Stockton Lake Guide Service

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. I will be back down that way wed morning following the funeral on tuesday. Don't catch them all before I get back.

Sorry that I couldn't make my own tournament and thanks to Brad Shockley for doing an awesome job helping me out while I was with family. Lord willing I will be back next thursday. I should be back home on sunday nite and will post the results for everyone. I do know that pryke and ayres won the tournament again and someone needs to beat them next week. Great guys, but they are taking all of my money and it just aint right. Guess I need to spend a little more time on the lake. I will post the rest sunday nite if I make it back. All depends on how grandma turns out. Thanks for understanding and remember to keep your hook sharp!!

Tube Color: Green pumpkin with purple flake, puke and smoke with purple flake I just cut and pasted from brads reply been fishing with him on thursday nites. About anything will work but if it don't in 10 cast I would change or move. lots of fish being caught so keep on throwing them around.

Sorry it's been so long since I posted any fishing reports. Been back and forth to KC with family in hospital and rebuilding the garage since the storms last month (along with fishing all the free time between the two.) Walleye fishing has been fair to good on jigs with night crawlers on main lake points. I have gotten to go a couple of times but have had reports from others (who can be trusted) that they are catching some good fish in 8-14 foot of water. Work the entire point and watch your graph for the fish. You will catch some bluegill, but the walleye shouldn't be far away. I haven't had any luck yet on the flats or on humps etc, everything I have caught and heard caught have been coming off of the points. Shouldn't be long before they move a little more and everyone is catching them. Bass fishing as always has been awesome. Even on the bad days we are catching keeper fish. Jigs, spinnerbaits, and tubes have been best and should continue with the rising water. Most of the fish have been coming in 8 foot or less. If you are looking to catch lots of fish, hit some main lake points and throw a tube. You still have a chance to catch that big smally or a lm, but you are almost guaranteed a short fish. Catfish have been good to excellent in the creeks where water is coming in. I took some guys out tuesday night and we had 5 big channel and some huge carp in an hour. All you need to do is locate on your map a place where a creek runs into the back of a cove. Go up to where you can see the current moving (around 5-6 foot deep) and throw out a crawler, shad, or whatever you want. Crappie are fair to good but are still scattered. I have started catching them on brush piles in 15 foot of water. Haven't had time to hit them hard, but this bite should go all summer unless they go deeper. Hope this helps. Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions.

OK, the bass fishing has been good to excellent for the past couple of weeks. I have been on several trips where we have had 5 plus lb bass, but then comes thursday nites and well they either come off on the way to the boat or they just don't bite like they should. Throw jigs with critter crawlers, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits in less than 8 foot of water. Most of the fish I have caught have come on the hot peanut butter jig , but we had some nice spinnerbait fish saturday night. Walleye have been biting good on pony head jigs tipped with night crawler in 6-8 foot of water on main lake points. You should be able to find the fish on the graph and then fish the area hard. Crappie, lots of crappie are being caught at night under lights. I will see you all out there friday night. looks like the moon will be big and the fish should be going crazy. Catfish are spawning. fish points with shad, worms, or whatever you can get in front of them. Had one on a crankbait tonight. Here are the results of the thursday bass tournament 1st place-Gary and Courtney King 5 fish 14.08 lbs 2nd place-Troy Ayers/Richard Prike 5 fish 13.16 lbs 3rd place-Tim and Jeremy Lawyer 5 fish 12.77 lbs Big Bass Josh Busby and Ron Sims 4.39 lbs. As of right now we will have at least 16 boats qualified for the fish off. We should still have some that can fish now till the end and make the fishoff in october. As of this tournament we have $535.00 for the fishoff on October 9th. It's not to late to qualify but you need to show up and fish the rest and catch some fish. Give me a call if you have any questions. Thanks to all who fished and see you all next thursday.

not fixed yet. they are getting bids to get it fixed but they are open for business.

Crappie have been biting great at nite. I have another nite trip friday till 1 am or so. we have been catching them under lights in the trees and around bridges. Leave me a few if you go so we can catch them! Good luck!!

