DADAKOTA

Thought Stockton was providing drinking water to Spfld. now? Is that the cause?

I'm jealous fellas. Nothin better than watchin a lab work. Always been partial to them yella dogs. Good shooting boys.

Mmmmm home made applesauce complimenting a nice pork roast, mashed taters, and gravy along with another veggie makes for a great meal.

Right or wrong if I snag a trot line and it is marked shame on me. I'll try and get my lure back, but will sacrifice it if I can't get it unstuck and the line is marked. If the line is not marked then bad on the trot liner. I'll get my bait back even if it means cutting the line.

I have read the thread from start to finish and some parts more than once. You admit there is 15 miles of water yet you are only complaining about the narrows you described early on as the place you like to drift. If I am in that area and I see that the jugs are out I am going somewhere else to fish in the 15 or so miles. If I am pulling tubers or skiers I will not endanger them by pulling them through that area. We will go somewhere else. If the entire 15 miles is a mass of boats and too busy for my tastes I'll trailer and go elsewhere on the lake or I will go to another lake that is less crowded on a holiday weekend (Stockton) and enjoy my time on the water. I typically stay away from LOZ on a holiday weekend for that very reason. I have been on Stockton many times on holiday weekends and never had a problem and I typically fish from a 16 foot jonboat with a 25 HP. If you want to drive a flag with your crest on it in the bottom of the lake and stake your claim go ahead. I would rather enjoy my time on the water in a safe manner and not deal with all the lake drama. Out of 52 weeks during the year, I intentionally avoid Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor day weekends at LOZ. I have no issues going down there the rest of the year.

A buddy and I had waded the Little Piney down to the RR bridge. We were going to cross the bridge and walk back to the truck. I started across while he was still fishing. Stepped out on the first bridge support and spotted a nice smallie in the calm water behind the support. Dropped my bait in there and missed the fish 3 times. Rolled it in their one more time and hooked up on the 15+ inch fish. Not sure if I forgot where I was or what, but the next thing I knew I was falling off the top of the support. I pitched my rod toward the bank and spun trying to grab the top of the support. All that got me was scraped skin from my elbows to my hands. Landed in a brush pile on the bank side of the support in about 2 feet of water. My buddy figured I must have broken something. Managed to stand up, a little wobbly, with a few cuts, scrapes and bruises but nothing major. Found my rod and the fish was still attached. Managed to land it and figured it was time to start the walk to the truck.

RS Pauls - Lets say that the narrows is full of snaggers. Are you going to ask them to leave so you and your wife can drift the one spot you can catch fish? Still don't see why you think you can dictate who should be fishing which area of the lake. If the jugger is there first then let them have it. When you are drifting the narrows first do you leave to make more room for the tubers and skiers? Trout guy needs to stick to the trout parks. Sounds like put and take is suited well for him. Bottom line is this. If someone else is fishing a spot via any legal method then leave it alone and have the courtesy to let them fish. If the tubers or skiers are their first then let them have it or fish where it will not impede them.

Get there before the fella puts his jugs out.

Whether hiking, canoeing, camping, fishing, or hunting my Dad instilled in us at an early age to leave the area better than what you found it. Picked up a lot of trash, sunken cans in the river, floating debris on the lake, trash left in the duck blinds on the CAs over the last 50 years. Irritates me to no end to see trash up on the bank and a trash can 50 feet away.

I used to freeze my fillets in water. Now I fillet them, rinse them off and put them in a foodsaver bag and vacuum seal them. Much quicker thawing out and no water logged fish.

One of my bucket list places to go fish. Good luck. Wasn't it on Champlain where Tim Horton was ahead by so much on the last day he went in before noon and ordered pizza?

100 feet helps some in reducing the wakes that are pounding the docks and sea walls at LOZ. In reality it does not help all that much. Those big cruisers aren't going by at 100 feet, but even from half way across the lake their waves are still enormous when they get to the dock. Really bad when you get several cruisers going by from different directions. Maybe the big boats need to operate at no wake speed. Put them back on the ocean where the waves can travel great distances and dissipate. At LOZ and any lake the waves are contained and release their energy on the shoreline, docks, and seawalls before rebounding. Last time at the lake I watched a 20ish year old on a wave runner intentionally running over the buoys along the docks.

