October 3, 2007 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

[Thompson Fishing Guide Service]

October 3, 2007 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

Walleye: Up until 3 days ago, walleye fishing has been fair to good, but it slowed down as a result of two recent storm systems that have passed through our area creating cold fronts, which means the fishing slows down for 2 or 3 days. I expect the rest of the week (from Thursday on) to get productive again. Early in the morning and late in the day the walleye will be in the brush line in about 7 feet of water. The best approach is to fan cast Rattle Traps or small bass lures towards the shore. Instead of staying out where you make a long cast, get closer to the brush line and cast ahead of the boat; your plug will be in the strike zone longer. If you have a buddy in the back of the boat, just stay out a little bit farther and you can both parallel fish the brush line. Fish are being caught off the flats just north of Mutton Creek. Troll deep diving crank baits in whatever depth you find the fish. If you like to troll, try doing this for 8 or 10 hours. The effectiveness of trolling for walleye is basically this: walleye are a more open water fish and they move more than any other fish in the lake. Walleye have habits similar to stripers. Catch fish here today, but tomorrow a nuclear explosion would not show one fish, so you have to stay on the move. This is even more true this time of the year because the shad are scattered all over the lake, so your walleye are apt to be anywhere. Two weeks ago I reported that I was catching fish on the jig/minnow jig/night crawler combos, and this is true providing you find the fish. This method is too slow to be used as a search vehicle.

Kentucky spotted bass: I’d like to include this section in my fishing report because the experience I have had this week with bass have been KY spotted bass, therefore there will be no largemouth report. Just so you know. One afternoon in about 2 hours I had 2 clients catch and release 33 KY spotted bass. Believe it or not, 10 of those fish were 15 inches and 3 of them weighed right at 3 pounds each. We caught them in one particular location, but I can’t disclose the exact place because of that client/guide thing. We caught the majority of the fish on 6 inch plastic worms…color didn’t mean a thing. The worms I was using were 6 inch Mann jelly worms, grape flavored. I am more into those fruity scents than that stuff that makes you smell like something your cat drug in. We tried jigs, and had a little action, but the Texas rigged worm is what they were really after. It is interesting to note these fish would start busting shad on the surface and you could throw any top water lure at them that you wanted and never get a bite. Not sure the reason for this…maybe Bill Dance knows. Then I take a plastic worm and throw in the froth left by the feeding bass and more times than not they’d grab it before the splash was over. The fish were off of a main lake point and I scoped them in about 30 feet of water, but they would not bite until the little buggers moved to a nearby underwater ledge that was 17 feet deep. I walleye fish these areas, so I kind of got familiar with the bass activities through my many passes with my sonar. They made this transition several times throughout the day.

Crappie: The best crappie fishing at this time has been fishing brush piles in 15-20 feet of water off of secondary lake points. Modus operandi: medium minnows on a ¼ oz jig head. This has been effective for my clients in that you can better position your bait inches above the brush pile, providing of course you are in a boat and there is not 40 mph wind like there was Tuesday. The second approach is to fish the brushy shore line adjacent to these secondary points by casting smaller jigs or Road Runner type lures towards the shore. Like walleye, these crappie will move shallower early morning or particularly late afternoon to the brush line in about 7 feet of water. Rooster Tails will work and so will Panther Martin in line spinners. Be aware, though, that you will catch A LOT of 5 inch bass. If they become too pesky, try to find an area with less brush. The crappie should be there, but these little bass congregate in the thickest, brushiest areas they can for protection.

Because the water levels stayed so high so long during and beyond the spawning season, not only was there excellent nesting available, but also equally important, a nursery system was supported, where the little guys (bass, crappie, walleye) can reach an age when they can fend for themselves and need less protection. By 2010, Stockton Lake should reap huge benefits from this year’s production season.

Marty Thompson

Thompson Fishing Guide Service

www.fishstockton.com

417-424-BASS