Lake Monticello Crappie

I wanted to go to Lake Darbonne again this morning but my son insisted that it was getting time for us to start scouting out Lake Monticello again. We did a little trolling and were home by 11:30 am which is one of the good things about fishing locally. The Crappie are still real scattered on LM right now and the water needs to heat up a lot before they will start suspending just below the thermocline. When that happens in the summer they will be a lot easier to catch. We were able to find a few good ones however. It should be getting good in another month or so.

WTG Steve; I just got word today I have to work over. I'll leave tomorrow and won't get back until 07/01. It'll be time to go to Washington by then.

Some really nice fish Steve, I need to get out there and give them a try. Thanks for the report and pictures.

You made it worth your while fer sur!!! Those are some FINE specimens you have there. I'd be pleased as punch to have fish like that from Ouachita right now.

I trolled for five hours one day last week without a single crapple. Water was 12 feet high and about 76 degrees. Maybe next month.

Keep up the good work.

aj

Fine looking bunch of fish there, but not as fine looking as the little one on your lap. She sure is a cutie.

Those are some nice crappie! Congrats on the catch!
Blake

good ones steve...did you catch them on crankbaits...i was out there about a week ago but the temp was only 70 degrees....gonna take my daughter out there thursday and try to catch some of those monster redears

Nice Job Steve, nice looking blacks how deep were they? Thanks for the report and pics, what a cute lil darling:). CP

Nice catch, glad to see the Darbonne slabs were spared for a day:D

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Originally Posted by CrappiePro

Nice Job Steve, nice looking blacks how deep were they? Thanks for the report and pics, what a cute lil darling:). CP

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We caught these 15-20 ft deep in 35-50 FOW. That is my graddaughter sitting in my son's lap on the boat. He's really the one who caught most of the fish....I was mostly just running the trolling motor from the back of the boat, watching him, and manning the dip net as needed. We took an underwater camera so that we could check out 8-10 of our favorite summer underwater structures but they were few and far between everywhere we checked. I can't wait until the weather gets really hot and the water gets really warm....they are a lot easier to find.....just look for the shad. That's my favorite time to fish Lake Monticello.

I was fishing there all weekend. Didnt see you. We were catfishing / bream fishing.

In fact we caught a white catfish. I'll start a thread to show the pic.

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Originally Posted by Vetrock

I was fishing there all weekend. Didnt see you. We were catfishing / bream fishing.

In fact we caught a white catfish. I'll start a thread to show the pic.

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We had the ones in the pictures caught by 8:00am. We were out of the lake by about 10:30. Spent most of the time moving around and putting the camera down to known brushpiles and Crappie haunts trying to figure out where they are hanging out now. We stayed in the deep water mostly.

Wow, those are some nice crappie. Good catch!

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Originally Posted by luvpt

We had the ones in the pictures caught by 8:00am. We were out of the lake by about 10:30. Spent most of the time moving around and putting the camera down to known brushpiles and Crappie haunts trying to figure out where they are hanging out now. We stayed in the deep water mostly.

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Great catch Steve. Congrats. Regarding your readiness the long, hot, dog days of summer, it wont be long now. I thought you had caught them all in January? :D....Take care buddy.

Can you tell us a little about your experiences with your camera,how far you can see,what you see,is it helpful ?etc. Thanks Crappie Boy

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Originally Posted by crappie boy

Can you tell us a little about your experiences with your camera,how far you can see,what you see,is it helpful ?etc. Thanks Crappie Boy

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Visibility in Lake Monticello is a good 10-12 ft. If we are fishing a clearwater lake we don't leave home without it!

What brand do you have and how much was it,was it worth the money?

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Originally Posted by crappie boy

What brand do you have and how much was it,was it worth the money?

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We use an Aquaview color system with an 80' retractable cable and LCD view screen. We used to have a black & white system which was infrared and worked a lot better in the deeper water. The color camera is not infrared and even though it has a light on the camera which can be turned on at the control screen is really only usable down to about 25 feet. Deeper than that is just too dark and the small light on the camera doesn't light up a whole lot. I am thinking about getting rid of the color system and going back to black & white with infrared. But if you fish CLEAR WATER lakes they are worth their weight in gold. Other lakes like Chicot, Grand, Washington, AR river, ect. they are pretty much useless. We don't even try to use it in those lakes anymore.

good post steve...i've been wondering if an aquaview would work in lake monticello...thanks for the info