straw hat

You may not believe this but we only use large shiners for bait. We went again last week and caught 4 more cats, 3 very small walleye and 5 keeper crappie. Can't wait for the weather to get better.

58F! We caught six more cats last Tuesday but they were smaller.

The wife and I fished 3 days and went to a few bluffs where we often get into some wintering cats and a few crappie. Two of the bluffs had nothing. On the last two bluffs we caught 1 cat that weighted 1 1/2lbs. On the last bluff we caught a total of 16 cats. All between 2 and 5 lbs except for two smaller ones. We also managed a few keeper crappie there as well. Water conditions varied a lot from place to place. Some areas were relatively clear but had a tannic acid appearance. Others were sort of dingy with limited visibility. Water temps varied from 55 to 67 F.

The wife and I drove around the lake today and checked out several places and we thought we would post our observations. CC - Very dingy, some small debris on top. 70F degrees. Visibility almost one foot. Ruark - Fairly clear, 4 or 5 foot visibility, 66 to 69F. Mile long bridge- Fairly green water, at least 8 foot visibility, 66 to 67F. A lot of algae on the bottom even at depths of 15 to 20 ft. Hawker Point - Very clear, again, at least 8 foot visibility, 66 to 67F. Not as much algae.

Stockton Lake officials to temporarily limit access to Hawker Point campground and boat ramp Officials will be closing the boat ramp and encouraging the public to limit access at the Hawker Point campground from March 18 to March 29, 2024. The boat ramp will be closed while lake staff and the Missouri Department of Conservation complete their annual fish habitat project.

Went to a spot about a mile from cc. Water 47 degrees with 3' clarity. water was a little milky looking. This is a good winter spot for cats and the wife and I got into a few but they were only around a pound. Caught a lot of bass when trying to fish shallower. Say 10 to 15 feet. All were small as well.

Boy, do I understand that comment. A severe accident and a herniated disc with back surgery has really slowed me down to say the least. That was my first trip to the lake since last September but at least I was able to get around fairly comfortably. Will try to go again next week. Hang in there everyone. spring is coming!!

The wife and I made a short bank fishing trip yesterday just to get out of the house. Started about a mile from twin bridges. Water was very green for this time of year. Lots of boats. Water temp was 44 degrees. I was really surprised by how much things had warmed up. Visibility was about 5 feet. Also stopped at cc. Hardly any boats there. Water was slightly green and stained. Visibility was about 3 feet. Water temp was 46 degrees. Incredible!! Ten days ago the wife and I did a drive by and there was ice on the back of shallow coves. Water is warming way too fast. Had a couple hits on minnows but nothing to show for it. Beautiful day to be out for sure.

I have been told the same as Krazo but the Corp did say that any Docks are private.

Spent the day on the lake in the CC area yesterday. Water was 75 degrees and a strange lime green color. By noon tghere were white caps on the lake but it really didn't matter as the fishing was terrible anyway. We managed about 8 crappie with only 3 keepers. Talked to a few other boats and all had similar stories. A special note here; When launching we went in over the end of the ramp and bent things up trying to get out. We have an 18' pontoon boat so our trailer is a little long but anyone going to CC should be cautious when launching. I would also like to give a special thanks you to the nice gentleman that helped me straighten out my trailer after we landed. I am not as young as I used to be and he was a great help.

Well, I finally got feeling good enough for a short trip to the CC area yesterday. Water was very dingy and yucky looking. It has a heavy oily scum on the surface, Water temp was 81 degrees first thing in the morning. Lots of shad. Managed 3 crappie. Was good to get out though.

Health issues and excessive heat have held me back.

I fish near Shaws bluff and for a few weeks it was around 12' but my last trip it seemed to disappear. Very surprising to me.

Fishing has been really good the last 3 weeks but yesterday was an exception. They seem to be widely scattered and we had to keep moving often. Most were on bluffs or in standing timber around 20 ft +/-. Good luck.

