Stockton Tough

[Ealy]

I went up to Stockton yesterday expecting tough conditions. 11ft high, cold (48 degree) water.

On the way to the lake I hit a large deer with my truck, but with no damage done, kept on going. I kept thinking with my luck I'd hit another before I got there. I almost hit 3 more at once near Stockton State park, but managed to slow down in time. I pulled into New State park only to find a closed boat ramp and parking lot. Turned around and pulled over to Old State Park. Backed the boat in to test the waters. The ramp was way to flat for this high of water. With another person it could of been done, but the boat wasn't even floating yet and my tailpipe was underwater. Pulled out and headed to Mutton Creek's steep ramp. I was able to dump the boat here, but had to slide across the roof of my truck to get back in without getting wet.

Fished within 4 miles of Mutton Creek all day. found water temps from 48 to 50, but it didn't seem to matter. I think most of the bass on stockton have been pumped up by the Fellow's Lake Pipeline. The waters past the bridge at the Son's/Big Sac confluence were very muddy so most of my fishing was done elsewhere. Tried flipping the bushes for a couple of hours with jig and tube. Mostly fished jerkbait on the steeper channel banks in creeks. There aren't as many bushes to hang the jerbait in on the steeper banks. I had two very light bites (I think) casting a jig in an area with two small creek channels coming together with 50 degree surface temp. I milked that area with a football jig and even a carolina rig for a long time with no more bites.

Also tried a spinnerbait and wiggle wart some with no success.

This time last year was much better. The water was only 5-6 feet high then, and we were catching spinnerbait fish out of the bushes.

Has anyone had any luck?