Wow. Talk about some string stretchers. Bet those are a hoot in a kayak. Out of curiosity are they good eating when they get that big?

Another topic where each person argues for their own interests. One reason I like living on the west side is the accessibility to many, many quality lakes. However, growing up in The Lou I floated and fished rivers and creeks. Not so much of that over here, but there is some in swmo. For a person that loves the lake scene the eastside is not the place to be. I remember the wars over the Meramec dam. I think I need a float.

You must really like walleye then Wrench.. Whether I'm fishing for bass or crappie or whatever I like to put my lure in spots that other fisherman haven't or can't put a bait. Making a proper presentation in these difficult areas results in more fish.

Any of you veterans care to shed some light on the fall bite?

Nicely done lmt out!

Build in the flood plain you will get wet. Build on the top of the hill you stay dry. Seems simple to me.

I never tire of reading your adventures Al.

Amazing set of quality smallies you have taken this year.

I'm still a newbie to the Stockton walleye fishing. I have no idea where to look for walleye in the fall. I'd assume they would follow the shad and get off the main lake and into the creeks, but I could be wrong. Maybe some of the experienced walleye hunters can shed some light on the fall bite.

300

A buddy and I got on the lake Thursday evening and bounced numerous walleye w/2 keepers, some large gills, and a couple keeper crappie as well as assorted bass, drum, cats, etc. Friday morning we bounced several more walleye with only one keeper. Decided to pull some cranks and added 2 more keeper walleye including one a shade over 20 inches. Caught some more crappie as well. Saturday we headed to Mutton Creek to see new water. Mainly pulled cranks and only found 1 short walleye a few keeper crappie and many white bass. Some large whites at that. Whites were from the channel point of Googer back in to where the creek goes left. 18 - 22 ft. about 2 mph. Also jigged up several off a pile on that same run. Several whisker fish on that run as well. Back to the confluence area on Sunday morning. Could not bounce a single walleye but we cranked up another 1/2 dozen nice crappie. All total we ended up with 20 or so crappie and 5 keeper walleye that will make a nice fish fry. Never caught a fish on a flick-r shad of any species. Best color bandit was mad cow. Probably accounted for 90% of our bites. Had a great time. Would have liked a few more keeper walleye and crappie bites, but that is fishing. Did not have my Tonneau broken into like on my last trip to State Park so that was a plus. Got surveyed by an MDC employee while in Googer. Wanted to know where we were from, how long we had been fishing, and how we did on various species. He said the guys doing the best on crappie were fishing brush in 20-25 feet of water with minnows. Nice fellow. Can't believe the size of some of the boats on that lake now. Felt like the Ozarks at times.

With the advances in depth finders, GPS, side imaging, down imaging, hydro wave, fish balls, let alone rods/reels/line/lures, etc. the sport of fishing is becoming more like a video game. To me part of fishing is the unknown that becomes known with time on the water. Found many a brushpile with a Carolina rig. Had to learn how to triangulate in order to find the pile again. Now you just download the piles onto the lake mapping system on your graph. At times I think the sport is evolving into catching and not fishing. Sure is fun to take a techno trained "fisherman" out on a river with no electronics other than the synapses in your brain. They often struggle as compared to someone who has an awareness of the activity level occurring in their surroundings, who can read the water, knows the fish they are after, understand the food source, the impacts of weather, structure, and cover. Many times when deer, birds, raccoon, insect, etc. are active the fish are feeding as well. Some never notice what is going on around them. A lot of folks can't find fish without all their gadgets.

Nice fish. Were you by chance using mono when you impaled yourself? The stretch in mono is like pulling back a slingshot. Lots of energy upon release from wherever your bait was snagged. Always turn your head when trying to pull one free. The son of my Dad's friend was live bait fishing on a creek and became snagged. The line broke a the hook and the split shot ended up hitting him directly in the eye. He lost his eye by not turning his head. Fluoro does not recoil as badly when it breaks as mono does and braid is far less.