc. However, I think nowadays anglers are much proficient at catching eyes than at that time. So, maybe it's time to re-evaluate this regulation and involve walleye anglers in this effort, similar the the Show-me Muskie project on the muskie lakes. A little history,, sorry for the long post, Hope this helps.

Sorry can't help you. But I'd bet there is a lot of mud close to the water surface.😄

Will be interesting after the pandemic is over(hopefully), whether the increased fishing trend will continue. You're certainly right about hunting. The crowd at Stockton used to be mostly from the KC area at least in the 70's/80's. Then it began to shift to other places. Now seems like a lot is from Springfield which used to be a Table Rock town. The fishing the last few years at Stockton has certainly been good, probably due to a couple years of excellent management!!!🤣

I live close to the lake, and believe me there was a lot more at Stockton lake all summer than there has ever been. It was like memorial day weekend every day. Most were fishing. I believe that with all of the tools that anglers have nowadays, they are generally more efficient at catching fish than 40 years ago. From the reports I got, every lake in the whole USA was extremely busy due to people wanting to get away from the social distancing pandemic. (Read the fishing report from Eleven Mile Marina in CO) It really emphasizes the importance of having outdoor opportunities for people to enjoy. And. MO is certainly blessed in that arena.

Guys, Don't forget the zillions of crappies caught over the last 6 months taken to the grease by the zillions of anglers on the lake. This is what I expected and predicted back in May. I know some folks don't believe you can appreciably effect the population by harvest but after years of studying fish populations I can guarantee that once the crappie reach the 10 inch LL the densities drop off drastically due to fishing pressure. And we had PRESSURE this year like none other. Sure glad to hear about the sub-legals though, pray for a good year class this year.