shockley32

The crappie bite if fair to good on Pomme De Terre. They are in the funky of mode of going in and out of a feeding frenzy. They tend to be scattered on standing timber. The key to collecting enough for a nice dinner is staying on the move. One of this tree and one on that. It is tough to catch multiple fish on any tree. There are also several shorts to be found. They are fun to catch and provide encouragement for the future but they just don't do much in a tournament. Fish standing timber from 5' to 20' of water. They were anywhere between two feet to twelve feet deep. Black and chart slab busters were better than anything else however any color with chart worked. Minnows were ok but jigs seemed to work a little better. Tried a few brushpiles, they were loaded with fish however couldn't get any quality pulled out of them. During Saturday's tournament there were several fish brought in, most were very consistent. It took 7 fish averaging a pound each to win. I guess the wicked witched cast a spell on me for tournament day. Just doesn't seem to matter if it is crappie or bass they are great all week before and then not the right size on the day of! They are always a blast to fish!!!! Good luck and keep fishing! Brad

Well I had the opportunity to break in the 8' Ozark Rod. WOW!!! The rod was far better than I could expect. I've used shorter Ozark rods and really liked them, however this was rod was awesome! The length was perfect, not too short and not too long. I fixed it up with 10# Suffix hi-vis orange. Didn't know what to expect from suffix or the hunter orange color. However really liked the line. I was able to pick up a spool in bps outlet store for $10. I want to thank JJ for pointing me that direction!! I also tried a different reel. Used one of the small baitcasting types, I mean the really small one with no level wind. Just holds line and you have to pull it out against the drag. It was different but worked out well. For dipping trees it came in super handy. A little awkard to get use to but the more it was used the better it got. The best thing about it is the weight, or lack there of. This is not the reel for all applications, but for dipping its worth trying. Looking forward to giving the set up a Truman treatment!!!! Brad

Crappie Slayers Tournament Series Hermitage State Park August 15th, 2009 7 Fish 1. Verner / Gardner 7.04 2. Bacon / Bacon 6.20 3. Oliver / Oliver 6.11 4. Farrell / Farrell 5.90 5. Hall. / Reth 5.77 Big 1. Oliver / Oliver 1.54 We all had a great time with a awesome fish being caught. Hope to see everybody in September! Brad

CDC is crappie.com. It's a great website with a lot of useful info. The message boards are set up by state, it's worth checking out. Brad

It's interesting you post this question. In the past I've just had a hay day catching smallies in Stockton. It seems like you could pull up to any rocky point in the dam area and catch smallies until you were tired. I've caught a few small mouth this year but not very many. It is really odd becauase I've caught more bass on Stockton this summer than ever before, tons and tons of Kentucky's and a lot of LM. Wonder if anyone knows why? Brad

Chris, Let us all know what you think when you get it. Brad

X-KHP, Are you talking about Crappie World or Crappie Angler? Crappie Angler is a brand new mag that has only had three issues, they have been wonderful so far and very timely on deliverly. I had a similar problem like yours with Crappie World. I paid for a sub and only got a couple of mags. I'm not the only one, evidently there are several people up set with them. It's a shame they have a great product and lousy service. I wish them the best! Brad

I was under the impression many of those on the website were not marked with signs. I'll try to look into and see what I can find out. Brad

Chris, I get Crappie World on the stands when it come in. However Crappie Angler Mag is a lot better. It's really worth checking into. Just go to www.crappieanglermagazine.com. I am a member of cdc and spend a lot of time over there! Great site! Brad

Do any of you guys get Crappie Angler Magazine? Just got my 3rd issue today, it's great! It is worth checking in to. Brad

Dutch, Go to www.missouriconservation.com At the bottom of the page you will find a section called "Regional Information". This is a map of the state of MO divided up into sections. Just click on the Southwest section. Just a little ways down on this screen you will find "Interactive Fish Habitat Structure Maps." Under that you can choose a lake, just pick Stockton and the map will pop up. Once it loads you can zoom in or out and run over the numbers that are marked. The Conservation Dept gps coordinates are a different setting than the standards coordinates. Unfortunately I'm not much help here, but write some of them down and go to the guys at the gps counter in bps. They will be able to show you how to change the way your gps reads the coordinates. Hope this helps. Brad

