DADAKOTA

Been crappie fishing the mid lake area for about 25 years. We have noticed a definite increase in the number of walleye being caught the last two years. In the first 23 I recall only three walleye with one keeper caught by our group. Last year we had 2 keepers and 3 or 4 shorts. This year we have had over a dozen shorts and one keeper. Is MDC actively stocking walleye in LOZ or are they having some natural reproduction? Either way I like it.

There is an MDC ramp up above Rainy Creek

There are no hard and fast rules that cover every situation. Line depends on what you are fishing for, water clarity, and the structure and cover or lack thereof that you are fishing. For crappie fishing LOZ and Truman I use 4# diam/15# test powerpro braid. For trolling crappie on Stockton I use 10# fluoro. About all I use mono on are my topwater stick or an ultralight for clear water crappie. The rest of my bass rods get either 10, 15, 20, or 25 pound abrazX fluoro. Flipping heavy cover brings out the 25#. Brushpiles and coontail fishing on a stained body of water usually gets 20#. real clear water fishing football jig gets 15 as does cranking a squarebill in heavy cover. I use 10 pound on my stickbait rod and cranking rod (clear water).

Used to fish the Sac at Caplinger many years ago. Caught a lot of big crappie, walleye, and whites from the mill dam down to the N bridge. Bout any eddy or hole held lots of fish. Anyone fish down there anymore?

Stone Creek Lodge just before the mile long bridge is a good spot to stay. Owl haven is isn't bad. For a large group the Hoff House is awesome. Cabins at Stockton Lake are really nice.

Good luck on your fundraiser. IS there a no dead fish rule? IF not, you open yourselves up to potential cheating. Given the heat of the summer I would anticipate many dead fish which is really a waste of a valuable resource.

Wow. Never seen one like that. Looks intentionally cut. Any chance a fish could do that twisting off a trotline?

Saw some folks catchin jug fish in Blue Cat cove a few weeks back

Black/Chart, Purple/Chart, Red/Chart, White/Chart should have it covered.

Some folks are just inconsiderate. Just don't get it. I fish to relax.

Getting them younguns into fishing is awesome. Ya'll had some fun.

I am afraid I'd have cast my cat rig off the side of their boat. Some folks just have no common courtesy. Bass fisherman - Crappie fisherman - Walleye fisherman and bank fisherman have all done things that I believe violated common courtesy. Makes you believe that no one taught them properly. I was pulling a bluff just outside Old State Park a couple weeks ago and had a walleye fisherman come flying in About 50 yards from me. The two douches quickly dropped their jig/crawler rigs and proceeded to troll/angle my way eventually causing me to abandon the 30 ft contour so I wouldn't run into them. Acted like they owned the entire lake.

Many tourneys are won in the summer on 10 inch worms in deep brushpiles.

Did not see any surfacing whites last week when I was there. I am thinking it is a little early for that.

Seen lots of follies on the ramps across this State. Saw a feller up by twin bridges rip his trolling motor off the front deck when he left it down and put the boat up on plane. Makes a sickening sound. Still attached by the electrical connection so he fished it out of the drink.

Thanks

If I might ask, what is the slow death rig?

IS the clear water a result of lack of rain, not outflow from Truman, or Zebra mussels? FIL has a place in the mid 40 mm and I have never seen the lake this as clear as it was this spring. I personally have not seen any evidence of zebra mussels in the mid lake area.

Bandit 300 series will get you down to the 18 foot range. Trolled the bandits and some flickr shads the last couple days. Only 2 keeper walleye and 3 shorts. Crappie would not leave them alone. 22 fow at 1.7 mph.

Caught em in 10-11 feet of water off the ends of the docks on Saturday morning. By late afternoon they were in 2 foot. Some spawned out and some still packing. Caught shallow fish 4/11 and 4/18. I'd guess that most have spawned and some are still waiting. Not near the number of shallow fis that there was in mid April.

I don't fish dock where folks are fishing. Some however encourage ya to go ahead and fish. Had an old feller we called Catfish Charlie that had some awesome brush between his dock and the one next to it. He'd climb down the seawall on a metal ladder and throw is jig and cork out. He caught lots of fish. When he wasn't fishing we'd roll in and fish that area. Pulled in one day and he came flying out of his house and went ballistic. I guess we were about the 10th boat to stop and catch fish and he was livid. Said he was gonna get his tractor and pull all the brush out of there. We left him to his rant. Went back the next day and had my wife's step dad with me. He and Charlie were about the same age and Charlie was just a talking away. The old guy had built his house himself, was a WWII vet, and on and on. Bet we sat there an hour while the two of them visited. Never had another issue with him after that. Now he has passed and a family owns the place. Nowhere near as much brush anymore.

Lots of structure in that lake from brush piles to stake beds to PVC structures, old boat lifts, bed springs, appliances, barrels, and on and on. Lots brush around my FILs dock. He does not swim anymore but likes to catch crappie. Only the area by the ladder is brush free.

Be interesting to hear a fisheries biologist take on many of the unsupported opinions in this thread. I bass fish all the time and release them all. My choice. I will tell you that I have filleted many a bass earlier in my life and released them to grease. Now I keep crappie, walleye, and big gills because to me they taste better than the bass did. The feller that caught the bass for Grandma should be applauded for a nice catch and making Grandma's day. It was his choice to keep them and he was within the law.

Megabass cast much better and can be thrown farther than a rogue. No stickbait universally suspends. In colder water it takes more weight to get them to suspend. As the water warms it takes less. The bills on megabass are pretty weak. I sent my broken ones off and had the bills replaced. Going to send some more off. The baits are expensive and even moreso when you send them for a custom paint job. I have lots of discontinued rogues I'd be happy to sell if someone wants them.

All watercraft on the Jackson County lakes need a sticker. It is the law. Hopefully it keeps some of the traffic down. I think the gripe with the tickets is you got caught. The Rangers don't enforce a lot of things, but they do sticker check all the time. You can't legally swim at Jacomo unless it is from a boat.