Fished (Tried) Saturday Night

[Thunderin Gobbler]

Put in at Cedar Ridge Saturday night about 7:00. We went to our lucky spot and fished until a little after 8:00. That's when all hell broke loose on the "Stockton triangle". That storm front came over us and the wind picked up to well over 20mph. Like everyone else up there, we headed for the ramp. The water quickly went from calm to white caps to large swells. Right as we shut the motor down at the no wake markers, a bigger white bass boat came by us(with no lights on or anything) at full throttle and shot into the cove between the ramp and the fishing dock. They passed us within 20 feet and nearly hit another boat that was right in front of us. I just love jerks like that. Lucky for them the weather was so bad or they probably would have ended up with a nice little hole in there boat.

Did anyone get stuck in that storm? Now I know why my dad says he sank 2 little boats up there.

[sms_alum]

My dad and I got caught out in the first part of the storm. Fishing was awesome and we just wanted to stay out for a few minutes longer. The boat handled everything alright but when got back to Mutton Creek our tent and the rest of the campsites looked like they took the brunt of the wind. It seemed like there were gusts over 20 mph, but I could be wrong. I have never seen tent poles just snap like they did. After trailering the boat and packing up a campsite in the dark with heavey rain, it was a long ride back to St. Louis.

On a side note from 6:30 till about 8:15 we fished the edge of flats and we caught the widest variety of fish I think I have ever caught in freshwater, all on crankbaits. 5 largemouth (one was keeper size), 2 monster blue gill, 2 short walleye, 3 keeper size crappie, 1 channel cat, and probably a dozen whites.

[Zac Seale]

Stockton Lake can be very dangerous in storms. The lake is so flat on the bottom that there is nothing to break those big waves. I got caught last summer in my 14' V bottom and it was scary to say the least. We had to cross the main lake at Cedar Ridge with 25-30 mph winds and it was a pretty wild ride. If any storm is on its way near Stockton lake it is always a good idea to hit the road.

[Gilly]

Wind had to be greater than 20 (I would think) to mess up a campsite like that. It's good that all are safe. Also good to hear that the fishing is okay. We're headed to Stockton this weekend.

Had a buddy just get back from Canada, lots of Walleye eating. Hope Stockton produces something for him although he's like my wife....catches fish even when everyone else struggles.

[Thunderin Gobbler]

The bad thing about it was that I had been watching the weather channel earlier in the day and they said it wasn't supposed to move in until after midnight. I guess they were wrong again. We watched the clouds for a while, and it seemed like they were moving east, and all of a sudden, they turned and came back south on us. But the main this is everyone made it out of there ok. Talked to one guy when we launched that hit something in turkey creek and put a hole in his boat though. needless to say, we stayed away from there.

[Predator1]

My dad and I got caught out in the first part of the storm. Fishing was awesome and we just wanted to stay out for a few minutes longer. The boat handled everything alright but when got back to Mutton Creek our tent and the rest of the campsites looked like they took the brunt of the wind. It seemed like there were gusts over 20 mph, but I could be wrong. I have never seen tent poles just snap like they did. After trailering the boat and packing up a campsite in the dark with heavey rain, it was a long ride back to St. Louis.

On a side note from 6:30 till about 8:15 we fished the edge of flats and we caught the widest variety of fish I think I have ever caught in freshwater, all on crankbaits. 5 largemouth (one was keeper size), 2 monster blue gill, 2 short walleye, 3 keeper size crappie, 1 channel cat, and probably a dozen whites.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with the camp site. Mother Nature shows no mercy at times. Glad you made it off the lake safely. Some folks have been less fortunate at times in the past. Sure would be nice if we all had some place to take refuge at a OAF MEMBERS PLACE or something. Be nice if we had a OAF CAMPSITE on each lake in the Ozarks with covered and enclosed pavilions for this type of weather conditions. Glad to see you made it out OK. Better luck with the weather next time.

[trambia]

yea i put in at hawker about 7:30 pm and made to the first point we going to fish and it was awesome, caught 9 bass in like 10 minutes, then here it came. wow bairly made it back to the ramp and let me tell ya it was hard to load my boat. oh and the water was crashing over the dock at hawker point. needless to say i got soaked. i had never seen the waves crash over the dock like that it was a trip.