senile1

I wish I could help you but I haven't fished it in a couple of years. However, it is a beautiful lake and that is worth the price of going, in my opinion. I live in Kansas City and when I have visited Stockton I always stay a few days. If you're going for one day I can understand your concern. Below is a link for a report from October 14th. http://anglersfishinginfo.com/fishingreports/mo/mo.htm#STOCKTON

I'm not saying you should just fish deep with a jig. I'm just saying it is something you should not rule out. Lakes in different geographic areas can be different but this is what I see on my lakes. I'm generally throwing some shad or baitfish imitators such as crankbaits, spinnerbaits, or lipless cranks in the Fall, but I always have a jig and craw on one rod, and another soft plastic such as a tube on another. Just this weekend I went fishing and caught just over half of my fish on the jig and craw. All of my shad imitators caught the other half. As for the main lake channel, I wouldn't expect them to be there at this time of year. When you drive up a creek arm find the submerged channel in that creek arm (if one exists) and follow it's banks. I have seen lots of shad balls in my creek arms located anywhere from 3 feet down to 12 feet down over a 10 - 15 foot bottom.

The general rule of thumb is to follow the shad into shallow waters in the Fall, but the Fall migration of shad to the "backs of creeks" can be misleading. Shad don't just move up the creeks and stay in shallow water for a few weeks. They move up the creeks but quite often they hang out on submerged channel banks leading up the creek arm. The shad may be located from the surface to four feet deep but they often are positioned above a channel bank that could be in 10 - 15 feet of water depending on the creek arm. Intersecting channels, trees and cover on outside bends, or points leading into a creek channel can all hold shad at this time of the year. You can find them in very shallow water but just as often you will find them over water that is somewhat deeper in the creek arm. Fish positioned on these channel banks can be taken with jigs now. Being the opportunistic feeders that they are, bass generally won't pass up a tasty craw that falls in their face even if they are chasing shad. As for the question of when they will really start to move toward their Winter haunts, for my lakes that occurs when temperatures start to drop into the 40s. However, as Tin pointed out, this rule of thumb is also just a general behavior with many exceptions depending on the weather patterns during the Winter.

I remember a similar study done by the Mo. conservation dept. fisheries division. The results were similar. Apparently the craws fulfill more of the dietary demands of a bass thus they get more nutritional bang for the buck when the eat them. I have heard and read the same thing. However, and I believe this came from the same source, they tend to eat more shad and baitfish simply because of availability. So I chose crawfish as a preference but if the question were, "Which meal does a bass eat the most?," I would have chosen shad/baitfish.

As FBL stated, the Bagley Small-Fry Bream is a good bait to imitate smaller bluegill. I also use crankbaits in bluegill colors, Rat'l'traps with blue back over chrome, as well as spinnerbaits with blue/blue-green skirts.

Congratulations, Mr Francho! I'm going to have to hang out more. I'm missing out on all the happenings at BR.

I mean no offense by this as KVD is the angler I usually root for, but for the sake of open-mindedness, I wouldn't say every aspect of his game is better than everyone else's. When he fishes deep clear California reservoirs he usually gets his butt handed to him. Overall, his style of fishing and his uncanny ability to figure out what will trigger bites within that style make him a tough angler to beat. When a particular lake forces him to fish outside his style he can be beaten.

There are no rules in bass fishing but only general behavioral tendencies that tend to be true more often than not. So, yes, bass will bite lures that are fished against the wind or current, though your success would be greater if you fish the lure with the current, especially on a river. You are fishing a lake and bass will still position themselves to take advantage of bait pushed by the wind but bass don't just sit motionless staring in the same direction all day. They move around, and during those movements, they won't always be facing the current. Regarding the position of your kayak, have you tried positioning your kayak so that you can cast 120 - 150 degrees from the direction you are facing. This would be a quartering cast back behind you and to the side. The lure would cut an angle across the current but would still be moving with it.

I get a laugh out of your post, though I know some of the pain you feel. I remember a few times like those you describe. When I first started using baitcasters I remember making a few nice casts and thinking that I had it. Then out of the blue would come the inevitable bird nest from hell, and I would end up cutting my line off the reel. I also remember casts that would end up in the worst possible spots. I couldn't have made those casts if I had tried to hit those spots, but for some reason, fate seems to wreak havoc when you are first learning something. It will pass. Further down the road of fishing, these things will just be humorous memories.

I don't notice any difference in tailgating between pulling my boat or pulling nothing. Some people just tailgate. It's not cool but what do you do. I tend to drive 5 mph over the limit as some have stated. If I'm in the passing lane and someone comes up behind me I get over into the next lane to the right as soon as possible. I know I don't like left lane hogs who set the speed limit for everyone by driving in the left lane, so I make sure I don't stay in that lane if I am not the fastest vehicle in the area. In fact, the slow people driving below the speed limit who won't move to the right bother me more than the speeders coming up behind me. I believe they think they are safer drivers but, in reality, they create traffic jams especially in the city. If you give speeders the left lane, they are gone in a few seconds . . . the danger has passed. If you block them in you get bumper to bumper traffic and a higher probability of accidents in my opinion.