Well I'm going to start with the bass since that is what I have been fishing for the past week. It's a simple bite and everyone should be able to go out and catch some fish. Lots of small bass but some good 5 lb fish are being caught. Pitch a jig and trailer (I've been using hot peanut butter) or a tube into the flooded bushes. During the day when the sun is high the fish are moving out to the 6-8 foot range, but you can still catch shallow fish in 2-4 foot of water. That is it. If you start fishing a bank and don't get any bites then move and fish a different type of bank. For example if you fish a steep bank and they don't bite, try someithing with less drop. I've been fishing with my boat in about 8 foot flipping into 4-8 foot depending on what depth the fish are at. Crappie have been hitting jigs in about 8 foot of water but there have been some fish moving out to the brush piles. I haven't heard of anyone catching them trolling yet but if you have done this and its working let us all know. Walleye have been scattered but have been biting some in 6-8 foot of water on a pony head and night crawler combo. Can't wait for this bite to take off, but I just haven't had time to go out and get them yet. Pooring the concrete for the new garage tuesday and framing it in thursday next week so after that I should be able to start keeping the boat at home and fishing more. Sorry about the short reports and the long delays in between. I will get better soon! (for those who haven't heard I lost my garage during the big storm and have been working on cleanup and rebuilding) Good luck and this weeks only advise is keep your hook sharp and remember you can't catch them if you don't hook them so pitch the jigs into the brush. It's better to lose a 5 lb fish than to never even get it hooked.

Well I have once again been humbled by all of the other people catching the bass. Seems like I can catch them till the pressure is on. We had a great turnout tonight!! Thanks to everyone that fished the fishoff in October is looking like it is going to be a great payout. As of tonights tournament we have over $400 dollars to be paid out in october. If we keep having 20+ boats every week we will have close to $2,000 to pay back to everyone that donated all year. Here are tonights results: 1st place-Vic McQuay and Tim Johnson 5 fish 15.30 lbs $230.00 2nd Place-Jerad Cliff 5 fish 12.87 lbs $160.00 3rd Place-Richard Pryke and Troy Ayres 5 fish 12.14 lbs $100.00 1st Big Bass McQuay and Johnson 5.83 lbs $130.00 2nd Big Bass Jeff Fleming/Paul Plunkett 4.38 lbs $ 70.00 Most of the fish are still being caught on tubes and jigs in the brush or just outside the visible brush (about 6 ft deep). Thanks again to all that fished and it's still not to late to make the fishoff. All you have to do is finish in the top 1/2 of the points! There should be lots of people that only fish a few tournaments so if we have 40-50 different boats all year then we will have a min. of 20-25 in the final tournament. If you haven't fished yet come on out next thursday and give it a try!

Man Ive been really busy rebuilding my garage that blew down in that big storm. Hope you were there tonight. It's every thursday at 6 pm ruark bluff. we fish till dark or just after. Still have time to make the fishoff in October!! Look up my website for more info or give me a call anytime.

give me a call about mid week and I will let you know how it's going. Should be able to find some post spawn fish hopefully. Any spawning fish will probably be up in the bushes and tuff to get to.

The lake has really come up the last few days and this has really turned the bass on. We are catching lots of good quality bass in the brush on jigs. I have been using a hot peanut butter or a pb and j color with a crawler trailer. Flip the jigs into the bushes, most of the fish I have been catching has been on the back side of the bush. During the day the fish pull out a little and can be caught in about 8 foot of water. It's alot of fun fishing for them, but it's really tough if you have more than 2 people fishing. Not a lot of room to be flipping jigs with 3 or 4 people. Before tonights tournamnet we had 4 good keepers, but as usual these fish were told that there was a tournament and wouldn't bite from 6-9 tonight. You have to weed through lots of short fish (13-14") but when you get one of those 3 lb fish on it's all worth it. Make sure you check your line often. I lost a good fish tonight because I got lazy. I tried up the creeks where water was running in but didn't have much luck. Walleye have been a little slow. they should be biting on main lake points, but the only ones I have been catching is while throwing crankbaits for bass. They will pick up. Crappie are biting decent if you can brave the brush and get your boat where the fish are. Use a big cain pole and get a jig into the brush. There are still shallow fish spawning and they will bite, it's just a lot of work to get to them. Your best bet right now to catch fish is going for Bass! Flip them jigs into the brush and keep moving till you find a hot spot. Good luck to everyone and as always, give me a call if you want some help. For those of you that have driven by my place, you see what the storm did to my garage. It's gone, but the boats both made it thru without much damage. Hope eveyone else made it OK.

We had a great turnout tonight with 20 boat fishing. 15 of the 20 boats caught fish! Most of the fish came on jigs fished in the flooded brush. The bite seemed to slow a little as the evening went on, but lots of short fish were caught. 1st place went to Richard Prike and Troy Ayres. They caught 5 fish for a total weight of 15.40 lbs. That won them $160.00. 2nd Place went to Chad McManis and Dan Arnold. They caught 4 fish that weighed 9.56 lbs. That took them home $140.00 3rd Place went to Randy Conlon and Ben Henderson with 4 fish that weighed 8.65 lbs. Big bass was caught by Prike and Ayres, 3.59 lbs for another 140.00 and 2nd big bass was caught by Gary and Courtney King at 3.50 lbs. That won them 100.00. We fish again next thursday. We already have about $400.00 for the end of the year fishoff with plenty of time to make the cut. Everyone is welcome and thanks for everyone that showed up to fish. And just so everyone knows, I took the time to make a pay table so everyone will know how much they are winning without having to see me try to figure it out in my head. I know this has been amusing for everyone to watch me struggle with match, but with all the boat a figured it;s time to move up in the world. See you all next Thursday evening!

