straw hat

I saw that on my copy as well. This comment stricks me as particularly odd. As your comment indicated fertility references the ability to reproduce. Usually us bioligists refer to a body of water as being fertile if it is capable of supporting reproduction of organisms. That sounds like double talk but essentially it means that fertile waters contain high enough levels of nutrients to support the growth of algae (as firefly mentioned) because with the growth of algae you get populations of microorganisms that feed on the algae and then small fish that feed on the microrganisms and larger fish that feed on the small fish.... the food chain. The more fertile the water the larger the population of organisms that it can support (eg. fireflies mesotrophic lake). If the water becomes so full of fertilizer that it is polluted it can generate a lake or stream that produces so much algae that it becomes choked with it and the algae begins to die and sucks all the oxygen out of the water (called an eutropic lake or stream). As far as Big Sac is concerned there has been several studies done by the state that reflects a HIGH fertility for the stream. The Mo DOC is very concerned about Big Sac and other streams over the introduction of livestock waste, leaking septic tanks and overferilization by farmers. They have had several internal meetings over how to address these issues. I don't know where the Hot Spot map came up with this but the studies indicate they are wrong. Just go to the back of this arm of the lake during summer when there hasn't been any recent water flow and look at the algae bloom and algae growth on trees, rocks, etc.

Welcome to the site 9lb. Look forward to your postings.

I was just curious because Ragin' Cajuns was the name of the ball teams for one of the colleges I attended.

Ragincajun, I spoke to several bass fisherman on Saturday at CC who said it had been pretty bad the previous 2 or 3 days before. I have to believe though with a couple days of stable weather that should change. By the way... are you from Lafayette LA by any chance?

WOW! Thanks for the info laker67. I didn't know.

Just a note on something strange the wife and I saw down at CC today. A river otter came swimming down the lake. When I first saw it I assumed it was a beaver. We certainly have seen a few beaver on Stockton over the years. BUT, when it came to the top up again it came ashore between my wife and I!! I was shocked to see it was an otter!! I have never heard of an otter on Stockton or any rivers in the area. I know the Conservation people have been trying to restock them in Missouri but I thought that was in the north part of the state. Any of you guys ever seen one in this area? Sure would be interested to know.

I thought that with the colder temps the fish might have dropped back to the bottom of the channel in the CC area. The wife and I headed up there this AM. Cold hard wind (20 mph or better) beating us in the face. Didn't take us long to get cold. Around noon a cold rain started and then shortly after that heavy lightening. What was I thinking? It is going to take me two weeks to get the chill out of my bones. Around 2:00 the lightening got bad and we headed out. Just as we started to leave my wife slipped and fail in the lake!!! Luckily she is only a little bruised. As soon as we got to the truck the bottom fail out of the clouds. It rained so hard we could barely see. On the way home we ran into hail 3 times. The last batch was about the size of nickels. I was driving my brand new truck (only 9 weeks old). I hope the dimpled look is in this year. HAHA I checked it out when I got home and luckily, no damage. Wait a minute... I forgot this was a fishing report!! lol With the heavy wind we couldn't fish our slip bobbers. We dragged our minnows along the bottom using a bottom bouncing rig. We managed to come home with 13 keeper crappie and one 2 lb cat. They were all about 15 to 17' deep and hit hard. Not many bites but nearly all the fish were keepers. I can tell you now that they got some serious rain and the lake will sure come up more and be muddy tomorrow.

Thanks for the post Fireflies. My trip today was tough too. Very slow light bite. Thanks again for the info.

Fished the CC bank today. The water is two foot above normal but can still walk the bank some. Water was pretty milky but only slightly dingy. Not perfect but fishable. Water temp was 53. The bite was veryyyyy light. Half the bites dropped the minnows. They were suspended 14 to 18' in 20 to 22' of water. I saw quite a few white bass caught. Most were in the 12 to 14" range. Didn't see a lot of crappie caught in my area. A few boats but not as bad as I expected but lots of bank fisherman. Spent 8 hours and only came back with 6 crappie and one white. It was a nice day to be out though.

Hey TRRanger, stoped by the 39 bridge over Son's Creek today. Looks good. A little stained but not milky or muddy. Water temp was 51. Hopefully you will do well on Saturday. Good Luck.