I agree, the long rods are great once you get use to them. I've always heard a lot of good things about the Heaton rods. Brad

Crappie Slayers Tournament Series August 15th, 2009 Hermitage State Park 6:00 AM - 12:00 PM Weigh 7 Fish Pays 1 in 5 boats Entry Fee $40 Boat $10 Big Fish For more info send an e-mail to shockley32@hotmail.com Thanks, Brad

How many of you guys use 8 & 10 feet long rods to crappie fish with? What do you think of them and which length do you like best? Also what brand of rod do you like? I really enjoy using 10' rods to dips trees with. I use a Outlaw and Proangler and both are great. They are lite and have good sensitivity. I've also used B and M's, Quantum's and Wally Marshall's. They were all good rods but they were a little heavier then the one's I currently use. Just purchased a couple 8' Ozark rods. Have never used any this size but looking forward to it this weekend. Brad

Great job and congrats to the winners! Brad

The crappie fishing on the grand arm of Truman lake is good. Fish flats in 8-15 feet of water 8-12 feet down. Both minnows and jigs will work however the jig produced several more bites today than a minnow. Black and chart slab buster/slab slayr's were the best. Cedars and hedge out produced the hardwoods, however we did end up with a few nice fish from hardwoods. They shouldn't be over looked. Two of us ended up with 27 and easily lost enough fish at the boat to finish our limit. Water Temp: 80 degrees. Water Color: Stained to Muddy Our largest seven went 6.25 lbs. Nothing to write home about but no need to hang our heads either. Good luck and great fishin'. Brad

Crappie Slayers Tournament Series Truman Lake Bucksaw August 1st, 2009 7 Fish 1. Rogers / Rogers 8.64 2. Glenn / Glenn 7.79 3. Scott / Shockley 6.25 4. Starforth / Wilson 6.07 5. Prater / Dunn 5.86 6. Cox / Cox 5.83 7. Bailey / Bailey 4.43 8. Dickson / Scott 3.60 Big Crappie 1. Glenn / Glenn 1.71 2. Rogers / Rogers 1.575 We all had a great time and enjoyed the day on the water. It looked like we were going to get hammered with hard rain, however it broke up and went around. It was a beautiful day to be on the lake. JJ and I ended up with 27 keepers. Our fish were caught in 8-12 fow 10' down. Black and chart was the main color. We fished all over the place with a few coming here and a few there. Congrat to the winners and hope to see everybody next month! Brad

Crappie Slayers Tournament Series Friday Night Series Pittsburg State Park July 31st, 2009 7 Fish 1. Roberts / Zielinski 6.18 2. Loveland / Loveland 5.02 3. Farrell / Farrell 4.81 4. D Wilson / J Wilson 4.68 5. Williams / Oliver 4.41 6. K Wilson / D Wilson 4.40 7. Bacon / Bill 4.21 8. Shockley / Richardson 1.37 Big Crappie 1. Roberts / Zielinski 1.55 Everyone caught several fish and we had a great time. This was the last Friday night tournamnet of the year and hope to see it grow in the future. The fishing was good but the bite was very very light. There were also several shorts caught, at least we know there will be several there for the future! Brad

Crappie Slayers Tournament Series Truman Lake Bucksaw August 1, 2009 Entry Fee $40 Boat $10 Big Crappie Pays 1 in 5 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM Trailering will be allowed. Will be released at approximately 6:30 (after all livewells are checked) but can't start fishing until 7:00. If you have any questions or need any info you can post it or e-mail at shockley32@hotmail.com Hope to see you there! Brad

Crappie Slayers Tournament Series Friday Night Pittsburg State Park Lake Pomme De Terre 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM 7 Fish Entry Fee: $20 Boat $5 Big Crappie This is the last Friday night tournament of the year. Come on out and have a great time!!! If you need any info please e-mail me at shockley32@hotmail.com Thanks, Brad

