Lake  Monticello was extremely low and the water temperature was 76 degrees this morning.  Certain areas of the lake are hard to fish due to all the stickups.

I had no idea where or with what bait to start or even why I chose to got to Monticello considering the whippings it has handed out this year.  There were four main baits I wanted to try: a Ribbit Frog, a swimbait, a square bill crankbait, and a Phillips Cripple Killer topwater. The cripple Killer is the same size as a 3 1/2 inch Cordell Crazy Shad. You can’t buy the Crazy Shads anymore and I was hoping the Killer would be a substitute.  I started out with all the above. The Ribbit was the first to strike after a long period of nothingness. A nice 3 1/2 came out of the pads and hit it like he was hungry.

Not all the pads were in deep enough water to hold fish so as I was going from one group to another I put on the square bill. The first one used was  one of the new KVD 1.5s but it was small and difficult to throw with the rod I was using so I changed to a heavier “found” one that was a really good looking bait. It was used in the thick wooded area much the same as in the first picture.  The bait has a side to side wandering action and snagging was not as much as you’d expect.  It quickly caught three fish in a short 50 yard stretch. When they would bite I really didn’t know whether it was a fish or a stump so I just kept reeling until I felt a pull. The new hooks that had been installed did a great job and somehow none of the ones that bit escaped, even though they were wrapping around stumps and logs. I just  was lucky. The 4 3/4 FOD is in the photo. Note the good “found” bait hanging from his jaw.  There was one place where the little bass were so plentiful they were pests. They would keep you awake when you fished a Ribbit because you would get a bite every cast. Good to see a good spawn. They could not get the hook in the ribbit but the crankbait was another matter.

Fish from Monticello have been hard to come by for me this year so I took a lot of photos.