Looking for some tips.

[Dutch]

7 minutes ago, jdmidwest said:

I have been there a few times with a lifer that has been fishing it for 40 years.  He likes the area around the State Park and that Island near Masters.  As a fallback in wind, I would hit Ruark Area as it runs from east to west.

You have high sides on the boat, you should be fine.  But nobody likes to get beat up in the wind.

You might want to look at your map.  There is almost nothing east to west at Rouark. Son’s is sw to ne and Sac is se to nw.

[Dutch]

2 hours ago, Fluke said:

Thanks for the heads-up Skeeter.

Dutch mentioned the same, I have only been down a few times (seems like the wind is always blowing down there lol) and every time I have put in at Hawker Point. Decided this go around to put  in either at Stockton Lake State Park or Crab Tree Campground to avoid crossing the main lake. I grew up on the water in Jersey and have spent quite a few nail biting days wondering why I went out lol. I have a 17’ center console, she displaces the water pretty good and keeps me pretty dry in rough water.

Is there a trolling motor on that boat?  
 

Crabtree is not a place to go with that much South wind.  The wind will have a non impeded 10 mile run to get those rollers going.  6 footers may be possible at that end. 

[Fluke]

My apologies I meant state park or cedar ridge (not Crabtree, still a newb). I have a motorguide xi5 with GPS hooked to a Lowrance HDS. Should of sized up the trolling motor a little it has trouble anchoring in real rough conditions but I have seen some of the bigger ones struggle also. I appreciate your advice and concerns.

[MrGiggles]

Crabtree is the worst ramp when there's a bad south wind. Can't go anywhere without crossing the big water. 

At Hawker you can hug the west bank and work Hawker branch, all of those bluffs to the north, and the coves that run up to Orleans while staying out of the bad stuff for the most part. 

If it's bad windy, I prefer Cedar Ridge since that cove is pretty sheltered and you can go either way in calm water with a south wind. That said I like the ramp at Masters a lot better. 

I haven't seen the giant shad schools that I like for spooning yet. Not quite cold enough. 

This is the hardest time of year to catch walleyes for me. Turnover is all over and done with, so they can pretty much go anywhere.

[Fluke]

Thanks MrGiggles, good information to have.

[MrGiggles]

So how did you do?

I just couldn't help it and fished Crabtree yesterday. Couldn't believe the water temp was 50*. 

Didn't find a whole lot. Trolled around for a while looking for shad and couldn't find much but a small school here or there. Found one and spooned a small white and bluegill out of it. 

I hit a brushpile after that until dark and only managed one crappie.

[Fluke]

Hope everyone had a good Xmas!

 

well we went out and it was definitely rough but none the less fun. Got one bite (don’t know what it was or if that counts lol). I marked some smaller bait-balls at the point (the rock bluff) north of Master Island. Didn’t get single bite but to be honest we couldn’t stay on top of it and the wind/current was taking our bait everywhere.

We put in at Stockton State park marina and right outside of those docks/water breaks it looked like there was a bunch of bait (pictures attached) but might of been something  used around the docks. I appreciate all the responses and I will be posting more questions soon lol.

[Fluke]

I like to post pictures with the coordinates of where I mark or catch fish. Next time I will try and take a zoomed out view for those who can’t put in coordinates.
I know a lot guys get weird about “the good spots” or giving exact areas but with the cost of gas and the time it takes to locate fish on a large lake, the more I learn about the lake I will post as much information as I can so hopefully everyone has a better chance of landing fish when they go out.
 

[Dutch]

The Missouri Department of Conservative has many brush piles in Stockton.  They have maps, lat/lons and download able gpx files which may interest you. https://mdc.mo.gov/fishing/where-fish/fish-attractor-pdf-maps
 

Do you have a contour map card in your unit?

[Fluke]

Thanks Dutch, I actually downloaded the GPX files last week. I didn’t get them installed in my fish finder yet. The areas everyone suggested had bait/fish, the lack of fish in the boat was all on me lol. Fishing large reservoirs is still pretty new to me especially Walley and Crappie fishing. Prior to discovering Stockton I spent all my time running down to Lake Norfolk and fished for stripers exclusively. So if anyone is interested in where to go for that I can provide some details on where to go for each month of the year. 

I use to reach out to guides for advice but a lot of them would either send me on a wild goose chase or respond generically. This is the first time I have ever used a forum for tips and I am glad I did.