Full Thunder Moon

[Kevin Wagner]

I was lucky enough to go Fishing both Friday and Saturday, and it was a different story each night. Friday we put out of Mutton around 7:30 PM and headed up to Point 5. Saw fish all over the graph, but couldn't coax any into biting there. Plenty of boats out as I think everyone loves being at the lake on a full moon! Next we went to a deep brush pile and I caught an nice 3 lber on a 3/4 oz green pumpking jig and trailer right before dark. Had another good one on there but he spit my jig back at me at Mach 10! We then proceeded to fish a main lake point as the Moon was rising. The fish were very actively feeding and we got a ton of bites. Caught most of our fish on 12" or bigger worms. Also caught some on craw baits. We caught around 35 - 40 bass with only 3 keepers. Got off the water at 4:30 AM.

Saturday was a completely different tale. We started around 5:30 PM, and only caught one keeper and a short on a steep bluff before dark. There was a bass tournament putting out of the North Mutton ramp, so we had lots of competition for spots all night. Went back in Son's Creek and fished a channel bank with a couple of bites and no fish. Went back out to the main lake and only caught 4 more shorts. Left at 12:30 with a total of only 6 fish caught and wishing I had tried the other arm of the lake. But we did have a "funny thing happened to me on the way to Chicken Rock" story as a pontoon boat with some slightly enebrebriated women decided to flash us as we were passing them by Roark Bluff! Please don't flag me! I am just telling what happened on our fishing trip!

Anyway, I would love to know what the tournament guys weighed that night, as we didn't have much luck. If any of you are reading this post, please let us know. I know that somebody had to be catching some good ones Saturday. Once again, I hope this post helps.

[Hammer time]

Thanks Kevin for the report, good to see night fishing reports since thats when I fish 90% of the time. I took notice from you and Walcrabass using bigger worms and jigs and have been using 12" worm with 3/8 ounce bullet weights hoping to get the big bait down faster, but still catching mostly shorts.

I think the larger fish are really deep or in brush piles like you mentioned. I dont know of any brush piles so mainly fish channel banks and swings. Most of my biggest bass I catch is with a black single spin with a zoom swimming chunk trailer.

Are you fishing your own brush piles that you have put in, or the ones marked on the bank with the signs?

Thanks again for your reports.

[Walcrabass]

Thanks Kevin for the report, good to see night fishing reports since thats when I fish 90% of the time. I took notice from you and Walcrabass using bigger worms and jigs and have been using 12" worm with 3/8 ounce bullet weights hoping to get the big bait down faster, but still catching mostly shorts.

I think the larger fish are really deep or in brush piles like you mentioned. I dont know of any brush piles so mainly fish channel banks and swings. Most of my biggest bass I catch is with a black single spin with a zoom swimming chunk trailer.

Are you fishing your own brush piles that you have put in, or the ones marked on the bank with the signs?

Thanks again for your reports.

[Walcrabass]

Hammertime,

I like to fish my own Brush Piles but this time of year mine are too shallow. I can maybe fish them towards morning if the fish move up during the night. It is not always the temperature you know that keeps them deep. It is also the boat traffic ( Jet skiers shaving the banks) and that bright sunlight this time of year. After a few hours of calm and darkness they might move in to my piles . This saturday night I plan to fish the cuts in the steep/deep banks. Also the points that have good drop offs next to them. I will start off with 10-12" worms in the evening and switch to 13-15" after dark. Worm weights will be 1/2 to 3/4 oz. I will also be throwing big Stand up Jigs ( 1/2 to 1 oz.) with bulky trailers on them. Maybe even be using paddle tail worms for trailers in the 5 to 6" size. In the event that this does not work I will throw the Stand Up jig Heads with no Skirt and Trick Worms or Zoom Crawdads for trailers. Crawdad Oil on the plastics seems to always help. I don't put it on the skirts because it can gum them up. The brush piles marked by the Missouri Department of Conservation have yielded some pretty good Bass for me but they get "Hammered" (no pun intended) pretty hard. Good Luck Guys.

