Walleyedmike

Awesome rig! I am envious. WM

Way to go 9lb! Wish I could get down there. WM

Nice job Flatbottom Boy, hope you don't mind if I post a report here rather than starting another thread. I put in at Hartley around 9 AM, sorry I didn't notice anyone having boat problems, sorry. Anyway, fished that general area and by 10:30 caught six walleye with four keepers, a 15" crappie and a couple of short bass. I was bottom bouncing slow death in 20 feet of water. After 10:30 it just shut down for me, I caught a keeper bass and a drum. I was hoping to report catching twenty keepers, but oh well, maybe next time. All fish were released to fight another day. Had a great day on the water hanging out with my wife and catching a few fish. WM

Amen to that PD. Never had the pleasure of meeting Marty, but had the opportunity of learning a few things form him via internet forums. He will be missed, not only for his knowledge of fishing Table Rock and unlocking the secrets of putting walleye in the boat regularly, he was also a great historian of the area. He posted some pretty cool old pics of the Ozarks from time to time and told many interesting stories about the pictures. God bless Marty, will pray for your family in this difficult time. WM

Dang DD, that's MY best spot! Lol! Well, not really but I can see my favorite spots in your lake map pic. Glad you had a good day, will be a couple of weeks before I can get down. Hope the bite continues to be good, struggling to catch is hard on my ego! WM

Anither view of that trolling bag set up, and more info at http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/fishingresources/articles/fishingbaitandtackle/putasockinit BTW, great stuff F&F! Hopefully powerdive checks in, he's an expert in the area of trolling with lead core line, I am a bit of a novice but have had much success trolling lead. WM

Trophy, if you have a gps for your your vehicle and a 12 volt plug in the boat, slap it in the boat and just use it to check for speed. Should work, I've never tried it though. Good info F&F. If I may, I would recommend using a metered line if a line counter reel is not used. Something like power pro depth hunter. http://www.powerpro.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/power_pro_v2/products/PowerPro_Depth_Hunter_.html Being able to duplicate depth with some precision is very important when trolling. Knowing how many colors of metered line you have out allows you to do that quickly and efficiently. Catch a fish with six colors of line out (150 feet) Put that bait right back in the sweet spot by letting six colors back out. I've never considered your methods for slowing the boat. My 225 ETEC trolls my boat down to about 2.7 MPH. To slow her down, another Stockton buddy turned me on to a dual drift sock method as pictured. Slows her down to 1.2 MPH and boat control is great. My next boat will have a kicker motor, which in my humble opinion is the only way to go if trolling crank baits a bunch. WM

I caught two near main lake points, one in a small cove between a main lake point and a secondary point, and one along a bluff wall. Wind didn't seem to matter, caught in waves and calm water. Wierd thing was, my wife fished too and only had two bites, no fish. I was using a pretty large blk/chrome holographic blade, she used hammered gold, nickel, and chartruse. WM

Made a quick trip to Stockton over the weekend. Got the camper ready for the summer on Saturday and hit the lake from 2:00-5:00. Trolled crawler harnesses in fifteen feet of water, I picked up a 16 1/2" and two 18" walleye. Lost a twenty incher at the boat, we were too slow with the net, dang it! Little cool on the water, and wish I would have had more time to fish, but all in all it was a good trip. WM

PD, I had a bass fisherman that swore he caught a really big tiger muskie on Stockton about a month ago. He was on the Little Sac arm of the lake. Of course, it broke loose at the boat, so no pictures. Seems like Tiger Muskies were stocked for a few years in Stockton in the late 80's. I've never seen a gar caught at Stockton, but some guys posted about a year ago they had caught an occasional gar. Seems like it was around CC. The large walleye that are surely somewhere in Stockton stay clear of my lines, too. WM

I think it's called Hot Spot, or something like that. They do advertise their premium fuel as alcohol free. WM

Congratulations. Sounds like you put some time into finally putting that hog in the boat. Thanks for the details, will look forward for the pics of your next personal best! WM

No worries, a double pic is much better than no pic! Nice mess of whites, there. WM

You should be able to troll all day with that 36 volt bow mount! Since you already have HB graphs, I'd be saving my pennies to upgrade to the I-Pilot Link for next season! As far as jerk baits, I'd try throwing a clown colored smithwick suspending rogue. Have heard black back with silver belly rogue has been working as well. Enjoy the boat, feel free to post a picture!!! WM

It was bound to happen... WM

First off, I'm what I would consider a pretty green walleye fisherman. There are many on this board that have WAY more experience than I do. But, as for bottom bouncing, I generally use my trolling motor. Basic rule of thumb is one ounce per ten feet of depth. 1 1/2 or 2 ounce bouncers will handle the majority of depths needed to fish walleye at Stockton. You want the bouncer just ticking the bottom, if you let out too much line it will lay over and drag the bottom and probrably snag. I tend to catch them around 12-15 feet deep in April, which doesn't mean they will be there but that's where I'd start. I use a baitcasting reel and medium action rod for bottom bouncing. As for the crappie, I dunno. Straw Hat will, though. Enjoy the trip! WM

Just giving you a hard time BK. The good lord put all kinds of fish in the water for us to eat! Same tactics will work out of Mutton. I often troll the east bank from Mutton to the mile long bridge. Really haven't fished much south of Mutton, don't know why, it looks like it should be good. WM

What is the best method for cleaning a bass, blue? Wouldn't you just fillet it out like a walleye or crappie? WM

Dang meat (walleye) hunters! Lol! Anyway, all good advice. Also might try bottom bouncing a crawler harness or slow death rig in 10-20 feet of water, .8 to 1.2 mph or so. The fish will tell you how fast and how deep to fish. Same with your grubs and swimming minnows, try different depths and retrieves until the fish tell you how they want it. You should be able to find walleye near Orleans Trail. Have fun! WM

Congratulations! I've heard Bruce Samson's Lowrance instructional video is quite good. http://www.lowrance.ca/en-AU/About/News/Lowrance-Offers-Dr-Sonar-Instructional-DVDs/ I also found youtube instructional vidoes by searching Bruce Samson Dr. Sonar. Enjoy your new sonar! WM

I've used the pinched crawlers on slow death rigs. Worked great in North Dakota. Tried them a little bit on Stockton with mixed results. Still have some, so will continue to experiment later this spring. I'll post results. WM

Oneshot, those pictures are absolutely priceless. Thank you so much for sharing. WM

No worries straw hat. As usual, you were a bit more specific and informative than I was anyway. Lol WM

Good stuff oneshot. Keep 'em comin' WM

What species are you targeting? That's a great time of year to fish points trolling crawler harnesses and slow death rigs on bottom bouncers for walleye. WM