In lakes such as this with coontail everywhere and plenty of Cypress trees, the number of places where a bass can hide seems to be innumerable. You have to narrow down the choices using your knowledge of bass behavior, lake structure, breaklines, the season, the weather, etc or you will waste a lot of time fishing unproductive water.

This thread is essential reading and bears repeating. Excellent post! What do you think about making a safety thread posted at the top of each forum similar to the "Best of Bass Resource" thread? All safety threads could be posted there for quick retrieval.

I think you received some good advice. It is possible you could have bent your prop shaft when you bent the prop. Running your boat with a bent prop shaft will ruin the seals.

Oh come on WRB. I have to read repeat threads on the same topics over and over and over. Can you cut me some slack just this one time? :-[ Ha. Gotta go with FBL on this one. It took me about two years to really start noticing a bunch of repeat posts, and now it seems like 95% of them are repeats. I've personally started dozens of threads on this board (more than some, nowhere near as many as others) and I think I've seen a repeat of about 80% of my "original" threads, not to mention all the other repeats of other peoples threads. To have to read them over and over and over takes a special kind of talent. Starting a truely original thread in the "general bass fishing" forum on a board of this size, activity level, and knowlege base is super tough at this point. I raise your 95 to 99%. It's why I read and rarely post anymore. There's just not much left to say that someone hasn't already said.

I'm not crazy about the postseason format either, but it is fair. These were my feelings before the first season that it was used. Anyone who happens to be leading at the end of the season can be beat if they aren't on their game during the postseason tournaments. It just happened to be Skeet the last two years. The rules apply the same to every angler. KVD has a gift for being hot when he needs to be hot. You have to give him his props for one amazing comeback this year. Skeet wasn't hot when the pressure was on.

It sounds like you have chosen a good path to begin to patch things up; however the following comment from your original post is telling: If this is what you think of Fathers who become angry when a young man screws over their daughters you have a lot to learn. This is the wrong attitude. Most Father's don't hate young boys who make youthful indiscretions. Remember we were boys once too, but we are very protective of our daughters. Follow the path you've chosen but see the man for what he really is: A loving Dad who feels his daughter has been wronged or misled by a young man who didn't care to think about the consequences. Good luck!

I currently run a 2000 Ficht 200 HP with all of the recall work done and it runs great but I take care of it. I don't think the 2003 model was one of the recall years. I read about some issues with 2000- 2001 models as well but after that I think all the fixes were in place. On some of the motors the injector flange would crack resulting in leaks and a few motors exploded. The recall work corrected this issue. See the quotes below.

Ah, yes . . . . . I bear witness to the snuffing of the sniffers.

My favorite topwater baits are old school baits. Zara Spook/Super Spooks Rapala Original Floater Honorable Mention: Rage Tail Shad

It wouldn't bother me one bit if Edwin Evers could pull this off and win his first AOY.

Everyone has a slump now and then. It looks like Van Dam's slump didn't keep him out of the race and he has made a very nice recovery to sixth. This is just another example of his ability. It takes an excellent angler with strong mental composure to come back from where he was.

Hey, RWHusker! You surely didn't catch that fish in your avatar in Nebraska. Nice fish!

Good point! tyrius. stated: She absolutely counts. If you are like me you will find as your kids grow older the decisions they make have even bigger consequences than when they were 3 and you will worry even more because, to you, they will still be your babies. My daughters are 21 and 24 and I worry about them more now than I ever did. It would be very, very difficult for me to allow my children to do this but it is not because I don't want them to chase their dreams. It is because I would be so worried about them it would make me physically ill. I would hope if one of my children had the skills to do it I would allow them to chase that dream but it would be very difficult, emotionally, to do it.

Those who can play the game. Those who can't sit on their butts, puff out their chests, and brag about how their favorite team or conference is better than all the others. Though no one asked for my recommendation, I say enjoy the games but don't live your life vicariously through your favorite sports team.

I As David P. stated, you won't notice a tremendous balance issue with the Powell rods that are 7 feet and shorter. Since this was brought up...I have 7' powell casting and a spinning rods , and the frog rod...I like them and picked up a 6'8 spinning rod that i think is just awefull...Very tip heavy I own the following Powell rods and all are 7' or less. 684CEF Baitcasting 683CEF Baitcasting 684CB Baitcasting 703 MEF Spinning 702 MLEF Spinning I notice no extreme heaviness in the tips. I haven't used the 6'8" spinning rods though.