[Walcrabass]

I was lucky enough to go Fishing both Friday and Saturday, and it was a different story each night. Friday we put out of Mutton around 7:30 PM and headed up to Point 5. Saw fish all over the graph, but couldn't coax any into biting there. Plenty of boats out as I think everyone loves being at the lake on a full moon! Next we went to a deep brush pile and I caught an nice 3 lber on a 3/4 oz green pumpking jig and trailer right before dark. Had another good one on there but he spit my jig back at me at Mach 10! We then proceeded to fish a main lake point as the Moon was rising. The fish were very actively feeding and we got a ton of bites. Caught most of our fish on 12" or bigger worms. Also caught some on craw baits. We caught around 35 - 40 bass with only 3 keepers. Got off the water at 4:30 AM.

Saturday was a completely different tale. We started around 5:30 PM, and only caught one keeper and a short on a steep bluff before dark. There was a bass tournament putting out of the North Mutton ramp, so we had lots of competition for spots all night. Went back in Son's Creek and fished a channel bank with a couple of bites and no fish. Went back out to the main lake and only caught 4 more shorts. Left at 12:30 with a total of only 6 fish caught and wishing I had tried the other arm of the lake. But we did have a "funny thing happened to me on the way to Chicken Rock" story as a pontoon boat with some slightly enebrebriated women decided to flash us as we were passing them by Roark Bluff! Please don't flag me! I am just telling what happened on our fishing trip!

Anyway, I would love to know what the tournament guys weighed that night, as we didn't have much luck. If any of you are reading this post, please let us know. I know that somebody had to be catching some good ones Saturday. Once again, I hope this post helps.

[Walcrabass]

Kevin Wagner and Hammertime,

I would like some assistance from you guys. I am trying to get an idea of the number of Kentucky Bass in Stockton Lake. Would you guys make a mental note of how many fish you catch that are Largemouth, Smalmouth, and Kentuckies? Remember that the Kentuckies have their top 1st and 2nd Dorsal fin clearly joined together and on the Largemouth it has a prononced dip in between them. Also the Kentuckies have some scales on the base of the second Dorsal fin. The Kentuckies jaw also does not extend past the eye if you draw an imaginary line fron the eye straight downward. What I am finding is that I am catching more and more fish that have the traits of both the Largemouth and the Kentuckies. I just caught one about three weeks ago and phenotypically he looked like a cross. This time of year on the deep Bluffs I don't catch as many Kentuckies unless there is standing timber. The Kentuckies really like that stuff. I think that you will find that a lot of the "short fish" you are catching are Kentuckies. Another thing I would like to say is that Kentuckies are considered mature when they reach 7 inches. This boils down to spawning for more years in a lake before reaching an age where they can be legally taken at our 15" length limit. Thank you and I look forward to your reports.

[Kevin Wagner]

Thanks Kevin for the report, good to see night fishing reports since thats when I fish 90% of the time. I took notice from you and Walcrabass using bigger worms and jigs and have been using 12" worm with 3/8 ounce bullet weights hoping to get the big bait down faster, but still catching mostly shorts.

I think the larger fish are really deep or in brush piles like you mentioned. I dont know of any brush piles so mainly fish channel banks and swings. Most of my biggest bass I catch is with a black single spin with a zoom swimming chunk trailer.

Are you fishing your own brush piles that you have put in, or the ones marked on the bank with the signs?

Thanks again for your reports.