Great catch guys! Congrats to the winners and all who fished. Brad

Crappie Slayers Tournament Series Bolivar Landing July 18th, 2009 7 Fish 1. Kenny Wilson 6.93 2. Bacon / Bacon 5.57 3. Farrell / Farrell 5.25 4. Loveland / Loveland 4.82 5. Oliver / Hayes 3.93 6. Halleimier / Reth 3.39 7. Shockley / Dudley 1.40 8. David Wilson 1.25 Big Crappie 1. David Wilson 1.25 We had a great time. The front that came through really shut them down. They had tight lips but hey we all got to spend the day on the water! Brad

Dear Marty, I greatly appreciate your reply. I completely understand why you don't tournament fish. All I was doing was proposing a few simple questions. If the manner I proposed them offened you or any one I apologize. I would hope you didn't read into my post something I did not intend. I respect your desire to do what you think is best for your family. I also greatly respect your desire to be at church on the Lord's day instead of on the lake. Putting the Lord and your family before other things is respectable and commendable. I would just appreciate a little more useful information in the reports. I don't need the reports I'm going to go to the lake to try my own patterns and find something that works for me. We can all fish the same lake on the same day and do something completely different and both be successful. The reason I read reports is simple: I love to fish and am very interested in what is going on. When I can't be on the water I can quickly check the computer in a few minutes and keep up with what's going on. This forum, as well as several others, provide a lot of good info for people. For the info you provide I thank you and applaud your efforts. There are several who will use this forum for the info and never provide anything to it. It's take and never give approach. Again if I offended anybody I apologize. Brad

Interesting the response. I'm not a punk, I'm willing to help anybody out in anyway. I don't make my living by being on the water nor do I desire that. I enjoy fishing and enjoy taking people with me who don't fish much. I'd just as soon take a kid or an elderly person and watch them catch fish. Don't know of many punks who do that. All I'm saying is if you have the ability to catch that kind of quality consistently then why not tournament fish. There is far more money in tournament fishing than guiding, that I guarantee. How many guide trips generate $1000 plus? I love to tournament fish and gladly will give my money to the winner. Sometimes I win money sometimes I don't, but one thing I guarantee is I'll be there to shake the winners hand and say congratulations regardless if I lose by 1 ounce or 10 lbs. It's just that I read the bass report and there is info about catching big fish but nothing about helping the average angler catch a few. Perhaps the report could have been a little more detailed?? I'm not asking for the gps coordinates but something better than what is reported. For example: Stockton Lake Bass fishing has been excellent. You can catch several bass by fishing main lake points, the points that are long and tapering tend to produce more bites. You can start by throwing crankbaits to catch the active fish, then follow by throwing jigs, plastic worms and creature baits. Start fishing the point shallow and then work your way out deeper. Some points are better than others and with a little time on the water you'll soon pick it up. Good luck and great fishing! I don't personally need a fishing report, I'll go find the pattern myself whether good or bad. There is nothing in the above that is so specific it would keep people from hiring a guide. Even with the above report you still need to figure out what kind of crankbait, color, brand etc... that works the best. What kind, size and color of jig plus the trailer. Or what size worm, creature bait and the color. However there is enough info to get somebody started. Fishing is different everyday. All I'm asking is to see these quality fish. Perhaps I'm a skeptic. I fish about 100 days per year, not near as much as a guide but far more than the average person. I've caught a lot of quality fish out of several lakes. I'm just wanting to see the proof. Perhaps there is a good explanation of why he doesn't show up to tournaments? Something like I just don't enjoy them or I'm taking out clients and teaching them to catch fish who are wanting to tournament fish and I don't think it is professional to fish against them. Or maybe a few pictures posted with the report. I'm not trying to cause any problems and I'm happy to give my entry fee money to the angler that deserves it. I guess I'm just not a very good angler and skeptical. Sorry to offend anybody but I dont' understand. Brad

Crappie Slayers Tournament Series Lake Pomme De Terre July 18th, 2009 6:00 AM - 12:00 PM Bolivar Landing Weigh 7 fish Entry fee $40 Boat $10 Big Crappie Pays 1 in 5 boats The crappie fishing has been good. The lake level is getting back towards normal and it's time for the big ones to start biting. This should be an excellent weekend to fish a tournament, come on out and have a great time. If you need anymore info or want a flier please e-mail me at shockley32@hotmail.com Thanks, Brad