conorsixtakc

Fished Lone Star this Saturday with a couple friends, one of which caught his PB there a few days prior at 5 lbs 6 oz flipping a havoc fatty craw into the weeds. We came back and caught 30-40 dinks with only one worth weighing, but it was still fun. Also nice knowing there's at least one big girl in that lake.

Had us a wiper party at Clinton yesterday, including tripling up on some seriously stout fish. There was no livewell on this boat to pull from for the shot, we hooked into all three of these at once! Earlier in the evening the whole main body was a boil with mostly whites and some wipers, but the triple came just before nightfall after all the other boats cleared out and surface feeding slowed significantly. The wipers were still very actively chasing baitfish, just in deeper water outside of the flats as the wind had subsided.

Heavy lies the crown! Awesome (jealous) that you got to fish with him!

Still working on coming up with a boat of my own, closest thing I have is a kayak down at LOZ. Thoughts of fishing from a kayak down there during the Summer around 7mm sounds like certain death to me If there were any co-angler opportunities I'd probably be interested.

I'm about to place an order of mushroom heads in 1/16 oz and #1 hooks. 1/16 is all I fish it with, but I don't have near the experience as some of the other veterans on this thread. You could probably go a bit bigger on the hook but I choose not to in favor of more natural movement of the zinker.

^ This. Ned's henchmen would tell you if you can feel bottom, your rigs too heavy. It's a no-feel, do-nothing bait. Like CBass said 1/8 should get the job done in 25-30 feet.

Oh boy, here we go... http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/topic/38778-zman-baits-on-the-ned-rig The ned's gained a significant amount of popularity in the last two years (aka the "varmint" if you're on Table Rock) so it's not very hard to find anything and everything you want to know as long as you've got a keyboard BTW if anybody's looking for a good tug, the wiper bite's been on fire at Clinton. Come sundown it's like clockwork. I'm sure this cool stretch has helped it a bit, but I'm amazed at how many hybrids are in that lake. A buddy of mine and a couple guys he was with had a 50 fish day earlier this week.

That's a pig!!!

No joke! First thing that came to mind was amoebas, but those look too big...? Hopefully?

You sir, are an artist

That's a full day right there.

yeah man it's quickly becoming one of my favorites as well. I know that people have said it doesn't produce big fish like some of the other Ozark lakes, but the times they are a changin'

Had the first chance I've gotten to really fish Stockton this past weekend. Got out on the water with the uncle-in-law Friday evening and all day Saturday. Even got the wife to come out with us later in the day Saturday. We launched in between Crabtree and Masters and pretty much stayed in that area the whole time as the wind made it hard to run down the main lake Saturday. Tons of keepers, no monsters but almost all keepers in the 15"-18" range. The water was 73-78 degrees and up in the bushes. We caught fish on hula poppers, finesse spinnerbaits, larger white spinnerbaits, t-rigged worms, shakey head worms, and jig & pig. Jigs and big worms dragged off shelf rock banks was the most consistent pattern we were able to put together, and produced the most keepers. Smaller number of fish including our largest 16" smallmouth and 18" largemouth both came on white spinnerbaits in the trees. Not many pics (missing a pic of her uncle's big smallie unfortunately) but managed to grab a few. It's hard to reach for your phone when you want to get a line back in the water! On our way back I trolled a flicker shad through the creek channel and caught 4 or 5 12" crappies that were suspended at 15 ft in 25 FOW, some of which still had eggs. All in all one of those weekends that leaves you wanting more, but the wife and I drove home with plenty of memories. Can't wait to get back for the fourth of July family reunion! P.S. Only one pic uploaded, this website is a turd when it comes to handling file sizes. Ozarkanglers.com doesn't seems to have this issue...

x2. They float and wiggle incredibly well, although if you're using a screw keeper it should be metal to help pierce the elaztec. Owner Shakey Ultraheads are the best design I've found. Heard a tip from a guy that if you heat the keeper real quick with a lighter the elaztech worm will slide right on. I plan on trying that this weekend. Everybody can debate whether or not it makes a difference if it stands up or not. Both ways will catch fish, especially when they're biting worms. I think the allure of fishing a shaky head is presenting a soft plastic vertically, not laying limp on the bottom.

Sometimes it become a question of finding the right window of time during the morning/day/evening when you're sight fishing big fish. I was in the same position this past April with a male and female that were holding to a certain area, but not yet spawning. I threw the entire kitchen sink until I got the male to bite a 4" straight tail finesse worm on a shaky head. The female however was having none of it. I spent my entire morning trying everything in the book and she wouldn't bite. I came back late afternoon, threw the same finesse straight tail worm on a shaky head in there and she nailed it right away. Sometimes they're just not ready to eat yet but stick with them, they'll eventually get hungry.

Any of you guys have much experience on Stockton this time of year? This weekend should be the first chance I've had to fish it. May even try and troll up some dinner too I'm thinking topwater on points early, spinnerbait, deep jigs / big t-rigged worms, deep crank, probably some grubs (I like the looks of the rage twin tail menace grub) and shakey heads too. Hopefully I'll have a report to share come Monday. Awesome looking trip!

They're eating good in the neighborhood! Although I'm not surprised, SMP has huge wipers in it. My pb came from it just over 9# last year. Even ran me around the cedar sticking out of the water at the East end. Yours looks like 11-12#, nice work!

What have you been catching?

Care to elaborate?

It's no mystery that the jerkbait dominates LOZ from winter-early spring. If that's your confidence bait youre always going to do well with it there provided the conditions are right. If it was me I'd go to Table Rock, if only for the fact it's more of a diverse fishery. LOZ has a good population of football-sized spots but no smallies.

I'll be catching a bunch of those green sunfish this weekend. green sunfish + circle hooks = blues and flatheads

Totes. I've been fishing their finesse worms on shakey heads too, they rise up off the bottom really well and have that great wiggle. They can be difficult to affix to the head depending on what style you use (I like Owner Ultraheads) but when you get them on there they last forever!

Ned rig purists swear by the zinkerz when fishing the little rig. The natural buoyancy and elasticity of the elaztech makes a difference compared to using traditional soft plastics. Sounds insignificant but subtlety is what the ned's all about. So if you're going to give the ned a try, do yourself a favor and pony up on some z-man zinkerz.

Because they catch big fish

Couldn't agree more Choporoz. I had the same strategy a few weekends ago after catching numbers of largemouths and spots that afternoon in the 2-3 lb range and it paid off with this big girl. Just under 5 lbs on a 4" straight tail shaky head.