Hammer time,

I agree that it is really good to have some more posts about night fishing. It has helped me a lot in getting on some more fish. I too am using a 3/8 bullet and find that it has helped me be more productive in deeper waters, but we still are catching a ton of short fish. In my opinion, so much of Stockton has very little cover, so during this incredibly hot period, these fish are sticking as close to any cover they can find, be it brush pile, timber, or whatever. I always look for anything "different" that might hold fish. The brush piles I was fishing are not marked, but are just ones friends have shown me, or we found by going over the top of them. If you can find one in around 20' of water with a channel drop near by that goes down to 40' or 50' of water, it is usually gold. I was reading a fishing log from somone who was fishing Lake of the Ozarks lately, and he said the bite was best from Midnight to 5 AM. That seems about right from my experience last weekend. That gives these fish a lot of time to move up shallow. He also mentioned how timing was so critical in fishing different spots. You could show an hour later and catch them when you didn't before. The fish still need to eat, but are going to be selective in their feeding times, or we have to trigger them with bigger meals. Usually if you can get bit in one of those brush piles, it triggers another bass to hit as well. But if you don't get bit again fairly quick, you may as well just move on. After dark, I haven't had as much luck fishing the piles, I would rather fish flats nearby that have smaller rock that they roam for dads. Just my two (or three) cents! Thanks Hammer.

[Kevin Wagner]

Kevin Wagner and Hammertime,

I would like some assistance from you guys. I am trying to get an idea of the number of Kentucky Bass in Stockton Lake. Would you guys make a mental note of how many fish you catch that are Largemouth, Smalmouth, and Kentuckies? Remember that the Kentuckies have their top 1st and 2nd Dorsal fin clearly joined together and on the Largemouth it has a prononced dip in between them. Also the Kentuckies have some scales on the base of the second Dorsal fin. The Kentuckies jaw also does not extend past the eye if you draw an imaginary line fron the eye straight downward. What I am finding is that I am catching more and more fish that have the traits of both the Largemouth and the Kentuckies. I just caught one about three weeks ago and phenotypically he looked like a cross. This time of year on the deep Bluffs I don't catch as many Kentuckies unless there is standing timber. The Kentuckies really like that stuff. I think that you will find that a lot of the "short fish" you are catching are Kentuckies. Another thing I would like to say is that Kentuckies are considered mature when they reach 7 inches. This boils down to spawning for more years in a lake before reaching an age where they can be legally taken at our 15" length limit. Thank you and I look forward to your reports.

Walcrabass,

First off, thank you so much for the feedback you have been giving on these posts. I have found them very helpful, and they have given me some new ideas on stuff to try at night. I agree that a lot of the short fish are kentuckies. Earlier in the year, I went a couple of times during the daytime, and probably 90% of the fish I caught were kentuckies that i caught on a shakey head. This was off main lake, or secondary points in about 15' to 25' of water. I have been catching more big mouths since I am back to night fishing, but I will try to keep track. I am a little curious myself. Sometimes it has been really hard to tell which is it, because they may have atypical traits from both. I could try emailing the fishing biologist for this area. They may tell us what they have been seeing during their shocking sessions on relative numbers.

[Thunderin Gobbler]

Just a bit of added question on the kentuckies....I've always heard that Kentucky bass have a rough patch on their tongue too, along with all the other traits you guys have mentioned. I've never really tried to confirm this, but can anyone out there verify that? I've found that probably 2/3 of my small fish have the rough patch, but I really don't pay much attention to the fins/broken stripe/ etc. And of course most of these fish are caught in the channels on bluffs with standing timber.

[straw hat]

Just a bit of added question on the kentuckies....I've always heard that Kentucky bass have a rough patch on their tongue too, along with all the other traits you guys have mentioned. I've never really tried to confirm this, but can anyone out there verify that? I've found that probably 2/3 of my small fish have the rough patch, but I really don't pay much attention to the fins/broken stripe/ etc. And of course most of these fish are caught in the channels on bluffs with standing timber.

You were told right TG but the problem is so does a largemouth until he gets older. Some studies indicate that the largemouth looses that patch of teeth around 6" long and other have shown that he looses it around 12" long. It prbably depends on growth rate etc.,