Skeeter ZX190

Took a 12 year old boy out for a day on the lake. It was his first time to fish from a boat. Got on the water around 11:00 am and got off about 6:00 pm. Water temps were 67 to 68 degrees. Stayed between Orleans Trail and State Park Marina. Caught a total of 58 fish. The 12 year old caught 14 of them. We only threw the ned rig. I caught 4 keeper bass but the biggest was only 16 1/2. We caught a little bit of everything. Largemouth, smallmouth, kentucky, walleye, drum, carp, and catfish. 2 of the walleye were keepers (17 inch). All in all, just a fun day on the water. Took a break and went to State Park Marina for a burger and coke. They really make a good one. Saw a bald eagle on a nest back in a cove where the Little Sac parts with Big Sac over by Price Branch. Saw it return to the nest with a fish in its talons.

First things first. I'm a nedaholic and not ashamed. Put in at Orleans Trail about 30 minutes before sunrise and got off the water at 1:30 pm. Started throwing a Whopper Plopper and a spinnerbait . Caught 2 on the WP and 2 on the spinnerbait. After the sun got up we made a move and switched to the ned. Used PBJ and green pumpkin. We caught 63 total fish for the day with 11 keeper bass, 2 keeper walleye (one 18 inches and one 17) and an 11 inch crappie. Also caught 4 drum. Everything else was largemouth, smallmouth and 1 kentucky. The biggest keeper bass was an 18 inch lmb. We also had a 17 1/2 lmb, a 17 inch lmb, a 17 inch smallmouth, and 16 1/2 lmb. Best 5 would have been in the 13 to 14 pound range. Gravel pockets in 4 to 10 feet of water seemed to be the best. Water temps were 67 to 69. Pretty good clarity but still not the norm for Stockton. As the day progressed the wind really picked up, but we managed to find places that were fishable. All-in-all, a really fun day. Only have 1 picture to share and it is the 17 inch smallmouth. Not sure what happened to my phone but the battery went dead.

I crop the photo and that seems to do the trick.

I've caught 3 keeper walleye so far this year on the ned rig. Last one was 18 inches.

I think it has something to do with the size of the picture. I crop them before I post them and that seems to have them post upright. I use the edit feature on my phone and crop them and then save that image.

Put in at Orleans Trail at 12:30 p.m. and got off at 6:30 p.m. Water temps were right around 65 everywhere we went. The water sure has cleared up since the last time I was on Stockton which was the end of March or 1st or April. At least 4 foot of clarity. Fished from Orleans Trail to just south of the 215 bridge. Fished primarily with a ned rig in green pumpkin and green pumpkin red. Caught a 13 1/2 smallmouth right off the bat. Also caught a 13 inch crappie on the ned, and later on a 10 1/2 inch crappie. My son caught a 15 to 20 lb carp on the ned. Sure put up a fight. We caught just over 50 fish. Targeted spawning type coves in 2 to 10 feet of water. 6 were keeper bass but nothing over 16 inches. Caught largemouth, smallmouth, and kentuckys. I know an earlier post was talking about horrible slimy moss. We didn't encounter anything like that in the areas we fished.

Fished on Saturday around Long Shoals. We brought home 20 crappie, everyone a male. They weren't very black. They were very scattered. Water temps were 63.5 to start the day around 7:30 am, and 67.5 when we got off the water at 3. Everything came on a 1/16th ounce white grub. Total fish caught for the day was between 50 and 60 with all of the short crappie, white bass, bluegill, and even 1 channel cat.

Put in at Brown Bend at 7:30. Got off the water at 2:00. Went back in one of the larger creek arms. Water temps were 59 to 60. Ended up with 19 crappie all over 10 inches, and a bonus walleye. We concentrated on the shallow bite. We saw lots of spider rig boats but it didn't seem like they were tearing them up on the deeper bite. We caught most of the fish on a 1/16 ounce white grub. Almost half of them were females and the eggs were still very firm. The males hadn't really turned that black yet. There was only one spot where we caught several fish. Most were spread out.

The logo on the flyer looks almost identical to the original Fish Tales Family Fishing circuit logo back in the early 2000's.

The old saying is "wind from the east, fishing is least". However, that saying is trumped by another saying " a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work". Generally I have found that an east wind does normally negatively affect the fishing. But it would never keep me from going. I have also had some really good days when there was an easterly wind.

