May 24, 2008 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

[Thompson Fishing Guide Service]

May 24, 2008 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

Lake level 879.43

Water temperature 68-70 lower end of the lake

Crappie fishing has picked up in the last 3 days due to the stable weather that we have had. Crappie are being caught in 10-15 feet of water; the main reason for this is that when the lake goes down, crappie (along with all of the other fish in the lake) will move slightly into deeper water. Fish are being caught around High Point, Cedar Ridge, Crabtree Cove, and Orleans Trail cove and in the Son and Sac creeks. Medium minnows on jigs seem to be the most consistent; however, small (1-2 inches) crank baits are also catching some nice fish. Crank baits can be either slow trolled or fan cast to the bank. Experiment with color, it really doesn’t seem to matter. Some days will be better than others, but it’s a lot better than it has been.

Note to snake enthusiasts: while crappie fishing last week in a cove, I was viciously attacked, almost assaulted, and really scared (even though I am a tough fishing guide) when a 3 foot water moccasin risked its very life to climb in my boat. When the snake got close, I started beating it with my fishing rod, to no avail. The snake flattened out its head and proceeded to strike the air violently as he launched himself closer to my boat. It wasn’t until my client in the back of the boat hit the vile viper on top of its head with his rod tip that the snake retreated back into the jungle canopy. Just so you know. This snake was no doubt in attack mode. I was a hunting guide in Colorado for 15 years, and I have never witnessed an animal that went way out of its way to inflict damage and mayhem on a human. Be alert.

Walleye are being caught in the same areas that I mentioned above for crappie. To say “I am going to go walleye fishing” is kind of a misnomer this time of the year because the walleye are intermingled with the crappie and the best technique for them is the one mentioned for crappie. It’s a hit or miss proposition, but on a good day, you should catch a few walleye mixed in with your crappie.

Largemouth bass fishing has picked up considerably…I haven’t had as much time to go bass fishing as I would like because I have been busy with guide trips, but I did have an enjoyable trip Friday. And speaking of enjoyable trip, your water skiers and the big boats are back, so be careful of the large wakes they produce, especially in the large coves that they decide they need to ski in. This was a problem last year because of the dangerous water these wakes produce, and the lack of attention to water safety rules. These boats have been congregating in various coves like Hawker, Old State Park and Googer. About ¾ of the way back into Googer, is a large pile of submerged logs which ought to be about 3 feet below the surface now. I am amazed that one of these boats hasn’t collided with it yet. We caught a lot of small bass (which is a result of last year’s excellent nursery year) on small plastic worms fished above the submerged bush tops along the shore. That was fun for a little while, and then we decided to go after bigger fish, so we went deeper with larger worms (9-12 inches) and caught two real good bass. I lost a large bass by the boat that would have gone about 6 pounds. I did have a good day. The spawn is on in some places and not on in other places. I don’t pay that much attention to spawning bass because I don’t like to disrupt their reproduction cycles, so I concentrate most of my bass fishing in 10-20 feet of water where there will always be bigger bass no matter what the spawn is.

Word of caution: be careful going under the bridges, especially the H street bridge; our future leaders of America (teenagers) are diving off of the bridge right next to the sign that says “Don’t Dive off the Bridge.” They are jumping right into the main lane of boat traffic. Also, for extra fun, they do not wear life jackets, so their bobbing heads are very hard to see. For extra extra fun, it seems like the road crew took the loose pieces of concrete (10-20 pounds or so) and laid them on the very edge of the bridge. It is only a matter of time before the continuous vibration of vehicles will cause these blocks to fall on your head or in the middle of your bass boat.

Back to the bass, top water bite has been slow and so has the crank bait bite, however that does not mean that they won’t bite top water or crank baits. My partner used crank baits and spinner baits for about 3 hours and never got bit. He then put on a plastic worm and applied the special Thompson worm technique and caught 8 of our 13 fish.

Channel cat fishing has picked up a lot also. These fish are located in the backs of coves; slow drift a gob of worms and you ought to have some cat fish for dinner. A couple of my clients have caught nice channel cats (up to 8 pounds) while crappie fishing with a jig and minnow.

Marty Thompson

Thompson Fishing Guide Service

www.fishstockton.com

417-424-BASS

[Trav]

If you start packing "heat" to protect yourself from the snakes, be careful not to shoot holes in the boat. I did that to a pesky Moccasin at Toledo Bend that fell in the boat from an adjacent limb. Dead snake but short fishing trip. Haha Wished I had one of those Kevlar Boats Earl Bentz fished out of!

[mrcrappie]

If you start packing "heat" to protect yourself from the snakes, be careful not to shoot holes in the boat. I did that to a pesky Moccasin at Toledo Bend that fell in the boat from an adjacent limb. Dead snake but short fishing trip. Haha Wished I had one of those Kevlar Boats Earl Bentz fished out of!

What are the regulations on shooting an aggressive snake from a boat? I carry a .22 handgun loaded with snake/bird shot but don't want any fines. I will for sure pay a fine before the snake gives me a heart attack or gets in my boat with out an invitation!

[rps]

In the words of Indiana Jones, "I hate snakes."

I had nightmares at the time, but wish I had film of it now. Some years ago - 1974 - I was belly boat fishing a stock pond near Norman, OK. A snake invited himself into the tube by falling out of the willows above me. I can't describe all the action of the next two or three seconds, but I wound up out of the tube and ten feet away. Then I had to convince the snake to let me have my tube back.

I hate snakes.

[mrcrappie]

I guess that is why I never belly boated! I don't even know how to swim and am deathly scared of snakes of all sizes, shapes, colors and species, just don't like em, never have never will and don't have any intentions of changing my mind either!!! Thats my story and I'm stickin to it baby!

[mrcrappie]

I went to Stockton Early yesterday Morning and caught a catfish on a jig and secont cast caught a nice male crappie close to the bank, the storm kinda screwed things up for me and I didn't have all day to fish, I think if the storm hadn't moved in it would have been a real good day for me, That rain was awfully cold on my back yesterday, Gonna go back today for a little while and see if I can beat the storms that are forcasted for this afternoon!

[fisher19]

Was up there for most of the weekend. Caught several nice crappie. But only caught them early in the morning and in the evening until dark. Only caught a few after dark and couldnt figure out why that was. It seemed that once it got dark they just turned off no matter what i threw at them or how deep or shallow i went.

[bigfish]

went down sat and fished sons creek area had 12 keeper crappie about 11 13 inches none had eggs but i caught them in 15-25 ft slow drifting and tieing up to trees fish were biting pretty steady in the heat of the day went back out that night and had 7 not so fast of a bite mine were on pink and white jig my partners were on minnows. Went down to high point area for about 4 hours this morning and had 2 big white bass 6 crappie that was big enough to keep and a bunch too short also picked up 2 decent walleye both real close to 17 in full of baby shad. We were trolling floating rapalas on light tackle in 10-12ft of water around points and structure both partner caught a 3lb. smallie and a small largemouth.Going down to ruark bluff tomorow and going to do some running for walleye's so see what happens good luck and best of fishing to all