WE ARE HAVING THE 5TH THURSDAY EVENING TOURNAMENT OUT OF RUARK BLUFF. TAKE OFF IS AT 6 PM AND WE WILL FISH TILL DARK. ITS ONLY $40.00 PER BOAT AND YOU CAN FISH BY YOURSELF FOR 2 TOURNAMENTS. YOUR PARTNER FOR THE FINAL ONLY HAS TO FISH TWICE. NO REASON WHY YOU CAN'T MAKE THE FISHOFF!! THE RULES ARE YOU HAVE TO FISH 16 OUT OF 20 OR FINISH IN THE TOP HALF OF THE POINTS. DON'T MISS THIS WEEK!!! IF YOU FISH THE REST OF THE TOURNAMENTS YOU WILL AUTO QUALIFY FOR THE FISHOFF ON OCTOBER 10TH. WE SHOULD BE FISHING FOR MORE THAN 1,000.00 AND EVERYONE HAS A CHANCE TO WIN. PLUS IF WE HAVE ENOUGH MONEY SAVED UP WE WILL HAVE A LITTLE DINNER FOLLOWING THE FISH OFF TOURNAMENT. WE ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN AND CATCHING FISH. THIS WILL BECOME A BIG TOURNAMENT FOR YEARS TO COME SO COME ON OUT AND FISH THIS THURSDAY. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, GIVE ME A CALL AT 417-637-BASS HOME OR 417-234-8988 CELL NO NEED TO PRE-REGISTER. JUST SHOW UP AT THE RAMP. I WILL BE THERE AT 5 PM ON THURSDAY AND WE WILL TAKE OFF AT 6 PM SHARP.

This fish was caught last week on a guide trip. We didn't even notice it was a texas bass till we looked at the picture later. To our surprise it looks like it came from texas!

it's at 872.44

Had a great tournament tonight. You still have time to fish 16 of the 20 tournaments and make the fishoff in October, but you can't miss anymore. 1st Place tonight went to Rick Prike and Troy Ayres who had 5 fish that weighed 11.23 lbs. Sounded like most of their fish came shallow up in the bushes. 2nd Place went to Vic McQuay and Tim Johnson who had 4 fish that weighed 8.54 lbs. Big Bass was caught by Chad McManis and Dan Arnold 3.80 lbs. Next tournament is thursday night. The fishoff is in October and we should be paying out around $1,000.00 For point standings go to www.fishstocktonlake.com I am trying to teach myself how to get it to work a little better. Great job and see everyone next thursday!

Water temp is about 59-60 Water is coming up. Crappie fishing has slowed down a little since the front came thru, but there are still lots of fish that have not spawned. Been catching lots of fish on jigs in 3-5 foot of water lakewide. Since the water is coming up, your best bet is to try to fish the "old" shoreline. You will catch bigger fish by trying this, but there are still several fish just in front of the brush and in the brush. It looks like the weather is going to clear up a little, so hopefully things can get back to normal. Fish pockets in coves in the birch branch area, sons creek, and little sac river arms. Turnback was getting pretty muddy Saturday afternoon, and will probably continue to muddy for a couple of days. Bass fishing has been great unless it is thursday night (that is the bass tournament night) I have caught some great fish on a sexy shad crank bait on shallow points, but the biggest fish (that I only got to view from a distance) was caught (and realeased about 10 foot from the boat) on a tube (I have officially blamed Brad Shockley for this mishap and in turn he has blamed me) The bass are really active and if you get into the right area you should be able to catch fish on tubes, jigs, or lizards. The bigger females are still a little deep, however the full moon is this week. Walleye are fair on jig minnows or a crawler rig in 8-12 foot of water in both pockets and on points. They have started to bite better in the past week. Hopefully the water will level off and the rain will stop for a while. The fish will still bite even in the muddy water and the high water, so keep at it. Good luck to everyone and as always feel free to give me a call if you are coming up and want some info.

only 40.00 per boat. Lots of fun and get a chance at the last tournamament. go to www.fishstocktonlake.com for more info

water temp has been around 60-63 in the creeks and as low as 55 on the main lake. Crappie have started the move in the creeks. You can catch them on a variety of baits, but hte easiest is to put a 1/16 oz jig under a strick indicator. leave the jig about 2-=24 inches under it. cast to the flooded trees and stickups and bring it back at a steady retrieve. Best colors working for me has had charturese in them. Black Bass have been hitting sexy shad crank baits and jigs. we had a 6, 2 3.5 lbs, and a 2.5 lb today. Hopeing the rain holds off till after the tournmant thursday nite. I know this has been short but I have been on the lake everyday for the past 10. Feel free to give me a call and I will try to help if I can. 417-637-2277