A tad bit warm on the lake but all in all a beautiful day. Good water color and clarity (6 ft). We caught 24 total keeper crappie. Water temp averaged around 82 degrees although my thermometer did go to 151.7 degrees once for a few seconds. lol. Now that is what you call global warming!!!

Not too bad a day. Water temp was 82 and fairly good stain to it. Couldn't find a thermocline today. Picked up a few crappie here and there, No set depth. Some on trees, some just cruising in open water and other on channel banks. we did wind up with 25 crappie. It was a beautiful day to be on the lake.

Well fishing was real poor yesterday. Bites were light and fish were picky. It really looked like the lake was turning over. Oily bubbly scum in many areas, water had turned dark green and a thermocline looked like it was developing around 16' deep. We only came home with 5 crappie BUT the wife did catch one nice fish. A 26" fat female walleye that weighted a hefty 7 1/2 lbs!! Definitely the largest walleye we have ever caught.

Temps - 75.7 Clarity - 2' and dingy Caution - A lot of floating debris and some logs up to 6" diameter. Some crappie but it was very slow in general.

Well, hit it for a few hours in the CC area today. Couldn't find the crappie so we went to the rock riprap area and caught 5 spawning carts, No huge ones but all between 1 and 3 lbs. A lot of current in the area which surprised us. The river isn't up and they weren't running water either. 4' visibility, very little stain to the water, temp 74F.

You are right. My tree in Willard was done blooming about 3 weeks ago but I noticed my neighbors down the street started to bloom 2 days ago. On a trip through Springfield on Wed I saw dogwoods in full bloom and just 50 ft or so away some that were completely leafed out and I had seen that tree bloom weeks earlier. Very strange. Thanks for the info.

Yea, Waterman2, I am amazed at the number of shad. I got my 70F reading at Greenfield last Thursday but mid 60's the same day mid-lake areas.

We think alike. i went back through the records I keep at home over the years. Most spawners were caught April 8 to 14th though. One year I did limit out on spawners on March 27th and like you suggested it was a low water year and it warmed quicker. It is funny how things differ because my records indicate water temperature usually 46 to 52 degrees from April 1st to April 8th and then not reaching that 70F level until around May 1st (which is where it is at now) BUT I measure the water temperature at a 5' depth. That will make some difference. I guess the shad must have spawned real early too. I have never seen such huge schools of 2" shad this early before. They just cover the surface of the lake on calm days. I would think that these young will be too big for crappie to eat in 4 to 6 weeks. Thanks for sharing your perspective with me. I appreciate it.

I think you are right. It would make sense that with water levels lower the water would warm faster and things would spawn earlier but I have never seen the water this warm this early before. but of course at my age my memory is sure not what it use to be. 🥴

Just a quick note on a few things we have observed since 4/3. NO flowering dogwood this year. I have not seen one flowering dogwood on my trips around Stockton this year. I have seen a lot of dogwood fully leafed out. Been seeing huge schools of baby shad the last two weeks. About one week ago. The whole surface at CC (Greenfield) was covered with them. Also seen a lot of them around Harley, Birch Branch and Price branch. Most were 1 1/2 to 2". I don't remember seeing so many baby shad this early in the year before. The shad must have spawned in February. lol In the last two weeks we have been fishing pea gravel spawning banks for crappie until around 9 AM, then going to steep channel drop of banks and back to spawning areas around 4 PM to finish off the day. We have not caught even one crappie on spawning banks. All of our crappie have come off the channel drops at 10 to 15'. All were p[ost spawn crappie even in early April. I must have slept through the crappie spawn. With the water temperature reading at 70F the wife and I decided to try for some spawning cats on the rock riprap at Greenfield yesterday and believe it or not they were there. Loaded fat with eggs at around 5 to 8' deep. What?!! Catfish ready to spawn in mid April? I have never seen that before. Has anyone else noticed these types of strange patterns or am I just getting too old and senile?

we don't us cranks, we just drifted minnow under a slip bobber in the mouth of those coves. Same principle though.