straw hat

I am using large live shiners. They are 3 to 5" long. Hit the back of the same two coves today with my wife. What a difference. Could have cut the water with a chain saw. lol We came back with 6 cats. Four of them from 2 to 4 pounds. I usually take the shiners and scrap the scales loose on one side and be sure and wipe the scales back onto the shiner. When he hits the water he leaves a trail of sparkely scales and odor. It really seems to help.

Those bass I caught were only in the back of coves which had running water after the rain.

. The corp haas posted its water quality numbers for July. There is no room for all the number here but I fiqured dissolved oxygen was the most impostant. 1.6 ppm at 24 ft at Dam 1.4 ppm at 18 ft at Ruark 1.8 ppm at 18 ft at 245 bridge The Corp does sampling in 3' increments. If you look at their data the oxygen is around 8.6 ppm at 21'.Just 3' higher. This is a big drop in O2 in a short distance and compares to thier temperature chart so should be similar to the thermocline depth. Remember these samples were taken on July 15th and we have had a lot of rain since so these numbers may not be accurate anymore but I thought I would shoot them pout to you guys anyway. http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Portals/29/docs/lakesites/waterquality/July%20Profiles/Stockton%202013%20profiles.pdf

The latest water quality numbers arer out from the Corp. Obviously I can't put all of them on here but I fiqure the most important is dissolved oxygen. The Corp measures this every 3' in depth at several lake locations. 1.2 ppm oxygen at 27' at the dam 1.4 ppm at 18' at Ruark 1.8 at 18' at 245 bridge On any of these samples if you look at the sample taken 3' shallower the oxygen typically runs around 8 pp. So for example;

Took a little trip around Stockton looking for cats yesterday. I was fishing the back of coves where there was water coming in. Caught 4 keepers with the biggest at 3#. Stopped by cc. Man that water was solid mud. The surface was also covered with duck weed. That's those little floating plants you usually see around the islands near the 160 bridge. Water temp was 75. Hartley was clear with a slight stain, temp 80. Main lake at mile long bridge was very green and about 2' visibility. I was fishing around 1 to 3 foot deep for the cats. In the back of one cove I nailed a bass that looked like 5 when he jumped (that means around 4 pounds in reality, lol). That fish was in 2' of water under a tree in the shade. I caught a total of 8 bass but no size to any of them. I hope everyone the best.

No Kidding!! I saw that and was shocked. Can you imagine going down that in a canoe?

With the water up in the brush this spring there should have been good survival of the fry. I have also seen a lot of fry around the flooded brush and trees while crappie fishing.

I saw one report about 1 week ago that said it would be the end of next year. I am sure that will change.

Crappie have really slowed down for me. Maybe with this cool rain and cooler temps things will pick up over the next few days.

Oh Man, I knew it. I really wanted to go for cats today but just had too much to do. All day long I kept thinking 'What a beautiful day for fishing.' Now you go and post this great trip report. I think I will just go in the house and cry!! lol

I prefer hardwoods like hickory and oak. A Christmas tree or other pine tree lasts about 3 to 5 years. Hardwoods last 15 to 25. Softwoods like maple or elm last around 10. The bigger around the tree the more shade it gives. I like 4" diameter or bigger or sometimes you can pick up stumps that have been dropped off there. They are really good.

Things have reallydropped off for the wife and I on the crappie. Last Sat we managed 18 and yesterday only eight. All on brush piles around 10' deep. We beat the timber to death in the afternoon and only 2 small ones. Water temperature was running 84 to 86! Too bloody hot. Couldn't even mark many fish except once. Pulled up to a tree with a couple dozen fish on it. Immediately got into them. Caught 8 drum in 10 minutes. OH BOY, what a disappointment. Going to try further north on the lake next week, maybe the water (and air) temp won't be as hot. Good luck to all!!

