straw hat

Well Brian G here is what Ifound... I hit a cove on Maze Creek. The water temp was only 39!! No hits at all. I then stopped by the CC area. Water temp was 41. I caught 4 largemouths in 8 to 10 feet of water. They were white as snow and didn't fight very hard. Only one was a keeper (17"). The water was clear at Maze Creek but sort of a milky color at CC. I hope you have great success tomorrow.

The rain did not muddy the water any at all. I don't know the water temps right now but I am going to hit the lake today and will post some temps when I get back.

Well I guess I need a new pair of glasses!! I must of accidentally clicked on the Truman forum instead of the my usual Stockton forum. Sorry!

In my opinion the Turnback arm followed by the Little Sac arm sem to warm first on Stockton. As far as timing...well that realllyyy depends on weather. Some years warm up begins in Early March and sometimes as early as mid Ferbuary. Last week the temp was 38 at CC and by next Saturday I expect it to be around 42 with maybe a few walleye running around. But if it turns cold again it may drop right back down to 38 again. But the walleye should really start moving soon. I hope this helps.

I just checked the USGS websites. All three tributaries of Stocton (Turnback, Little Sac and Big Sac) went up between 1 foot and 1 1/2 foot, have crested and are now declining. The problem is that the Corp kept running water during this time and the lake only gained 1"!!! Currently at 860.21. I can only think that the Corp wants this water in the Missouri River to help out its level.

CIA? Crappie Inspection and Assessment! Right on!!

I recieved an email from a relative about 30 minutes ago. As soon as you open the email the virus automatically reads your contact and sends a copy of the email to all your contacts!! This only took two minutes from the time I opened my families email!!! Unluckily several of the Stockton OAF members were on my email list. Bummer!! So if you get an email that says "HI" and the return address is from me (or maybe even another OAF member) you might want to delete it without opening it. If you are unlucky enough to open it, it will read 'Hi, this reminded me of you and then a web address.' DO NOT open the link. It is infected with a trojan horse!!! Sorry if this infects anyone on this site. That is the last thing I want to do. Good luck.

Swung by Twin Bridges today...40 degrees and not one hit. Went to CC and fished both sides of the bridge. A little ice in the back of the coves early....39 degrees and once again no hits. The Corp has put up a baracade at the CC launch as well as a sign, lauch closed. Lets hope this rain next week not only helps the bite but also the lake levels.

Great report Todd. Thanks for the info.

SmallyWally, they normally drop the lake to 4' or so below powerpool for the winter BUT this year it was already that low before the fall hit due to the drought. They have been maintaining it around 5 to 6' below powerpool since Sept. As you have probably heard the Missouri and Mississippi have hit record low levels this winter. Barge traffic has been curtailed and they are only allowed to carry half a load in order to have enough clearance to not run aground. The corp has been letting some water out of the lakes in Nebraska, South Dakota, etc but those lakes are now running low SO the corp decided to run some water out of Stockton, Truman and some of he other lakes in our area. The lake has dropped nearly 1' in the last week and who knows how long it will continue. Also, like charliehorsejigs said they are running water daily to McDaniel Lake for use in Springfield as well. The water levels in Fellows and McDaniel fall below their minimum levels several months ago and they have been running water out of Stockton since. I think the corp needs to hold a rain dance or something...we need water bad!!!

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that when I went to CC to put out brushpiles that i went off the end of the ramp. Now that the corp is running water out of Stockton like crazy the lake is even lower than when I ran off the end of the ramp. Use caution, it looks like this low water is only going to get worse.

The more brush piles the better the fishing!! I met a few duck hunters this year on the lake and it seemed like most of them did well. I hope you had a good year too.

It was very windy SkeeterZX190! 3' waves(?) but 63 degrees out when we came home.

Withe nice weather I just had to get out of the house. Picked up a few largemouth near Hawker at around 15 to 18". One was 17". Visibility was 4' , 43 degrees and only a very light green tint to the water. Twin bridges was 42 degrees with 3' visibility and a little greener in color. CC was 38 degrees, 2' visibility and sort of milky with ice in the back of the coves. No crappie but it was a nice day to be out.

Did you say something 9lb?

Stockton Corp does not require permits like some other corp lakes they do have limits on how to prepare the brush oiles. No conainers can be used that have chemical residue, You can't cut brush on corp property but you can use driftwood or dead trees. Brush must be placed at least 10' below power pool. That way it doesn't pose a navigation hazard. I always pick up brush from the Springfield brush collection place and tie them to cement blocks. Lets get some more brush in the lake gang!!

Set out 10 brush piles mid-alke last week and 8 more on the south end Saturday and 5 more mid-lake on Wed. of this week. During that time I saw at least three other groups of fisherman putting out brush piles as well. Come on guys join the fun!! (Is it spring yet?) lol

Thanks FH!!

Well, I am going to try another trip to the lake tomorrow if the ramps are open at either CC or Hartley. Can anyone tell me, do I need just my boat or do I need to bring some dynamite too? lol

Good job!!! I have almost forgot what a fish looked like!!

WOW, I wasn't expecting that!! Thanks for the info duckydoty. You saved me from wasting a lot of time and gas!

Can anyone tell me if the CC boat launch is open (no ice)? Thanks in advance.

The launches are open as of Wed. I would suggest around 40' deep in 50 ' of water. Just coast around over the old channel and you should mark them below the shad. Good Luck!!!

Tx lmt out

Thanks for all the sympathies concerning my mother. She was a sweetie, no doubt. I couldn't get tthe make and model the way he was parked. It was a white small pickup like a ford ranger. It had been spot painted MANY times. lol I wish I could have got close enough to introduce myself! Or even close enough to see the lisence plate number.