Stockton Lake/sac River Walleye

[dennis boatman]

Drove accross Sac River below Stockton today and had a thought. I have seen many people catch walleye below the dam, so anyone fish the river below? Also, with all the water being let out, does anyone fish the currents in the lake for Walleye near the dam?

[straw hat]

I have fished many times in the river below the dam down near the J bridge. It use to be an excellant catfish area. Although I did fish for walleye I only caught a few small ones. About 8 or nine miles down stream is a place called Caplinger Mill. It is an old mill site that was vacated many years ago. This location is very good for walleye, crappie and cats whenever they are running water out of Stockton. Fish just below the old dam from the reconstructed bridge over the river. This is a very popular place and fisherman are often lined up shoulder to shoulder. The walleye and crappie that come up into that area are from Truman and run up the river to this small dam when the water is high. There are also some walleye that come up in there during the fall as well.

After 9/11 they closed off the east point next to the dam to bank fisherman. Before that the wife and I fished that area a lot for smallmouth and walleyes when they were drawing water out of the lake. There was a LOT of smallmouth on that point and a person could often catch 40 or 50 off of that point (maybe one out of 10 would be a keeper). We have also caught a fair number of walleye off of the flat next to that point. A few went from 2 to 3 pounds. There is also an old coufer dam just south of the dam and it comes up to about 30' of the surface. I haven't fished it in many a year but it use to be a very good place to drift for nice walleye in the summer. Bob could probably tell you a lot more than I can about that area.

[hogbob]

Straw hat, are they letting water out now? I've been watching the SPA Generation schedule and it has been showing stockton at 0. So are they just letting water out and not generating elec. I have noticed the water level is going down. If theres good current, there might be some good catfishing below the dam. Also, can you put a boat in anywhere near Caplinger.

[straw hat]

Hogbob, they began running water on the 10th and they are really letting it rip. If they do it like last week they will stop running it some time late today. Just in case I have attached a link to the Caplinger water level web site so you can keep an eye on it. I also have found the generation schedule to not always be on the mark.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/uv/?site_no=06919900&

[hogbob]

Thanks Straw Hat, but what about getting a boat in at caplinger? I havenever been there. My grandpa used to go there alot, and I've heard some good stories about it. I've got a 14 ft jon boat I could use to distance myself from the crowds or maybe there's not room for a boat.

[straw hat]

You can launch a 14' jon boat there with no problem but I wouldn't recommend it. If they are running water the level rises to 8' above normal flow and the water becomes very dangerous. Most of the banks are steep and the water flow is very turbulent. I have seem a few boats come up from down stream and they have trouble handling the strong current. I suggest you look it over carefully before you make a decision.

[liphunter]

I was looking at a video yesterday. It was fishing right below the Truman dam. Can the same be done at Stockton dam?

[MrGiggles]

On 8/11/2010 at 5:18 PM, straw hat said:

There is also an old coufer dam just south of the dam and it comes up to about 30' of the surface. I haven't fished it in many a year but it use to be a very good place to drift for nice walleye in the summer. Bob could probably tell you a lot more than I can about that area.

I have heard about this but have not seen anything about it on Navionics. 

Do you have the approximate location of it?

[straw hat]

I can get an estimate. Be back soon with the info.

[straw hat]

According to my notes the coffer dam is about 600 ft in front of the mouth of the chute that feeds the dam. So to clarify... There is a straight chute from the main lake to the dam. If you draw a straight line across the mouth of the chute the coffer dam is parallel to that line and about 600 ft out. My notes indicate that the top of the coffer dam was about 30' deep at normal lake level. Some friend use to catch walleye off the top of that dam during summer and winter both. I hope this helps,