Kids bank fishing trip to Stockton Lake in MO

Hi guys,

I've been fishing all my life but have never fished for Crappie all that much. Next week though my 6 year old son and I will be checking out Stockton Lake in MO for some crappie and maybe catfish in the evening. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions of locations to try for crappie from the bank. We'll be camping there for a few days and judging by the water temp I think they should be near the shore but I'm not positive. MDC has locations of crappie structure posted on the internet and my plan is to start there to find fish but I'm not entirely sure that the structure is close enough to reach from the bank. Any kind of tips or location suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Our goals are first to just have a good time and second to catch some decent sized fish to bring home to eat.

Also, in case anyone is really familiar with the lake, we're tentatively staying at the Cedar Ridge Campground which is more on the south central part of the lake.

Thanks!
Joe and Abel(my son)

Moved for better visibility
Welcome aboard
Hopefully someone from the area will be along soon

Welcome from KY. Hope you guys get into em.

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Welcome and blessings from SE Ohio. Good luck!
USA FLAG+Cross+

Thanks!

Thanks, so do we!

Thank you!

There is a public fishing dock that has brush by it down by the first boat ramp that can be good. Also some good bank fishing if you go down the bank toward the mouth of the cove with the boat ramp. There is also good bank fishing by the Aldridge bridge on 123. If you google earth the river that feeds that end of the lake also has good fishing you just need to look over the road systems leading to the old steel bridge. The bait shop at Aldridge bait masters can also give directions. There is a lot more areas where you can find some fish and adventures it just takes searching the roads out to get to the spots so google is a big help. Welcome and good luck.

welcome and best to your and your son. Tight Lines and feeling the thump.

There are some good reports coming out of Smithville. I wish I had intel for you, any time you can spend with your kid fishing is good time. It gets better with catching! Good luck and I'll see if can get info out of my GFs daughter. She fishes Smithville from the shore often.

Anthony he is fishing Stockton.

Oops! [emoji2957]

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Thank you, we'll see what we can come up with.

Well, after talking to one of the fisheries biologists down there this afternoon regarding all the rain and possible bank fishing spots that still exist with the high water I've decided to try another lake next week that hopefully hasn't been as impacted by the rain as Stockton has. Perhaps I'll make it to Stockton later this year. At the moment, I'm now looking at Mark Twain. Hopefully it'll pan out!

I read that Stockton is predicted to be at least 11 feet above pool after all of this rain. There was a crazy amount of water here last night. I think it will be much safer this weekend elsewhere, but hope you guys catch plenty of fish and make it back later in the year.

You may want to get in touch with headhunter on this I believe he fished Thomas Hill from the banks. Mark twain turns to chocolate milk in a hurry

TheRooster Now that Stockton is flooded, we have decided to fish Smithville next week. I talked to one of the fisheries biologists and they said it should be pretty good. If you do have any bank fishing suggestions I'd be happy to hear about them :) In addition to crappie, we'll also be targeting channel cats. Thanks for any info you may be able to provide.

Thanks for the suggestion and info on Mark Twain. We'll be making to the drive to Smithville instead. Hopefully we'll leave with some fish in the cooler!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ripnlips

You may want to get in touch with headhunter on this I believe he fished Thomas Hill from the banks. Mark twain turns to chocolate milk in a hurry

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My son and his crew were at t hill last weekend and cold front had pushed them off banks and hardly anyone was ketchn anything. they managed 5 in multiple efforts.

looked at your location and suggest you go to LOZ and rent a john boat there. My knowledge of there is over decade old and hopefully someone can tell you where you can fish from bank as they are on the banks there now BAA's.

Or rent a condo or motel room who has docks and slips and you could fish from there.

Smithville is a tough crappie lake. I’ve never plucked any but that’s not saying much. Many say it’s tough.

Joedog and Keeferfish fish Smithville almost exclusively. They might be able to help you. Oh and Clownfish too.

The Warsaw area below Truman dam has a couple great access points. Drake Harbor and Bledsoe Ferry. Truman (last I checked) is not running much water so the Osage River there (aka Lake of the Ozarks) should be calm and the water level has been pretty steady for some time. If Truman starts dumping water, grab your heavy rods and get up on the bank in the rough water, the catfish frenzy and eat anything you throw in there.

Drake Harbor will be closed for the outdoor adventure expo on the 13th & 14th.

You could spend a couple days and not cover all the bank and fishing docks at Bledsoe Ferry.
If your in Warsaw go eat a Cow Pie.