What Should Be In My Tackle Box?

[phiber_optikx]

Ok, novice fisher with no boat. Going to be bank fishing cedar ridge. Just wondering if I am missing any "must haves." I have more than I will list but the best that comes to mind are.... about 15 rooster tails (my go to lure) yamasenko worms pumpkin, rebel ultralight craw, few shad cranks, catfish accessories, rebel helgramite, few jiggs that I apparently don't know how to use correctly. Missing anything? Also, can you use fresh cut bluegill on stockton?

[straw hat]

Yes on the fresh cut bluegill. The cats right now should be 15 to 25 feet deep where the channels approach a good gravel point. Good luck.

[Shad Attack]

Don't forget the spinnerbaits and the plastic craws too. Also for later on in the year don't forget the buzzbaits, jitterbugs and poppers for the topwater bite. you might want to look into swimbaits as well both hard and soft varieties. i had a lot of luck with the baby king shads by strike king... hope this helps

[Walleyedmike]

For bank fishing, don't forget the slip bobbers. I started using wave buster slip bobbers a couple of years ago and I really like them. They won't support a lot of weight, but they cast like a bullet. Also if your bait is set too deep, and hits bottom, they lay on their side, so you will know if you need to adjust your bobber stop. http://www.cabelas.com/floats-stops-wave-buster-slip-bobbers-2.shtml

Suspending Smithwick Rogues might be another crank bait to consider. I prefer the clown colored one's.

Berkley Flicker Shad's have become my go to shad style crank bait. They're cheap and they produce. Purple Tiger is my favorite Stockton color. Chrome Clown and Blue Tiger have produced as well, however I generally troll the flicker's behind my boat. They are supposed to suspend, but they seem to rise a bit on the pause to me. Some stick on weight should fix that.

http://www.berkley-fishing.com/products/hard-bait/crankbaits/flicker-shad

Best of luck to you, hopefully I'll be down to Stockton for the first time this year next weekend.

WM