March 7, 2007 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

[Thompson Fishing Guide Service]

March 7, 2007 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

Walleye: If I was a walleye fisherman, I'd be fishing right now, because if you do, you are going to be at the start of a great walleye season. My clients are catching a few bigger fish (3-5 lbs) with the majority between 15-20 inches. I would start in the Turkey Creek arm or in the dam area and motor around until you find the shad, which for the most part have been anywhere from 30-55 feet deep. Jig and minnow seem to be the most consistent, however RattleTraps, and spin tail lures like the Little George have produced some bigger fish. Cast the lure out, let it sink all the way to the bottom, reel it 3 or 4 feet, let it sink again, repeat process. I would also spend some time in the Sac River arm from Ruark Bluff to the CC bridge. Walleye are starting to turn up in these areas. At this time of the year, as we see the spawn approaching, these fish will start schooling up. A lot of running water, as the result of the wet winter will provide more spawning grounds for the walleye. As you know, walleye spawn in the tributaries and also along rocky shores and bluffs. The dam is an ideal place. I start to follow the spawn at the CC bridge and follow it all the way to the dam.

Crappie: last week I had some professional crappie fishermen spend two days with me and we caught 50 crappie. Only three were sublegal and there were several fish over 15 inches. Even though I cannot give you the exact location, I can say this: fish deep, at least 35 feet. Minnows and jigs seem to be the best. Like walleye, find the bait and you can find the crappie. Big crappie have figured out that their careers never last over 10 inches if they live on the marked crappie beds. A recent magazine article was written on Stockton Lake and said crappie fishing is fair and about 50% of your fish are legal. Lesson learned: don't believe everything you read.

White bass: the white bass, like the crappie, are deep and occupy many of the same locations as crappie. Matter of fact, the white bass that we have been catching (2-3 lbs) have been so deep that their horizontal stripes have almost disappeared, due to the lack of light at such depths. These fish will be spawning soon, but in the meantime, cruise the mouths of the deeper coves off the main lake, find the bait fish. Jigs and minnows work well, but so do small spoons and tail spin lures. Guide's tip of the week: bounce the bait off of the bottom.

Largemouth bass: I have been catching largemouth bass this week off of deeper main lake points connected to a bluff bank line. I start in deep water (50 feet) and zig zag my boat toward shallower water looking for bass holding structure. Black and blue jigs/pork chunk or black, purple or blue plastic worms fished slowly, are producing good fish at deeper depths. Ever wonder why black and blue? These dark colors are more easily seen at deeper depths. Speaking of color, it is interesting to note that according to a recent study, red (and I say this for you red hooks fans) begins to disappear in water no deeper than a foot. Even some line companies are manufacturing red line for its ability to disappear in the water. What does that mean about the bleeding bait/red hook syndrome that has spread throughout fishingdom? Does this catch fish or does this catch fishermen? I wonder about that, however, in this case, color is very important. Common sense will dictate what color to use. A basic rule of thumb: dark water, dark colored lure. Light water light colored lure. The suspended jerk bait is still also producing fish. Pay attention to the water temperature because it won't be long before these bass are staging to spawn.

A short note on spawning: I have read several articles lately reference catching spawning bass and the basic consensus is when you jerk a bass off of the nest, chances are the blue gill or other intruders will eat the eggs before you can say catch and release. This is something that we bass fishermen should take into consideration.

For you bank fishermen: Stockton has almost 300 miles of public shoreline. There is no private property on the lake, which means you can fish just about anywhere for any species from the shore. I'll give you more information on bank fishing as the water warms up and fish move into the brush, but for now, I would fish Old State Park cove, Hawker cove, and Cedar Ridge, to name a few. These places all have ample parking and you can walk right to the water. Remember to get your daily parking pass if you are going to park on Corps managed public use areas.

Marty Thompson

Thompson Fishing Guide Service

www.fishstockton.com

417-424-BASS

[bojack]

marty; from what your saying looks like maybe the end of the month should be good for the walleye bit. if the weather stays nice. thanks~~bojack~~

[DOITLOOKIT]

Put in today at the CC Ramp at Stockton and went up Turnback about mile or so and fish from 3:oo p.m. till dark. We had 21 white bass bass and 17 crappie. Was cold, the wind was blowing hard from the north. Caught them on eigth ounce grey and black head. We caught most of them along the grass beds where the channel makes a hard left to the South. The water temperture was 49.2. Good enough we will be back tomorrow.

[ckjacks]

Thanks for all your post Marty. They are appreciated.

[bojack]

marty~~ any stockton fishing report from the weekend?