Skeeter ZX190

I got to fish several times in Montana primarily on Belt Creek east of Great Falls. I struggled the first couple of trips out, but finally figured something out after the weather changed. I had been throwing hoppers, ants and beetles and getting quite a few swirls, but few hookups. We made a side trip up to Eureka Montana to attend a wedding and I got a couple of hours on the Tobacco River. I caught 3 kokanee salmon. Back to Great Falls and on Labor Day the weather changed. It snowed in the higher elevations. After that I switched to a purple haze. It was game on after that. Nothing big, but lots of action. My biggest was a 17 inch brown. I caught browns, rainbows, cutthroats, and I think even a cutbow. On our way back to Missouri, we stopped for the night in Buffalo Wyoming. I fished Clear Creek there and the purple haze was the ticket there too.

Put in at Long Shoals about 9:00 am. Water temps were 57 to 58 to start the day and when we got off the water at 5:00 pm they were running 64 to 65 in the back ends of the big coves. Spent the day looking for crappie. Had one in the first hour, and only 4 in the first 4 hours. Around 2:00 pm it started changing. As the afternoon wore on the crappie fishing got better and better. We started catching them shallow. We hit one stretch of bank probably 25 feet long where we caught 15 to 20. I don't fish Truman a lot, but the size of the fish was really impressive. Nothing under 10 inches and most of them were 11 to 12 1/2. We caught our limit of 30. All were males. We also caught a ton of small bass in the 8 to 13 inch range.

Really pretty clear. 4 feet or better.

Me and a buddy hit the water around 8:30 am. Put in at Orleans Trail and started there. Water temps were 53 to 56 throughout the day. I would first like to say that I am extremely disappointed in President Trump and the CDC. The bass seem to have followed the social distancing guidelines. They obviously distanced themselves from me and each other. 😀 We only caught 6 fish, however 2 of them were really nice. 3 came on an elegy bone Megabass 110+1. One came on a slow rolled spinnerbait. Two came on the ned. All of them came from just outside of the bushes. I really don't have a clue where they are staging. In the bushes, outside of the bushes, out deep, etc. It was a tough day.

When do morels show up? Never looked for any and never ate any. Would like to change that.

The Corps forecast page for the Kansas City Region has Stockton at 874.48 today (Friday 3-20) and to be 878.02 tomorrow.

If the Corps of Engineers forecast is correct, the lake is to rise 3 1/2 between today and tomorrow.

So........ You took the bass with you to Table Rock!😀

I kind of wondered if you and Lifes2short had hidden the bass somewhere. 😀

They were probably in 8 to 10 feet of water.

My first time fishing Stockton since my stay in the hospital. It was a beautiful day to fish, but not to catch. I think the fish snubbed me since I haven't been down for a long time. Water temps were 47 to 50 degrees. I fished from Orleans Trail to Hawker. I only caught 8 fish total. Seven bass and one walleye. 3 of the bass were keepers. A 17 inch largemouth and two 15 1/2 smallmouth. The bass were caught on a Megabass 110 +1 in Elegy bone. The walleye (24 inch 5 1/2 pound beauty) was caught on the ned.

Yep. You'd better hoof it out of here! And that's no bull!

It's very close to Fort Leonard Wood. South of I-44 on J Highway 8 miles. Just upstream from where it intersects with the Big Piney.

Took a trip to Spring Creek to get out on this beautiful day. My first time to fish this creek. I went to the end of the MDC access road off of J Highway and worked upstream from there. I only caught 7 but one of them was definitely my PB for a wild trout. It bit a #16 beadheaded prince nymph. At least 18 inches long.

Is the campground open this time of year? If not, how close cn you get to it to park and walk in?

I would have thought it would be down in the mid to upper 30's with those frigid temps we had earlier in the week.

What was the water temp?

Lifes2short: You do know that your reports are torturing me!😀

Obviously your tremendous luck can be attributed to one, and only one thing. Your partners sweatshirt colors!😁

Same graph has Pomme going to 10 feet high!😳

Here's my source. http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/nwk/lakepool.txt

The Corps latest estimate has the lake at 872.41 on Tuesday. Normal is 867.00. I think it was a foot high before this storm. So that would be a 4 1/2 foot rise. Just looking at their daily numbers, it will probably keep rising.

Not my report, but a guy posted a video on Youtube from the Polar Bear Series on January 5, 2020. They flat whacked them on Megass Vision 110 +1 and the alabama rig. They had 5 keepers by 9:00 am on jerkbaits then upgraded with a-rig fish after the wind picked up. And they came in 4th.

Sure wish I could weigh in on this topic with some on the water advice & experience, but it's going to be a while before I get a chance to see the lake. We just got home from visiting our son who's stationed in San Diego. Most people go to San Diego to see sites like the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld, the beaches, etc. Not me! Early Christmas morning I sampled the San Diego ambulance service and the ER room & ICU amenities at Grossmont Hospital. Turns out I had a serious GI issue. They got me patched up and I'm on the mend but it will be at least a month before I could even venture to the lake because my pickup truck is still in San Diego!😀 My son will be driving it back to Missouri at the end of January. If I was able to get on the water I would just follow my usual "milk run" from the dam to State Park and hit spots with a jerkbait, ned, and alabama rig. Maybe a rock crawler too. I must be feeling better because I'm dreaming to go. My head says go, but the body says "not yet".😕