Hey TRRANGER, I am going to try and go to the CC area tomorrow. If I have time afterward I will try to check out the 39 bridge over Son's Creek before I come home. I will post my report when I get home.

The USGS has gauge stations on Turnback and Sac but not on Son's Creek. They are reporting that both Turnback and Sac are still 2 to 2 1/2' above baseline. It is only a guess but I would think that Son's Creek would still be up some as well. I don't know if this helps but I thought I would throw it out there. Good luck on your trip.

Thanks PM. That is a bit pricey but I like that it has deep waterr. Thanks again.

Walleyedmike is right on the rubber band knot but I had trouble casting as they would not pass through the small eyes on the end of my rod. I use to use the ones that they sell at Walmart. They are a yellow peice of string on a short peice of plastic tubing. You run your line through the tubing to the desired depth and then slide the yellow line onn the tubing onto your mono. Tighten the knot on the yellow line and you are in business. My only problem with them is they are a little pricey for just a small peice of string. I wnet and bought some heavy gauge cloth string at a fabric shop. I cut a small piece about 6" long and wrap it around my line 5 times in a spiral. I take both ends and tie two square knots. I tighten each one real tight before tieing the next one. Tie them as tight as you can without crimping the line. Trim the loose ends to about 1/8" long so they don't catch on your rod eyes. Wet it and it should slide real easy. As far as the wire slip knots... I haven't seen those since I was a kid... and we won't say how long that has been!!!lol

Thanks for the report. It was a raw day for most of the day. Maybe next time you will have better weather AND luck!

That is a pretty good trip Patrick M. I didn't know they had a fishing dock thee. Was there a charge to use it? Is it heated? How deep is the water there? I would appreciate the information if you don't mind. Thanks for the report.

Tough day for the wife and I. Drove to 4 different locations but there were people already fishing there. Fished a cove about 2 miles from Ruark for about 2 hours without a bite. Finally went to the boat launch at CC. We were very suprised at how dingy and milky the water was. It took us over an hour to find any fish. The crappie were 20 ft. deep and right on the bottom. Bites were very light and the fish were very white. Water temp was 51. We wound up with 6 keepers. Bunches of boats and people. I hope you guys had better luck than us.

The crappie have been biting very well. For me they have been running along steep banks from 6 to 15' deep. The better banks have been near spawning areas. Goos luck on your trip. My wife and I will be out fishing Saturday. It is going to be a zoo out there. Everyone please be careful, there will be a lot of boats running and gunning. Please wear your life jackets. See you all on the water.

I usually do well on cats the first week or two after ice out, They come up shallow on the south facing banks to feed opf the dead shad, but that is usually Feb. My wife and I picked up a couple of nice ones earlier this year. When I hit it in March and early April I do better on live minnows for some reason. I usually don't start with the stinky baits until late April or may, depending on weather. I can usually pick-up a few cats this time of year on the deep side of the points on steep rocky drop-offs. By the way, you must catch a better class of cats than me. The things my cats say to me I couldn't put n this website. lol I really do enjoy your postings, you have a great sense of humor. Good luck on your trip.

I have fished a lot around CC but yet to catch a walleye this year or even talk to an angler with one. Ragincajun? You wouldn't happen to be from Lafayette LA would you?

My general rule of thumb this time of year is... The cooler and cloudier it is they are more likely to be along the drop offs in deeper water (say 10 to 16 ft) and the sunnier and warmer the more likely they are to spred out along the humps and shallower banks near deep water. Remember though, these are fish so about the time you think you have a pattern they up and fool you. lol Saturday probably would have been tough. That was a big temperature drop. Sunday was a little warmer and should have been at least decent. You should have went anyway. Fishing those questionable days can really teach you a lot. I hope all this helps. I am going to try and go again Thursday (if we don't get too much rain).

I just checked the MoDOT website and they don't show any pending action there. Maybe it is to early for them to list it on their site. I will keep an eye on the site and see what comes up later.

Now that is a great day of fishing!! That kind of trip will motivate you to get back out there soon!! Thanks for the report.

The morning bite was definitely better than in the afternoon. I caught most of my fish from 8 AM to 11 AM.

Thanks Huck.. They were all between 10 and 10 1/2". I thoought the same as you did. They must be last years fish that was just a little short. You got to get out there soon Huckfinn, maybe you can catch some walleye as well. I sure haven't been able to.