straw hat

Fishbait3, you have done a good thing. I tip my hat to you. I won't be able to make it this Thursday (I assume it is Thur, you didn't mention a date), but I sure will make it to the next one. I might even help with the launching or weightin at a tourney. Good luck!!

Yea you are right. I was giving them too much credit by thinking they were just blind. lol Just plain idiots. As they say.. "there is no cure for stupid".

Lord know that summer is the season of idiots on the lake. Getting angry and exploding is the natural instinct but staying cool like you did...well you will live a lot longer. You also never know when an idiot like that may be drunk and have a gun. Take care and may your next trip go a lot better.

Bummer. With the way the weather was yesterday I would of thought you would slay them. That is fishing for you. Better luck next time.

Man, that just makes my blood boil. These kind of things happen way too often. I am sorry you had that experience. You might try keeping a spot light present and flash it at them as they approach without blinding them. Either way, glad you kept you cool and a tip of the hat to you for that. Congrats on the fish.

Dollar Bill, the cats are tearing it up on the rocks. You should do well. I am thinking about a catfish trip on Tues. Saltydawg, Definitly minnows. Love those those minnows. Brian, don't know much about Cedar Ridge, but sure do see a lot of posts of some nice catchs. I am sure some of the other guys can fill in hte blanks.

Did a little bit better today than yesterday. Went to a different rocky bluff near Springfield Cove. The crappie were closer to the bank today and not suspended. Most were 10 to 12' deep in about 13 or 14' of water, so just off the bottom. About mid-afternoon it died so the wife and I moved to the end of the bluff and picked up the rest of out limit. The total was 30 crappie, 1 channel, 2 whites and 2 walleye. The wife caught the bigger eye at 4.1 lbs (25"). She is still smiling!! All the whites and walleye were caught off the point. The eyes were in 12' of water.

Well the wife and I couldn't find them tonight. Fished a steep rocky bank near Springfield Cove for 4 hours and only came up with 6 keeper crappie and 2 white bass. No real pattern to those we caught. We did meet two nice young men at he bait shop who had been fishing the rock rip rap on Stockton. They had a very nice stringer of 8 channels with the biggest around 5 or so. Good luck on the water tomorrow everyone.

Definitely big shiners. Two to three inch size. You can get them at Tranthems in Springfield.

PS. If you scrape a off some scales on one side of the minnow before using them then they seem to do better. Good Luck Let us know how you do.

I know everybody says fresh cut bait, especially shad. BUT I guess that is not for me. I have two hooks on each of my rods. I always pu a minnow on the top hook and either worms or fresh cut bait on the bottom hook. I always catch the channels on the minnows. I mean like 95% of the time. I don't understand wh, maybe I don't spit on the worms right. lol

Your right Golf Pro and I was just looking at their schedule for next week and it is just as bad. I doubt if there will be any water in the bushes by then. Every day next week is suppose to be sunny too so it may drop the fish back to some significantly deeper water fast.

Hey nwtf gobbler, I use those ultra lite Thill slip bobbers because they are so sensative to bites and you know how crtappie can be. Most of the bites the bobber never went under. The stem that stick out of the water would go down about 1/2 to 3/4" and just stay there. That was the bite!! As lite as they were hitting I don't know how aggressive they would have been to a jig or if you could even have felt the hit. After we were done I cast a jig just out of curiousity and didn't get any hits (That I felt anyway). lol Hey Boobie, that living to 200 sounds great but I guess it depends on how my achey joints feel then as compared to now. lol But pain or no pain, you are right, live it up!! And there is only one way to do that....GO FISHING!!

Catfish are definetly on the rocks at Stockton. Getting ready to spawn. Between Fri night and today We came up with 5 channels from 1.5 to 5.5 lbs. All caught in 12 to 16' of water on steep rocky banks. Males had been working nests. Time to hit them guys.

I guess JMBC was right back on the 9th. The cats are in the rocks. The wife and I went to the CC area for a few hours on Fri evening and again today. We came up with 16 keeper crappie, 1 white, and 2 channels (a 2 and a 5.5 lber). Went back today and we had to put in a long day but we both managed to limit out on crappie, 3 channels (1.5, 2.5 and 3 lbs), and 2 whites. A picture of todays stringers is below. We were fishing a steep rocky bank. The crappie were mostly suspended at 14 to 18' and the bite was very light. The channels were 12 to 16'. We fished with large minnows, worms and fresh cut bait for the cats but ALL were caught on the large minnows. The water was fairly green with good visibility (about 3 feet) and the water temp was 71 degrees.

Way to go 9lb. Catch a few for me!!

That is how I got started on Stockton over 20 years ago. I started at the hot spots in the map and had good luck. I think you will find those areas pretty good.

There are still some working in the area Saltydawg. They have been running 7 to 10' deep.

Welcome JMBC! Look forward to your posts. On the rocks? Oh well...so much for my catfishing skills. I have tried the rip rap for 2 weeks with no luck.

Slip bobbers are all I use. You can set them so they suspend the bait right over the cover. I would recommend a thill bobber. They have several sizes at both Bass Pro and Walmart. They also sell a string that can be slide directly over your line without rerigging. The string is yellow and is wrapped around a small piece of plastic. This yellow slip knot will easily cast through the eyes on your rod. I like to use two hooks below by bobber. In other words, the rig starts with a slip knot set at the desired depth you want to fish, next is the slip bobber, then a small split shot just above the hooks so that the bobber doesn't slide down on the bait when casting, next is a hook, about 1 foot down is the second hook and at the very end of the line is 1 or 2 split shot. If the rig drifts into the rocks or brush the split shot will usually get hung first. Pull hard and the split shot will slide off the end of the line and you are free. You don't usually loose your whole rig. The reason for two hooks...well you just never know what a cat is going to want. I may put a large live bait on the bottom hook for flatheads and then a hunk of liver on the upper hook for channels. I also combo with worms, minnows, bluegill...etc. A regular buffet for them lol. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.

I will post something as soon as I hear something. Tried rip rap twice in 2 weeks with no luck yet. Fair number being picked up in the back of bigger coves and along steep nanks. Most are full of eggs and should spawn soon. The rest of the week will be cooler though and it may slow them down. I will try again later this week if I can.

Thanks for the report sandbc

Great info. I fished the rock rip rap earlier that day and didn't get a hit. The water is up to 68 and they should be ready to start spawning soon. Next week is suppose to be much cooler though. Highs in the 70s and lows in the 40's. That may slow them down a little bit.

Good job minnowhooker!!

WOW I am impressed with the info. Thanks so much. I will print this off and get it to him. I know he will appreiate it veryt much. Thanks very much.