There was a Fish Tales Family Fishing circuit back in the late 90's or early 2000's. Anyone know if this is an off-shoot of that. I see J.P. Sell is one of the contacts and if I remember right, he fished the circuit back then. I fished it with my 2 sons and it was a great environment.

I was in the Orleans Trail area on Friday. Water temps to start the day were around 48. By the end of the day they were running 52. 3 to 3 1/2 foot clarity.

That's why I stay in the boat!

No. The main reason for the PB&J is that I only have 3 colors of the Elaztech plastics. PB&J, green pumpkin, and green pumpkin red. I have joked for years that on Stockton color doesn't matter as long as its green pumpkin. While PB&J is not green pumpkin, half of it is pretty close. To me, the water clarity where I was fishing didn't warrant a change from the colors I would normally use.

Put in at Orleans Trail around 8:15 am in thick fog. Caught a 15 1/2 keeper right off the bat on a phantom green rock crawler. Caught it on a fairly steep chunk rock bank. Continued to work my way around the back end. Caught 2 more keepers on the rock crawler and 1 keeper on a ned rig in peanut & jelly. Left Orleans Trail and worked our way toward State Park. Finished the day with 17 bass and 1 keeper walleye. The walleye came on the ned rig. Water temps were 48.5 to 52 degrees. Secondary rocky points seemed to produce the best. Water is SLOWLY clearing. Probably 3 feet of clarity, maybe 3 1/2. Most of the bass came in 4 to 7 feet of water but a couple of them came in much shallower and a couple much deeper (10 to 15). Not much boat traffic between Orleans Trail and State Park.

Dprice: Was your report from Saturday or Sunday?

Put in at Orleans Trail and started there. Water temps were in the 51.5 degree range about everywhere I went. Water might be clearing a little bit from what it was last Saturday. Started with a jerkbait but nothing. Switched to a rock crawler in phantom green. Caught 2 shorts on back to back casts at a transition bank from chunk rock to pea gravel. Came to that same spot later in the day and caught 3 more on a ned rig. Ended up with 10 bass and one nice walleye. The walleye came on a ned too. Gave the walleye to a father & son that were fishing way back in Orleans Trail. They were catching some white bass. None of the largemouth bass that I caught were keepers. Driving to the lake I noticed most cows were laying down. Somebody had told me once that cows laying down is a bad sign when it comes to fishing.

I know this is a fishing forum, but I think you could get a good deal on a sail boat at Orleans Trail. This isn't trick photography. That's just the reflection of the mast.

Yours or the fishes?

Put in at Orleans Trail at 7:00 am. Fished in the back end and caught 7 lmb. Moved toward Price and caught 3 more. 5 were keepers. Got off the water at 2:30. Water temps were 46 to 49. 2 to 3 foot clarity. Caught 4 of them on a rock crawler in phantom green and 1 on a red craw. The other 5 came on a Megabass 110 +1 in elegy bone. Secondary points way back is the only place I found them. Tried a jig & craw and a neko rig, but no luck. Beautiful weather. The wind would come and go, but never that hard.

Dang that's a nice sack. So there are still some bass in Stockton. I was beginning to wonder after my last couple of trips.

Went out today, Saturday. Fished from Orleans Trail to State Park. Water temps were 44 to 47 degrees. Maybe 2 foot of clarity. Only caught 2. Both largemouth. One was 16 1/2 and the other 14 1/2. Both came on a Eakins black & blue jig with a Zoom craw. 10 to 15 feet of water. Both were very white. Not much color to them. Even though the surface has 2 feet of clarity, I wonder what it's like down 10 feet or more. I have no idea where the fish are. We fished stickbaits, rock crawlers, warts, & grubs. We fished mainlake,back toward the back of the bigger creek arms, and in between.

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you did pretty good considering that the lake is 10 feet high and has been thru quite a bit over the last month.

Anybody no what the water temps are running from the dam to State Park area?

I have fished Stockton in the wintertime for many years. I have caught bass on jerkbaits, jigs, warts, spoons, etc., but I never catch any smallmouth. I primarily fish from the dam to State Park, so I know there are smallmouth in that part of the lake. What am I doing wrong, or am I just targeting the wrong kind of structure? Do the smallmouth go really deep in the wintertime, or do they stay on the same shallow rocks that you catch them on in the springtime? Any advice would be appreciated.