packersooner

Impressive! That thing would eat some of the walleye I caught a few days back.

Thanks for the reports all. Caught a limit of crappie Tuesday trolling #7 Flickers in bigger coves in the mid-lake region. Fish were in 18 to 38 fow 14 to 22 feet down. Trolled 1.7 to 2.3 mph. All but one were females with eggs pretty much ready. Caught a handful of dink walleye too on main lake points. Jason

Wow...excellent day guys! That is a nice eye! Yeah Jim enjoyed fishing with you Monday. Your tips and tricks were much appreciated! Agree that the trolling bite will become much more consistent in the next week or two. Should stay good through June. Jason

Glad you are OK Aggressor. This kind of crap just makes my blood boil. Theft and destruction of property are bad enough. But putting someone's life in danger? They'll get what's coming to them. Karma is a funny thing. Seriously though guys and gals, we need to watch each other's backs out there. You see something suspicious going on, call 911 or at least get a tag/license number. Increased patrols will help some, but it won't solve the problem. Keep your eyes and ears open. Low-lives like that have a hard time keeping their mouths shut. Gotta brag to their buddies. As for that axle, I had to replace one a few years back. Trux in Springfield had one very reasonably priced. Would recommend giving them a call. Jason

I cannot believe the amount of boats I have seen keep the throttle wide open going down Sons over the channel and flats. I am a wuss and won't go more than 4- 6 mph. Even hitting a stump at that speed is quite the jolt! I guess I like my lower unit too much. Jason

Good job figuring them out and nice report! Jason

Gotta second that Webfoot12. Great information being shared lately. If I can get out again, I will certainly contribute what I can. Jason

You all may find these useful: Turnback http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sgf&gage=gfzm7 Big Sac http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sgf&gage=ddzm7 Little Sac http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sgf&gage=mszm7 Stockton Dam (Lake Level) http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sgf&gage=stxm7 Sac (Immediately Below Dam) http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sgf&gage=stzm7 Sac at Caplinger Mills http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sgf&gage=cmzm7 The first three graphs will be very telling when it comes to water conditions in the upper portions of the lake. Turnback will be the quickest to rise with heavy rainfall. BTW, temperatures will be above normal this upcoming week. Highs in the mid 70s to lower 80s with lows in the upper 50s and 60s. Water is going to warm quick! Big storms Wednesday/Thursday. That time of year. Jason

Wish I could help out with the prespawn info everyone. Been fishing Stockton for five years and just seem to struggle this time of year. With my work schedule I might get out once a week at best. As we all know, the pattern can change massively in a week's time. Heck, it can change from hour to hour! I did get out on Monday and don't have much to report on (at least the catching part). Fished from the CC bridge north to the cove just south of Shaw's Bluff. Managed one keeper crappie, a good handful of dinks and a white. Tried vertical jigging, casting/slow rolling a jig, and trolling #5 Flickers. Targeted depths anywhere from 5 to 20 feet. Main channel, channel edges, coves, timber, brush, points, you name it! Plenty of show on the depth finder in the main channel. Not so much in the coves. Water temps started off in the upper 40s in the main channel and warmed into the low 50s. We did find mid 50 temps in the coves. Water visibility was about a foot on average...but varied from 6" to almost two feet at times. I hope some of you all can figure them out. Thanks to those that have shared info in this thread. Jason

Thanks for the report Brad! Jason

Believe me, I wish I had something to post. Frickin work keeps getting in the way. You all go get em! Jason

Well done Gary and Lee!

Nice job Brad and excellent report as usual! Jason

Sounds like the shad ball bite is starting to get better. Nice job and thanks for the report! I fished up north today (launched at RB). Caught a limit this morning on jigs with most of them coming near deeper brush. Did catch a few chasing shad. The fish were anywhere from 24-34 feet down in 28-48 feet of water. Tried for some walleye with a bottom bouncer early this afternoon but failed miserably. You all go wear them out over the next few weeks! It's back to night shifts for me. Jason

After a tough Saturday (see PD's post above), managed a limit of crappie on Monday fishing up north (launched out of RB). No walleye. Caught a few crappie fishing shad balls, but most came near deep brush piles (30-45 feet). All were caught on plastic jigs. One would think that the "shad ball" bite will only get better over the coming weeks. Jason

Still got the notes from the talk Buster gave last winter. Great reminders Bill! Jason

You nailed it there Nitro2014. I will fish with as light of line and rod as the wind allows. Ideally, that's 4 pound fluorocarbon and an ultralight rod with two 1/16 or 1/8 oz. jigs about a foot apart. There are days though that a #7 Jiggin Rap on a heavier rod is about the only way you can keep anything down in the strike zone. Jason

Went out Saturday and also had success with the brush pile jig bite. Fished deeper piles in 32-42' near the main lake channel. We ended up with a couple dozen keeper and at least that many shorts. Tried the channel drop bite and didn't do much. We did scope out a few bigger schools of shad in the mouths of large coves and caught a few crappie that were in chase mode. Water temps were 43-46 degrees, so the big time shad ball bite isn't far off! Jason

Good advice up to this point! As for throwing a buoy out, it can certainly serve as a good point of reference when you are out in open water. I'll even do this if marking/using waypoints on the GPS. The shad will move some, but the buoy(s) are a helpful point of reference. About the only negative I'll throw out there (pun intended) regarding buoys is reaching over the side of the boat to retrieve them. Going overboard this time of year can be a a death wish. Jason

Wish I could contribute you all. Just haven't been out. Living off of the few reports that are posted...even for those green fish! Ron, I am going off of memory after working a midnight shift...but here goes. If I remember correctly, the kill came after a high water spring followed by a hot summer. The only decent oxygen levels were well up in the water column. It is theorized that the walleye had no choice but to come up and inhabit the warmer waters (out of their comfort zone) to get needed oxygen. Unfortunately, that may have led to the kill. I believe most of the dead walleye reports came from the Horseshoe Bend area. I remember water temps being up into the low 90s for a long period of time. I don't think they released much water until mid to late summer. Thus, that "bend" area of the lake may have gotten fairly stagnated. You all can feel free to set me straight! Jason

Thanks for the info Jeremy. Keep it coming! Jason

Nice reports Brad! Glad you had a chance to get out a few times. Jason

I will second the Lakewoods suggestion. Kevin and Sandy are good people. Jason

HB, Agree with you 100%. It seems that I have to tune more than half of them out of the box these days. They have been killer on the crappie again this year, Jason

Roger that...thanks again for the info! Jason