April 22, 2009 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

[Thompson Fishing Guide Service]

April 21, 2009 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

Lake level 869.87

Normal pool 867

Water temp 57 degrees

Walleye: Overall walleye have been fairly slow, but with the warm weather we are expecting over the next week, walleye should go into their post spawn feeding frenzy. I say “post spawn,” referring to the majority of fish on Stockton Lake, but that’s not to say you cannot catch some pre-spawn females. One thing to keep in mind no matter what you fish for is that the fish are about a month behind schedule. Water temp in the southern end of the lake today was up to 57 degrees. When these walleye kick off, they’ll move from deeper water (25-30 feet) up to 15 feet and above. Gradual sloping rocky shorelines with brush will be your best areas to target because when the shad spawn, the walleye will be their ready to take advantage of the situation. Curly tailed jigs in a variety of colors slow drifted in these areas should catch fish. Adding a minnow or gob of night crawler won’t hurt. You can also try Rattle Traps slow trolled or fan casted towards the shore.

Crappie: As a result of the warming weather, in most parts of the lake crappie are beginning to stage to spawn. The majority of the fish are still deep (we caught good crappie today down to 30 feet), but they should be moving up within days at the most. Target pea gravel shorelines with brush adjacent to secondary points, or main lake points. Slow drift or cast to the shore crappie jigs (anywhere from 1/8 oz to ¼ oz) and slowly retrieve back to the boat. These fish should move into the 15 foot on up range any day.

Largemouth Bass: Big females ought to be moving into shallower water (approximately 10 feet) very soon. On Friday I caught a 7 lb bass worm fishing in over 20 feet of water; this was mid afternoon. Later that day, around 7 pm, I caught a 5 lb female bass on a spinner bait. So you can tell from this that bass are staging to spawn. These two fish were gorged with eggs so I let them go immediately and I hope you do the same. The crank bait and spinner bait bite are picking up, and bass fishing should be excellent in the near future.

Boat ramp antics: I experienced an odd situation the other day as I was waiting to launch my boat, behind an individual who had a tremendous amount of time on his hands. As my clients and I patiently waited our turn, another vehicle towing a boat backed the boat down the ramp. Both individuals in the tow vehicle launched the boat, and left their truck and trailer in the water at the boat ramp never to be seen again. As I watched them roar off across the cove, fading into the waters of Stockton Lake, I considered the tremendous amount of faith these folks had in mankind. I’m probably not the only one who thought what a terrible thing it would be if someone slipped that gear in neutral and let the truck and trailer slowly slide into the water and sink.

It may just be me, but I found that odd. I didn’t know you could park that way. Maybe he had a special permit.

Marty Thompson

Thompson Fishing Guide Service

www.fishstockton.com

417-424-BASS

Often imitated, never duplicated. Fish the Finest!

[Dutch]

I am afraid that if he did that to me, he'd need a special pump to air up 4 flat tires when he got back.

[rangerman]

I didn't know they made bilge pumps for the cabs of pick up trucks. I guess they don't, but they would have to in this case.

[David M]

Some people just don't have any commonsense anymore.