Bust on Monticello

[flydown]

My brother and I went down to Lake Monticello this morning even though we should have stayed home. We don't get to fish together very often so we realy don't like to cancel when we have a trip planned.

With the cold front late yesterday and the wind this morning, I felt that we should stay home but we went anyway. There were boats everywhere. I would guess somewhere near 100 on the lake. Those who know the lake, know that is a lot of boats for that size lake.
I talked to probably a couple dozen people and only heard of about 8 to 10 fish being caught and some of them were rumors that may or may not be true.

Several of the fish caught were reportedly big fish (8 to 12 pounds) but they were hard to come by this morning. We decided to head home around noon and plan on making a return trip when the weather is more stable.

I know there are a lot of fish in that lake and a high percentage of them are big. This morning was just the wrong time to go after them. We probably should have slept late this morning and gone down this afternoon and we may have had better luck.

It's called fishing and not called catching.

[Hambone]

My buddy caught a 10.1 on Thursday, Friday had 2 7's a 7.12, and an 8.1.

On Saturday I caught a 9.6 we only caught 7 fish Saturday I think. We found a 7.5 floating on the surface she seemed to have something wrong with her air bladder and could not go down. We tried to let the air out with no luck.

If I was smart enough I would post pictures of the 10.1 and the 9.6. If somebody tells me how I will.

There are some giants in that lake, and judging by the crowd on Saturday I don't think that is a big secret. The next state record will come from Monticello. I don't think Monticello is a place to load the boat, but sure does produce some nice fish.

[backstraps]

Hambone,

Were most of the fish shallow in 3-6 ft of water? I will probably go on Wednsday. That lake gets soooo much pressure but every cast can produce a monster. What were you throwing i you don't mind?

Backstraps

[Hambone]

No, if you want to catch a big fish down there right now stay in 8-10 feet of water. Just like Lake Fork those big fish get so much pressure down there the big ones will spawn in deeper water. Numbers don't mean much to me down there. We go for one or two bites as do most people. We saw some bed fish in the 5 to 6 lb. range up shallow but the ones over 7 we have caught so far have come in deeper water, and trust me thay won't get any more shallow. Not to say there won't be a big fish caught in shallow water, but odds are better out a little deeper. JMO.

I am not going to post what we caught them on out of respect for my friend. They were his spots, and I would not want him doing that to me without asking. I will say this it was just good ole fashioned Texas rigging, and with some advice I got from this board when you think you are fishing as slow as you possibly can slow it down some more.

[backstraps]

Interesting.....All the 10 pound plus fish I have heard of being caught were in 6 feet or under. I have always caught the bigger fish in 10-14 ft also. But I have heard so many reports of big fish being shallow in the past 2 weeks.


I understand not wanting to give up your buddies spots. I have plenty of my own that i am confident in. I was just wondering what was producing. For me its usually brush hogs, lizards, senkos, and red crankbaits. But honestly, there are no secrets out there. There are sooo many fisherman and not a lot of space.

Thanks for the info and I will let you know how I do on Wed.

Bob

[Hambone]

I have no doubt there are fish up shallow. There have been fish up shallow down there for a couple of weeks, but I seriously think a guys odds are better catching big fish out deeper. I saw 18 boats Saturday with step ladders in the front and we never left the pocket we were in. We watched one guy in a Ranger for 4 hours by himself looking for bedding fish and he seriously never got out a rod. I mean we never ever saw him with a rod in his hands for the 4 hours we could see him. I know he saw bedding fish, but I don't think he saw any of great size.

The shallow fish the ones that can be seen are getting hammered. I agree that there are no secrets on a lake like that. If I could get a hold of some live waterdogs in the 8 to 10 inch range like we used to use on Fork I would never use anything but those down there.

Good luck!!

[backstraps]

I have no doubt there are fish up shallow. There have been fish up shallow down there for a couple of weeks, but I seriously think a guys odds are better catching big fish out deeper. I saw 18 boats Saturday with step ladders in the front and we never left the pocket we were in. We watched one guy in a Ranger for 4 hours by himself looking for bedding fish and he seriously never got out a rod. I mean we never ever saw him with a rod in his hands for the 4 hours we could see him. I know he saw bedding fish, but I don't think he saw any of great size.

The shallow fish the ones that can be seen are getting hammered. I agree that there are no secrets on a lake like that. If I could get a hold of some live waterdogs in the 8 to 10 inch range like we used to use on Fork I would never use anything but those down there.

Good luck!!

I don't like sight fishing for bass at all. The places we normally fish are tree lines sitting on a drop off. I was just talking to my hunting buddy about waterdogs. They would be a killer on that lake.

Anyway, I post my results. thanks

[flydown]

What time did you catch them Saturday?

[Hambone]

did not get a bite after 2 p.m. Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I did not fish Sunday but that was what I was told. We started between 7 and 8 a.m. Thursday my buddy caught the 10.1 at 3 p.m.