Advice For First Timer On Stockton

[libertyfisher]

Debating where to fish next Thursday thru Sunday. Main objective is crappie - but will try for white bass or blue cat if the crappie aren't keeping us busy. Contenders are Truman (where we have been many times; Eufuala in Oklahoma (where we have been once and had a good trip) and Stockton (which we have never been on but always wanted to try).

If we pick Stockton since we have not been on it before we'll need all the advice we can get - both on where to fish and where to camp. Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Stockton Lake Guide Service]

This time of year I like going up the creeks and fishing, as long as the weather has been fairly stable. Good camping at ruark bluff and cedar ridge, which puts you on different parts of the lake. If you are wanting to crappie fish, the water has warmed lots up the creeks and the crappie are feeding and staging for the spawn. Your best bets are to fish points and channel drops in 12-15 ft of water. i personally like to use a 1/16 oz pony head with a 2" grub in the spring or just throw a road runner. If the crappie get pushed back due to the weather, then concentrate on the deeper pockets in the same area.

I have heard of lots of whites being caught up the creeks, and I have been catching some while crappie fishing. It's a great time to be catching them in some shallow water, but that won't last much longer with the warmer weather finally arriving.

The blue cats will bite because that is what they do. They just lay there and get hungry and then go eat something. What they eat and where they eat is an awesome question that maybe someday I will venture out and try to figure out. But the walleye and crappie taste so good, and the bass are so much fun to catch, that I just never take the time to fish for catfish in the early spring. Sorry, but I just cant help you with the cats this time of year.

Hope this helps you some and have fun if you come down. It can be a windy lake so be safe!!

[straw hat]

Bob is dead on with the crappie. I fish blues a lot. Stockton has a very good population of 3 to 10 lb blues. Right now the big shad are spawning so look for the blues about 1/2 way down the steep rocky banks or rock rip rap, especially in the early morning hours. Fresh cut bait is a must. Fish the steep channel drop offs not too far from where a main creek comes in. There is very very little pressure on this lake for cats. Where ever you wind up going I hope you have a great trip.

[libertyfisher]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Very helpful...I just wanted to be sure that throwing a shad net was legal here when trying to get fresh cut bait? If we try Stockton, we will be arriving to camp on a Thursday. Do you think reservations are needed this time of year?

[straw hat]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Very helpful...I just wanted to be sure that throwing a shad net was legal here when trying to get fresh cut bait? If we try Stockton, we will be arriving to camp on a Thursday. Do you think reservations are needed this time of year?

Yes, using a cast net is legal. I am not sure if you need camping reservations or not but I do agree that Roark Bluff is a good site.

[Vette]

All good advice, except that the campgrounds don't open until the 16th. Mutton creek is open this time of year...........

[Cabezon]

I didn't think we had bluecat in Stockton lake, so I e-mailed Dale Cornelius, the Fisheries Management Biologist for Cedar, Dade, and Polk counties and this was his response.

As far as I know there has never been a bluecat caught from Stockton Lake. But, I wouldn’t go as far as to say there are none. Bluecats were historically present in the Osage River watershed before the tributaries were impounded so it is a mystery to me (and others) why they have not shown up in Stockton or Pomme de Terre Lakes. I have be told by fairly reliable sources that bluecats have been caught in Pomme, but those were never verified by a biologist. Often anglers will mis-identify a large male channel catfish as being a bluecat because of their similar coloration.

Thanks for your interest!

[Zac Seale]

My friends and i have caught blue's in Stockton before. I have never caught many but have caught some. I would say 90% of all catfish i catch at Stockton are within 1/4 of a mile from high point ramp. I've seen a bunch of people pull out 20-30 channels from that fishing dock there as well. Chicken livers and shad sides are what i have my best luck with. Hope this helps.

[straw hat]

Cabezon; I must tip my hat to you. I did fishery work for nearly 30 years and much of it centered around taxonomy (species determination). While I have caught a number of cats out of Stockton that I thought were blues I may have been wrong. I never did count the anal fin spines to be sure. The channel has 24 to 29 and the Blue has 30 to 35. You can bet that next time I will check. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources publishes a book called "The Fishes of Missouri". This book is a cummalative work of fish sampling and identification dating back to 1945. I worked on one of the revisions back in hte mid-70's and can assure you they are very thorough in there work. The latest version does NOT show any blue cats in Stockton. This leads me to think that you are correct.