Stockton Lake Thursday Evening Tournament 04-23-09 Well we got up to 11 boats tonight and all but 2 caught fish. In all we caught 19 bass for a total of 54.68 lbs, The fish bit better than last week. We have a great start for the summer circuit and already have over 100.00 to go to the end of the year tournament. We still have 18 tournaments left. To qualify for the final tournament you must fish 16 of the 20 tournaments or finish in the top half of the points. It’s a fun 3 hour tournament that anyone has a chance of winning. Here are the results of week 2: 1st Place Josh Evans and Cortney Wayne 5 fish Total weight 11.43 lbs. $140.00 2nd place Tony Peterson and Leland Heath 3 fish Total weight 8.62 lbs $80.00 Big Bass went to Chad McManis and Dan Arnarld for a total weight of 5.05 lbs for 110.00 The tournament is open to everyone and takes off at ruark bluff at 6 pm every Thursday evening. Weigh in is at 9 pm. The fish off will be held in October and all extra money will be given out. This will be a free tournament except for big bass which will cost $20.00 per boat. Boats wanting to get into a calcuta pot can pitch into it for 20.00 and winner takes all. We will discuss this when the time comes. Great job for everyone tonight. We need more b oats to keep this thing going so load up and plan on being at ruark bluff next Thursday at 6pm.. I have an opening for a guide trip on Tuesday and Friday next week. The crappie and bass should be going so if you are interested give me a call. Thanks and happy fishing

level-869.86 Temp 59 up the creeks and 53 at the dam. The lake continues to rise, at least by the looks of the boat ramps. The water temp has been pretty steady at around 59 up sac, turnback and up sons creek. The rain has made both of these arms pretty murky, but that should clear up pretty fast. The big sac and turnback is not as muddy as sons creek. Crappie-The crappie fishing has been good. They were in about 2 foot of water up sons creek before this rain hit. That pushed most of the fish back (or they at least stayed on the "old" shoreline. Since the lake continues to rise, make sure you find that depth and fish it hard. Last night I caught 13 nice crappie in a couple of hours on one brush pile in 5-7 foot of water. I was using a 1/16 oz jig with several different colors of triple ripple (red and white, blue/black and chartruese, and bubble gum and chartruese) I have tried above the dirty water and had only limited success, so i would guess your best bet is to try to stay out of the muddy water. Bass fishing has also been really good. Most the fish that I have caught or have heard of being caught were either on jigs or spinnerbaits in the sons creek arm around 5-7 foot deep. We have the bass tournament tomorrow evening at 6 pm out of ruark bluff. Weigh in will be at 9 pm. Come on out and fish. It is open to all. Hope this helps some and keep your hook sharp!

last year we were getting about 15 boats at the end of the season. It cost 40.00 per boat 10 of which is big bass money. the big bass pays 100 perc payback. 23 pays back to the nights tournament and 6 goes for the end of year champ tournament. I think it all figures out to be about a 97% payback and the extra is used for supplies such as weigh bags etc. The champ tournamnet is oct 9th I think. fish 16 of 20 or finish in the top half of points to qualify. Stankdings are on www.fishstocktonlake.com give me a call at 417-637-2277 if you have any qestions or want to fish! Thanks

Sorry about the slow post on the results. I've been a little busy this week. 1st place was 2 fish that weighed 6.21 lbs and was won by Tony Peteson and Leland Heath Big bass was 3.50 lbs. Next tournament is Thursday so eveyone needs to come out and fish. We had a slow night but it will pick up. If I would set the hook instead of thinking about it we would have caught more fish. Had some good bites on spinnerbaits thursday night. Crappie are biting great up the rivers!! Got to head to the lake so good luck to everyone and see you Thursday eveing at 6 pm, ruark bluff!!

This Thursday evening will be our first evening of the year. Only $40.00 per boat. Take off is out of Ruark Bluff. You can sign up at the ramp. I will be there about 5 pm. Remember if you fish 16 of 20 tournaments or you finish in the top half of the points you will automatically qualify for the fishoff in October. See the complete list of rules Visit My Website and look under thursday rules. This will be a fun tournament to fish. If you are looking for a partner for the year give me a call. I have had some people that need a fishing partner. The rules for partners and stuff are all listed on the website, but you can fish a couple by yourself, and so can your partner and still qualify for fishoff.