Last time I checked was 2 years ago with the Corp of E. Each lake has its own rules, for example permits are required for brushpiles on Truman. On stockton brush piles are legal and do not need a permit. They can not be sunk shallower than 10' below powerpool. In other words they must be at 857 or below so they do not pose a navigation hazard. You can not use buckets, pails, or other containers. Brush may not be cut along the bank unless a special permit is obtained. You may use drift wood or wood you bring with you from off corp premises. This wood can not contain foreign material (tinsil, wire, fencing, etc.). They suggest the use of cement blocks secured to the brush. I usually go to the Springfield brush drop off just off of hwy 60. They will let you pick up brush for free and they are already cut to 6' or less (easy to handle). Good luck!!!

Well tried to hit a few spots on the lake but some I couldn't fish because water too high (bank fishing) others were already being fished by someone else. CC was VERY green and a little foul, 84 F. I made several stops between State Park and Hawker (82 to 83 F). The main part of the lake seemed to have a much higher algae population and therefore greener. The back halves of the bigger coves seemed only slightly stained and 'looked' better. The Corp report for mid june only showed a minimal drop in O2 levels this far but from what I am seeing I expect their next set of readings to be a lot worse. I will let you know when they post them.

There are plenty of big cats in Stockton.Blue79. I usually catch 2 or a year that are over 8 lbs. (I don't know but to me that is a big channel lol) I have also caught a lot of flatheads on Stockton. My best was 35# and probably 15 or 20 between 10 and 30#. Although I am lazy and only day fish Cheif Grey Bear is absolutely right, night is better than daytime. For a big flathead I would never fish over 15' deep on the lake. At night I would stick to 10' or less.Nice set up by the way/

Thanks murphdog, the wife was off work this week so we got to hit it again yesterday. A little slower but we still managed 23 keeper. All on brush. 8=10 ft deep in early morning, by afternoon they were running 16-18 ft deep. About 1/2 were 11 to 12". I also have benn watching the analytical postings on water quality. It always takes them about a month to analyze and post so the last results were from mid June. I noticed that the low O2 was not quite as bad this year, probably because of more rain. Oxygen levels were pretty good down to around 18' BUT with this hotter weather (and more to come) that will probably change.

Yep, minnows

Wife and I made it out again. Hit the lake around 9 AM and fished til 4 PM. Man was the lake calm. Considering last time when we didn't do well on standing timber we stuck to brush piles in 10 14 foot of water. Picked a few off each one and left with 15 each. Nearly all the keepers were black crappie for some reason, The white crappie were running only 6 to 9 inchs. Water was 82 to 84 and very green with about a foot of visibility.

Thanks guys, thanks a lot. I sure did enjoy those pics of the cats blue79! Can't wait to see what your next trip is like!!

Thanks Zarraspook. It seems like years but it was only 5 months. lol

Well after nearly 5 months I was able to get back out on the lake. YEA!!! We didn't exactly slay them. Found NO keeper crappie on fence rows or standing timer but did catch a few small ones. We managed to catch a hand full of keepers on brush piles but few small ones. Odd. 12 to 14' deep. Water temp 82. We also managed to loose our life jackets some how as well. Two (expensive) large orange jackets that must have blown out or got k nocked out on the trip. If you picked them up near CC I sure would like them back. Even so it sure was nice to be on the lake again.

I agree with Bob. I am a dummy and always assume people fish during the day like me. lol Starting out at 15 feet you catch the ones coming in off the flats back to deep water during the day. In either case good luck and stay cool!!

I like fishing for channels in August (assuming the temp isn't in triple digits, lol). There are a lot of places you can get access to 30 or 40' deep water from the bank. I like to start out about halfway between the nearest point and the deep water and pick up channels as they head back from the point to the deep water (fish 15 to 20'). Around 10 AM I am ready to move to the deep drop off and will spend the rest of the day there (30 to 40' deep is usually the best).

Main lake..threadfin shad Stained tributary arms...Threadfin with a yellow back.

As of right now per the river gauges, Big Sac is up 5' and plateaued. Little Sac is up 4' and is still rising.