straw hat

Great info. While I don't ice fish I have always wondered what the state recommendations were. I know when I was working in the field as a young enginneer it always seemed easier to break white ice than clear ice. Was that my imagination? Thanks again.

Huck and Bubfisher; I agree that the cabin fever is getting bad. But Huck.... "miss her more than any girl"???? I can't say that. You do have my symapthy though. lol In order to fisght the "fishing fever" I spend a lot of time on: http://www.myoutdoortv.com/fishing MyoutdoorTV has several hundred fishing videos from most of the better shows. This is a good time to watch them and learn about ice fishing, new techniques or anything else you are curious about. Mossy Oak Online and The Outdoor Channel website also has a lot of good showes. PS - Suppose to be in the 50's soon!!

Most northern states recommend at least 6" of ice to go out on a lake. I have only seen this once or twice before. Although it sometimes gets this thick in real shallow water, the ice gets thinner as you go out over deep water. In-other-words, I have always been a coward when it comes to ice fishing!! lol

You might try a drop shot rig. That way if you get hung you usually only lose the split shot/sinker off the end of your line. I usually use a slip bobber to float the bait about 6" to a foot off the bottom, especially on rocky banks. That same rig works for crappie but I am usually fishing different cover and often suspend the bait further off the bottom (esp. summer)

Basically Chicken Rock is about 1 mile east of Ruark. Ruark State Park is where highway H crosses stockton. I would say that I have caught about 80% of my walleye (especially from Feb to May) on the bottom or suspended less than 2' off the bottom. I don't think I am a good enough expert on artificals to give you advice on them for walleye. Beagle man could probably help you more with that. You might want to read some of the old entries from binman, Bob and others. I usually fish with the same rig I use for crappie but use larger minnows. Don't give up on the High Point area either. There are plenty of walleye around there.

Beagle man hit it right on! Especially good fishing in feb. if we get a fairly warm rain. (Warm for feb. that is)

The wife and I bank fished for about 2 hours at CC. There was only a small opening in the ice just south of the launch. The rest was ice as far as the eye could see. Moved to Ruark Bluff and fished about 3 hours there. Fished as deep as 45'. Most of the coves around the bluff had some ice in the back of them. Water temp was 37 to 39F. Drove over the Maze Creek and Turkey Creek bridges and nothing but ice. In case you were wandering what we caught... Well lets just say both the wife and I fall 15 short of our limit on crappie. lol We did see a big flock of geese at high altitutes and flying north. Obviously they haven't heard the weather forcast!! HAHA Lets hope they know something the weatherman doesn't.

The link below is the latest map from the MDC. As far as I know they haven't gone that far east. Good luck. http://mdcgis.mdc.mo.gov/website/stocktonlake2/viewer.htm

Welcome to the lake Shad Attack. I think you will enjoy the fishing as well as this forum. I think a lot of the guys could probably write a small book in answering your question! lol I guess my suggestion would be to go to Walmarts and pickup a Hot Spot lake map of Stockton. I would then recommend that you go back about 2 years on this forum and start reading the entries. Most of the guys are good about what part of the lake they fish and what they are having success with. This should get you off to a good start. Any questions you may have as you read the forum just post them and we will be glad to help as much as we can. Good luck and keep your line wet!

You may be right Zaraspook. The layer was about 2" thick and had been packed with a roller. That sure would do the job.

It was a beautiful day on the lake. Perfectly calm and quiet. Never saw a boat all day. I bank fished a bluff near CC. The water temp was 38 when I got there and 40 when I left. Only had 5 bites and caught two small bass (about 10' deep). There were a lot of ducks flying this morning and I also saw about 40 turkey. When I drove past the CC launch on the way home I noticed that the state had covered the road and launch with gravel. I wonder why they covered up a perfectly good paved road with gravel? I quess there is no telling why the government does anything.

Cool card zaraspook. Merry Christmas to everyone from my wife and I. May next year be great for all of you.

That's pretty good minnowhooker. The wife and I were going to go yesterday but something came up. It was a tough pattern but you stuck with it and it paid off for you.

Glad to hear you are up and around Bob. Don't over do it though. Might want to consider having someone with you just in case. Best of luck with the crappie.

Hardly any boats at all. When we crossed the bridges in the morning there was only two boats at the Ruark launch. There was big white caps most of the day and the few boats we saw were sure being pounded by the waves. I also forgot to mention that the water temperature was 43, but I am sure that is dropping fast with this kind of weather.

The wife and I went bank fishing near twin bridges today. Fished from 8 AM to 3 PM. We caught about 20 fish and came home with 13 keeper crappie, including a 14" black crappie! I was suprised how good the bite was given the conditions. Very windy with dropping temperatures made for a very an uncomfortable day. Come on spring. We fished slip bobber rigs and caught most of the fish at 29' to 35' deep. We also caught one short walleye at 35'. We noticed that if the minnows weren't extremely lively we couldn't get a hit.

As usual, I think you are right on Dutch.

Good trip! WOW You are right. The water teperature has dropped a lot! I echo your concern about freezing over. Next week looks even colder then this week. There is even a chance of snow on Saturday. If the weatherman is right the water temperature will continue to drop rapidly.

Hope you get back on your feet soon Bob. Take care of yourself. Concussions can be bad for old foggies like us!! lol

Went bank fishing this morning on a bluff about two miles from the State marina. Fished 3 hours and only had one hit (52 F). I had put out 6 brush piles on that bluff last winter. Thought it looked like a good spot for winter fishing. The trip today wasn't very encouraging though. I then went and fished the afternoon near twin bridges. Caught about 12 crappie with 3 keepers. All were black crappie at around 25' deep.

Well, the wife and I finally managed to get in 5 hours of fishing with minnows near twin bridges. Caught a total of about 20 crappie. Most were 18 to 30' deep. Those 18 to 20' were suspended in 40 to 50' of water and were all white crappie. Those 25 to 30' deep were right on the bottom and were nearly all black crappie. Came home with 7 keepers. I can't tell you the water temperature because I forgot my thermometer. I also forgot my pliers and a knife to clean fiah. You can sure tell I was on top of my game!! lol

Dutch just beat me to it! The directions that follow are from the MapQuest website. It is my understanding that the Old Stockton State Park Marina was located in what is called Hartley Cove. Unluckily that area use to freeze up a lot in winter and also had limited space so the marina moved to its current location about a mile east on what is called the Little Sac arm of the lake. To get to where the old marina use to be go north out of Springfield on hwy 160. Take a right on hwy 123 on the far side of Willard (about 8 miles after leaving Springfield). Follow hwy 123 north for 17.8 miles until you reach hwy 215. Take a left on hwy 215. Follow hwy 215 9,8 miles miles. At that time hwy 215 takes a hard turn to the right. Continue on 215 until you enter the State Park, about 6 miles. Just as you enter the park area you will see a Corp of Engineer's sign on the left side of the road pointing left to the "Hartley Launch", this is where the marina use to be. Good luck fishing.

I am afraid the "taking care of mom" issue is rather permanent. Fishing may have to wait a long while. As far as the hunting season interfering with fishing... God forbid. I like to hunt but fishing comes first! Keep your line wet guys and your net handy.

Thanks for the info guys but it looks like my plans are cancelled. Ever since August when my brother cancer became severe my wife and I have been taking care of my 92 year old mom. I thought my wife and I were going to get a break this weekend but it didn't work out. You guys are just going to have to catch those big Stockton fish for us!!! lol

I may get a chance to go fishing on Saturday. Can anyone tell me what the water temperature is around Ruark Bluff? Any help would be appreciated.