Monroe 03-12-2016

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03-13-2016, 01:08 PM
lshields

Monroe 03-12-2016

First time really fishing Monroe. Drove up last week just to scout it out. Fished from the bank for a couple hours near Cutright Marina and caught 5 dinks. Took the kayak yesterday, started at Cutright and headed east. Ended up catching around 100 but not a single keeper. Started by pushing double minnow rigs 6-10 feet deep out in the coves and got bunch of dinks. Switched to black/chart lit'l hustler tipped with bee moth under a cork. Couldn't get anything back in the coves. Would pick up a few here and there on the outer edge of brush on main lake about 2 feet down. Came to a tree top and picked up about 20 off that one tree. So then I just started looking for tree tops on the man lake. Found one large tree that I ended up with around 40. They did seem bigger from tree tops versus those caught with the minnow rigs. It was frustrating not catching any keepers but was fun at the same time. I needed to leave but couldn't because you're literally getting bit every cast.

So is there a trick to getting into the bigger fish at Monroe? Do you catch bigger fish during spawn? Deeper? Bigger bait?
03-13-2016, 08:00 PM
Whaler

Good report and glad you had a good day. Some one else can answer your Monroe questions. I am just now starting to consider fishing there. I can give some personal observations that may help. Water temps of 48 and above seems to be the magic number to really kick up the feeding activity. At 48 -52 I find the bigger fish over big tree tops in some what deeper water. Suddenly they are not there (in numbers) when the water warms more and I can find them in, near or over weeds in shallower water. I am not a great crappie fisherman and do not pretend to be. Just sharing some info. Good luck!
03-14-2016, 04:29 AM
wannabe fisherman

in the few times I've traveled up to Monroe I've found that the trick to big fish is FINDING them
03-14-2016, 10:54 AM
johnsoninc86

I don't crappie fish Monroe much anymore due the same experience you had. I can usually box a few nice ones, but I've always had to just sort through the dinks to get few keepers. The spawn is a little better as the big dominant ones seem to pick out the best looking structure on the points and dropoffs. They're usually the first to hit a bait as well, so that helps your odds.
03-14-2016, 12:09 PM
daybreak

That lake has great fish of all species in it. Like the other guys said.... Put in the time finding them along the breaks and out deeper on the points where there is some underwater stumps or treetops. If you want to save some time, you and a buddy spend a little cash and hire one of the crappie guides for a day. They want you to catch fish and refer your other buddies to increase their business. They will usually show you more techniques and types of structure to catch good fish on than you can learn in a year trying things by yourself. Monroe will get crazy busy later in the spring, so you need to keep going as often as you can early this spring. The other option is boring, but you could just sit and watch with a good pair of binoculars and see who is catching fish where. LOL Good luck!
03-14-2016, 05:24 PM
wannabe fisherman

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

in the few times I've traveled up to Monroe I've found that the trick to big fish is FINDING them

forgot to add my personal best came from there 2.5lbs 16 in long