May 4

Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 60s and the lake remains dirty. Water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

The bass spawn is mostly done and the shad spawn is winding down on Lake Monticello, and as a result BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that most of the fish are about to move deep.  First thing it’s still worth cranking long tapering points, and if you can find the tail end of the shad spawn there should be a topwater bite.  Early and late you can also fish topwaters lures around the dam – but with all that said most of the fish are soon to be if not already in 30-40 feet.

The best pattern is to fish points or humps in that range around standing timber, of which people don’t realize how much Monticello has. Both hair jigs and flutter spoons are effective, and bass are mostly feeding on big perch. Often they will be on the bottom, but at other times you will see them on your electronics spaghettiing under the boat when they are feeding.  

With the Lake Monticello catfish in pre-spawn feeding mode this is one of the times when they are eating the best, and Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that most of the of the fish are relatively shallow and trying to store up energy for the spawn. The biggest spawning month is usually June and so May can be a wide-open feeding binge.

The best pattern is to concentrate on points in the 10-20 foot depth range and fan-cast a bunch of baits at a variety of depths. Also don’t overlook pockets, especially pockets with cover like stumps, that can hold a lot of the fish that catfish want to eat. 

With such abundant prey big Lake Monticello catfish can be finicky, and so the best bet is to offer a variety of baits including gizzard shad, herring, white perch and bluegill. 

In a few more weeks the free-line drifting bite will start, and there could already be some smaller fish starting to suspend that will eat. 

April 21

Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are around 68-70 and the lake remains dirty. Water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

There are still some bass spawning on Lake Monticello, but BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that most bass fishermen are focused on the shad spawn right now. Smaller shad seem to be spawning in the pockets, while bigger shad are spawning around riprap. Topwater lures will work but a jerkbait is very hard to beat right now, which will be the case until the shad spawn ends when water temperatures pass about 74. Later in the day when the bass are not up feeding on shad a Carolina rig is working pretty well.

Overall the dam is the best place to fish right now.

Catfish report to follow fromCaptain William Attaway (803-924-0857). 

April 11

Lake Monticello water temperatures are in the low to mid-60s and the lake is unusually stained. Water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

As the bass spawn starts to wind down on Lake Monticello some exciting new bites are now in play, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that in coves with cleaner water there has been a really good jerkbait bite. The action is mostly in less than 10 feet of water for post-spawn fish, and when they don’t want a jerkbait a shakey head has also been working well.

While this weekend very temporarily delayed it, there is also a shad spawn going on first thing in the morning on riprap banks – of which Monticello has no shortage!  Spinnerbaits and crankbaits will both work.  

Even as it was set back by the last cold snap, overall the shallow bite forcatfish is improving andCaptain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that from what he is seeing fish are now concentrating in the 10-20 foot range. Anchoring on long points that run out into the lake is the best pattern, especially if they have some stumps on them. There will also be some fish caught in pockets. The riprap at the dam will also hold some fish, but that bite usually comes on a little closer to the spawn. 

Fan-cast your baits at different depths from as shallow as 5 feet out to as deep as 30 or so feet, and then narrow down the most productive range and put more baits there. Cut bream, gizzard shad and white perch will all work. 

March 30

Lake Monticello water temperatures are in the low to mid-60s. Water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

The bass are at all three stages of the spawn on Lake Monticello, but BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that the most significant numbers of fish are pre-spawn or spawning over most of the lake. But down near the power plant there are likely to be more post-spawn fish. 

Perhaps the best pattern is to crank the Highway 99 or 215 riprap first, and a spinnerbait is also good around the rocks. But once the sun gets up by about 10 o’clock then fishing in spawning pockets and looking for bed fish is the best pattern. Most any soft plastic that you have confidence in can work. 

Very soon there will be an outstanding jerkbait bite on Lake Monticello, and from shallow out to 20 feet off points it will be productive. 

The shallow bite forcatfish is improving, andCaptain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that from what he is seeing fish are getting very shallow and concentrating in the 10-20 foot range. Anchoring on long points that run out into the lake is the best pattern, especially if they have some stumps on them. There will also be some fish caught in pockets. The riprap at the dam will also hold some fish, but that bite usually comes on a little closer to the spawn. 

Fan-cast your baits at different depths from as shallow as 5 feet out to as deep as 30 or so feet, and then narrow down the most productive range and put more baits there. Cut bream, gizzard shad and white perch will all work. 

March 16

Lake Monticello water temperatures are in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

The cold snap has delayed the progression of spring bass fishing on Monticello, but BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that fish are still biting pretty well. Early in the morning the best pattern is a spinnerbait fished around rock, but after the sun gets up then an Alabama rig fished in pockets has been working the best. Last Saturday’s tournament was won on an Alabama rig. 

The catfish have still not really turned on at Lake Monticello, but Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that the best pattern remains to anchor and fan-cast baits to ledges and points covering a wide range of depths. Early in the morning look for the fish to set up shallower, but then to pull out deeper as the sun comes up. 

