June 11, 2008 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

[Thompson Fishing Guide Service]

June 11, 2008 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

Lake level 879.54

Water temp 75 degrees

Walleye fishing is still slow, but a few fish are being caught in the mouths of coves off the main lake such as Price Branch, Orleans Trail, and Greaser Creek. The crawler harnesses, along with a jig and medium minnow combination slow trolled or drifted in these areas will produce fish if you spend enough time at it. To say find the bait, find the fish doesn’t apply on Stockton Lake because of the mass amount of bait that you find just about everywhere you go. I think the abundance of bait attributes to the slow bite, thus the slow presentation. Why drive to town to get pizza when you can have it delivered to your doorstep any time you want?

Guide’s tip: fish use their mouths in the way that you use your hands. In other words, hunger is not always the main motive. A fish investigates various items by putting them in their mouths. Fish can use their mouths as defensive or offensive mechanisms. Fish use their mouths to move objects from one place to the other. Fish do this because of course they do not have hands. So when you understand the many ways a fish uses his mouth, it will help you adjust your presentation. A few walleye have been caught on crank baits fished close to the shore, particularly at low light levels such as early and late or at night with a full moon. You need to experiment with the type of lure/bait that you are going to use. Light conditions and water clarity and wind direction should be taken into consideration at all times.

Crappie fishing has been pretty good lately. We have caught fish in shallow water (5-7 feet) and suspended over deep water (35 feet). The majority of your crappie caught around wood and brush will be black crappie, and the majority of white crappie are being caught suspended in deeper water where rocky structure is present. Jig and medium sized minnow still works, as well as a Lindy rig with an Aberdeen hook drifted behind the boat with a medium minnow. You need to cover a lot of water to catch a lot of fish. They haven’t really bunched up yet. Turkey Creek arm, Maze Creek, the area around the 215 bridge and Mutton Creek are some good places to fish to mention a few. Night fishing seems to produce better quality catch in size and numbers by using a crappie light.

Largemouth bass: in my last report I said that spinner bait fishing has been hit or miss. Well, for me on my last two trips, it has been a definite hit. I landed two bass on two consecutive casts, one weighing 6 pounds and one weighing 4 pounds. Both were stuffed with eggs. I took a photo and immediately turned them loose. They will appear in my web site in the near future. Crank bait fishing has been fair, and top water fishing has been slow. With so much extra water, and so much extra cover, you need to cover a lot of territory. Target brush that stands out from the rest of the cover, like willows or cedar trees as opposed to the buck brush that you see everywhere. These fish will be deep in the forests on sunshiny days and will move out to the edge of the brush as the sun sets.

White bass fishing has been iffy, but a few are being caught either when they bust the top (which lasts all of about 20 seconds) or deep trolled around 30-35 feet of water. This means you’ll have to add weight to your lure to get it down that far. It is easier to put weight on the bait than use the mega deep diving plugs that feel like a bull dog is pulling on the other end of your line, and besides they don’t get deep enough anyway. I use a clip on weight system; clip it about 24 inches above the lure, and slow troll. You can use any kind of crank bait you want to accomplish this.

Catfish: channel cat fishing has still been good, and I expect that to continue. My clients have caught several 5-7 pound catfish while crappie fishing a jig and minnow in the backs of coves. Night crawlers work well, along with the secret guide bait which is wienies rolled in strawberry flavored jello. This concoction may be banned from tournaments. Take your wienie, remember to leave off the bread and relish, chop it in 1 inch sections, roll it in powdered strawberry jello, put it in a plastic bag and let it set; the catfish love it. This is an old guide school recipe that is just now beginning to leak out to you amateurs.

Fishing overall on Stockton Lake has picked up considerably and will continue to do so as we go into the summer. I predict that the rest of the season will be better than normal.

Marty Thompson

Thompson Fishing Guide Service

www.fishstockton.com

417-424-BASS

[shipper]

What is the water clarity like on Stockton? I was interested to see if the rains had much to do with the crappie bite. Possibly going to try some under the lights on Fri. eve. Thanks for the input.