Lake Monticello Sat

[luvpt]

Had a good day at the local lake here yesterday morning fishing with my son. He watched the trolling rods up front while I kicked back and ran the trolling motor from the back with the remote control and watched the fishfinder. I didn't pull in a fish but it was great watching him murder'em....sometimes with fish hitting 2 and 3 poles at a time when we were over a school. Started out with rain early but when that was over it was perfect with water like a tabletop. We caught several huge slabs but most were in the 10-13 inch range. We did catch a few little ones and regret that we are not allowed to throw them back. We caught them all on jigs fishing 48-50 FD in 55 FOW. I want to slip back out there this afternoon if the wind is not blowing but it is in the forecast to be 10-15 which is not good on LM.

[Turtlebait]

Burrrrrr don't know if could brave the weather this morning,at 5am it was -5 wind chil,it was 0 at 9am.The wind gust 25/30 making for a COLD day on any lake without a wind break.

Glad you and son did good,letting him be number one in the front of the boat making it a enjoyable day.

You said you couldn't throw any of them back,does this mean you haveta keep the 4 and 6 inchers too?

[L.A. stumpjumper]

Sounds like a great time on the water, I bet your son enjoyed it. Are you using one jig or multiple jig per pole, and do you use a weight to keep the lines straight down.

[luvpt]

On Dec 1st the size limit goes off and you have to keep the first 20 fish you catch because they are deep and will die anyway if you turn them loose. I laughed at my buddy from Crossett yesterday morning when he hollered to me "this is depressing....I've barely been here an hour and I am fixing to have to leave". But he did have some good ones. You just have to find another spot if you start catching small ones. Jerry, I use a 3/8 oz worm sinker ahead of three #5 round shot for the weight. I slide the round shot about 18-20 inches above the jig and the worm weight is above the round shot. I put the shot on the line fairly loose so I can slide them on up the line when I have to replace a jig or retie. I use one 1/16 oz jig only....I hate tangles and you will catch more fish in the long run with one hook instead of wasting time with a tangle. When fishing in really deep water like LM when putting the lines out I throw the jig out 25-30 feet away from the boat and close the bail on the reel so that the jig will swing down like a pendulum. When the line is fairly vertical I then lower it on down to the bottom and then give the reel 2-3 cranks and put in rodholder. If you drop it fast straight down it has a tendency to tangle the jighook in the weight. I always use a Nibble and troll very slow staying over the schools. It is a lot of bumping the TM and coasting till the lines are vertical then bumping it again. I use 4 poles in front on LM because of the depth. It is a different style of fishing from a lot of folks (some people say "that ain't real crappie fishin") but it works for me and is a heck of a lot of fun. I am not crazy about the "Deep Sea Fishing" on LM but I do like to reel those specks in! I stopped using the crankbaits on LM because of the Largemouth bass that will tangle every line down before you get them to the top. The right jigs are working very well right now and we didn't catch anything but crappie yesterday (not even a single pesky yellow hybrid!).