straw hat

Head south from Mutton Creek. Pass under the Y highway bridge and go south (do not turn right and go under the other bridge). After passing under the Y bridge go about 1 mile or slightly more and on the left you will see a section of bluff on the left with a big rock that the kids jump off of in the summer and go swimming. If things don't pan out in that cove then you might consider going about another mile and a half or so to the south and enter Birch Branch Cove. A lot of good pea gravel banks in that cove, good timber and laydowns for the bass to spawn under. The back of that cove can be real good this time of year. With the high bright blue skies tomorrow they may drop back off hte back into some of that heavier cover during the day. You might try jigs in some of that heavier stuff. Good luck.

With the warm early weather the crappie got ready early this year. When the first cool front hit water temps dropped rapidly in some areas and slower in others depending on depth, clarity, amount of sunlight, etc. Those crappie that were spawning at the time were at what is called critical hormone levels. This is a level of hormones where spawning may be delayed a couple days but will not be postponed any longer. Those fish will either spawn or their eggs will deteriorate within their bodies. Most of the other crappie were in an earlier stage of development. They simply drop back a little deeper and wait until the weather is better, water temps pick up and then they are back in business and finish getting ready for the spawn. To complicate things the water temp rebounded in some areas almost immediately and others which were more shaded or protected have stayed relatively cool. Crappie in those cool areas just simply wait longer longer to spawn. In the last week I have found temps of 53 to 65 degrees in some of my favorite spring coves. This makes finding crappie more like hunting than fishing. Like a lot of you have said you really have to work to find a successful pattern on a given day. The crappie I have caught in the last 10 days have been in all stages of spawning, which really makes it hard to predict what to do on the next trip. Some of the males are totally spent and their fins are worn down and some are just getting ready to rock and roll. Same with the females. Unluckily this kind of erratic spawn usually leads to low production, poorer survival of the young and less recruitment for next year. Don't get me wrong, there will still be some good spawning in some areas it just won't be up to par for Stockton.

As of 7:30 PM yesterday was still stained and not muddy. Visibility was 2' and everything looked good. I don't know what todays rain did though.

Oooopps! Forgot to mention.... water temp was 60 and fairly good claritry, about 2 feet. There is no sign that the rain has muddied the water in the area yet.

My crazy wife wanted to fish in the rain Fri night. Rain coats on, started fishing a steep chunk rock bank about 2 miles from CC. Caught a total of 12 keeper crappie in 4 hours but when the lightning started pounding the area we headed to the barn. Got back to the lake this morning around 10 AM just after the rain stopped. Fished the same chunk rock bank. Fishing was slow but steady. Finished up our limit of 30 crappie at 7 PM. Also caught one small and one keeper walleye (16")) and the wife lost a 4 lber right at the bank. Poor girl is still crying over it. lol As far as the crappie, well about 60% were females with the larger ones already spawned out. even about half of the males we got were done spawning. About 1/2 the crappie were over 11" with the biggest one a 13 1/2 inch fish, Early and late in the day the fish were 8 to 12' deep and fairly close to the shore. During the middle of the day they were 14' deep and in about 24 feet of water. The eyes were all caught 10 to 12' deep near the point. The wind kept a lot of boats off the lake but our bank was sheltered so all in all a quite day on the water.

Tried to find some crappie today. Hit several places and only picked up one crappie. Finally fished a small creek channel back in a cove. Caught 5 crappie, all laying flat on the bottom in 15' of water. The bite was verrryyy light. Finally around 2 PM I was about totally froze to the bone and headed home. Also caught 2 cats scraping the bottom. One channel and one flathead. Tough day.

Too Cool!!

By the way I now have an "Ozark Angkers" decal on the back window of my pick-up as well as on both sides of by boat SO if you see an ugly old man in a straw hat in a pontoon boat with a sticker it is probably me! Stop by and say hello, glad to meet you all.

Your right Dollar Bill!! It is not uncommon for my old Straw Hat to be seen along those banks. Great fishing for most everything!! My wifes best Stockton Largemouth came out of one of those coves you are talking about. A 5 lb-3oz sow. It was C & R as well!

Couldn't agree with you guys more. Anywhere from 3 to 14, females mostly unspawned but males ready.This chill blast has really unsettled them. They should be settling down soon (I hope!!)

Nice job Fishslayer88. Nice to see the flatheads are kicking in.

You got that right Wayne. I have never seen a female cat this full of well developed eggs anywhere near this time of year!! At a minimum 4 to 6 weeks ahead of schedule.

Your going to think I am nuts but I like to use fairly large (2 to 3") live minnows in hte spring. If I can't gt them then I use river worms.

Good report Dollar Bill. Thanks for the info. I wish my trip had been as good!!!

Your right Hyde. With the exceptionally clear water in some parts of Stockton this year I wouldn't be suprised if they spawned deep, especially if the lake starts dropping and/or this roller coaster weather continues.

Most of mine have come in the back of coves also. Picked up a 6.4 lber today. Full of eggs and about a week awayfrom spawning.

I think I got it!! Maybe? lol

Went to a cove near Ruark today. Had been catching a lot of crappie on the bank but with the cold weather that had really dropped back to deeper water. Finally caught 3 keepers (all females still with eggs). Also caught a nice 6.4 lb channel. It was full of rioe eggs and only about 1 week from spawning. With this coold weather it may slow down the spawning though. #$@&*^, I tried to attach a picture of that cat but I will be darned if I can figure out how to do it.

Good to hear from you again fishbait3!!

Congrats MurphDog!! Life is good!!

A little bit of rainy day could really prove out well for you. Should be good for the crappie and walleye. Those crappie should still be spawning while you are on vacation. You may have to fish further north on the lake but you should be able to find them. Good luck!!

We were casting four size 3 split shot over their boats and off the side of the boats with little response from them. These kind of things are pretty common now chj. If you get angry it doesn't bother them any. Speaking of surgeries.... I just found out that I will have to get my other rotator cuff repaired in a few weeks, as soon as this one heals some more. I guess I will still only have one good arm for a while. I hope you heal soon. We left a few fish for you in hte lake but you better hurry they are going fast! lol

Fished a shoreline near Ruark today. Hit the crappie spawning on one part of that bank. Everytime we started pulling fish ina baot wood see us, pull in between us and the brush. Sometimes we had to wait as long as 2 hours for a boat to leave. We cast over them a few times but they would just ignore us except for one boat who got angry and said it was a free lake. We did eventaully limit out though. Aggrevating, makes me want to take up needle point!! lol The wife and I left with 30 crappie and caught and released a 3 lb bass. Saw several walleye caught near us, most looked to be 10 to 12' deep.

Thats right Harp. That is why I mentioned that the maximum density of water is at 38. As the water drops below 38 it becomes less dense.

It sure is walleyedmike! The maximum density of water is at 38 degrees (as the water cools the colder water is on top (that is why ice floats). At those temps teh water mixes readiy and acts like the spring/fall circulation pattern,