White perch and gizzard shad should be the best baits right now, but nothing is very consistent.

March 9

Lake Monticello water temperatures are in the 60s. Water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

It’s getting to be an exciting time for bass fishing on Monticello, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that first thing in the morning there is a good spinnerbait bite on riprap banks. After that you have to think about what stage of the spawn the fish are in, and it may be a mix of all three stages. A few could be post-spawn, some are actively on beds, but the most are staging or pulling up and looking for places to spawn in pockets.

Probably the best way to approach the fish right now is with a Carolina rig, and it’s worth fishing it from the backs of pockets out to about 15 feet. Especially concentrate on any cover inside the pockets.

The catfish have still not really turned on at Lake Monticello, but Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that the best pattern remains to anchor and fan-cast baits to ledges and points covering a wide range of depths. Early in the morning look for the fish to set up shallower, but then to pull out deeper as the sun comes up. 

White perch and gizzard shad should be the best baits right now, but nothing is very consistent.

February 23

Lake Monticello water temperatures range from the mid-50s into the 60s, depending on section of the lake.  Near the power plant is warmer.  The lake is still dirty by Monticello standards and water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

The bass fishing is fair but not good on Monticello, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that it has taken 14 and 17 pounds to win recent tournaments, respectively. Between the stained water and the season there is essentially no deep bite on Monticello, and checking offshore spots it’s clear the fish just aren’t there.

Fish are moving up, and particularly in the lower lake there could be some fish that spawn soon. Additionally, smallmouth bass spawn earlier (and deeper) than largemouth, and so they could be on beds soon if not already. But you may never see them.

The best patterns have been shallow cranking and throwing an Alabama rig, and the best places to fish have been the rip rap by the dam as well as the 99 ramp. It’s also worth looking in the very backs of pockets. 

The catfish have still not really turned on at Lake Monticello, but Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that the best pattern is still to anchor and fan-cast baits to ledges and points covering a wide range of depths. Early in the morning look for the fish to set up shallower, but then to pull out deeper as the sun comes up. 

White perch and gizzard shad should be the best baits right now, but nothing is very consistent.

February 15

Lake Monticello water temperatures range from the lower to upper 50s, depending on section of the lake.  Near the power plant is warmer.  The lake is still more stained than normal and water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

With Lake Monticello water more stained than usual, BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union says that these warm days have the bass moving up shallow as the stained water warms more quickly. Spinnerbaits are good early, and you can fish them all day on wind-blown points and banks. There is also a good crankbait bite around the riprap at both landings and along the dam. This is a great time to target smallmouth in the rocks which are biting better than normal. 

The catfish have still not really turned on at Lake Monticello, but Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that the best pattern is still to anchor and fan-cast baits to ledges and points covering a wide range of depths. Early in the morning look for the fish to set up shallower, but then to pull out deeper as the sun comes up. 

White perch and gizzard shad should be the best baits right now, but nothing is very consistent.

January 26

Lake Monticello water temperatures range from 53-59 degrees, depending on section of the lake.  Near the power plant is warmer.  Visibility is 3-5 feet and water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union says if he were fishing a tournament tomorrow on Monticello he wouldn’t do anything differently from what Andy Wicker did last week, and he wouldn’t put down the A-rig all day and would concentrate on brush and rocky points in 10-20 feet that were near main lake and secondary points – tickling the A-rig just over the structure. 

However, he does report that you can catch plenty of smallmouth bass shallow cranking in 10 feet or less. They seem to be off the sides of points, not on the points themselves. While many of the fish are small there are some good ones like this 4-pounder Eric caught.

There are no new reports from Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) since the Tri-Lakes Catfish Club had some pretty tough conditions last week, and there’s no reason to think the fishing has improved very much. But the best bet is probably still anchoring on ledges and covering water with a ton of baits from 15 to 60 plus feet of water.  Drifting has been useless. 

White perch and gizzard shad should be the best baits right now, but nothing is very consistent.

January 20

Lake Monticello water temperatures range from 53-59 degrees, depending on section of the lake. Near the power plant is warmer.  Visibility is 3-5 feet and water levels typically fluctuate daily.  

It was a really tough day of bass fishing Sunday on Lake Monticello, and tournament angler Andy Wicker of Pomaria reports that bites were hard to come by. In practice he noticed that the fish weren’t on his deep holes in 30-45 feet (even though there was a ton of bait) and so he abandoned that, and the only practice bites he had were on an Alabama rig in random spots. Hence he decided to throw it all tournament day. 

On Sunday he found the fish on just a few spots where he caught all his fish. One group was on brush in 18-20 feet on a sharp drop, and another group were on rocky points in 12-15 feet. They seemed to want to be near main lake and secondary points. Every single fish he caught was on an Alabama rig retrieved deep and very slowly just above the brush or rock, and if the bait lifted up any higher the fish showed no interest. He threw a shakey head, spinnerbait and a crankbait but had no bites.     

The other top weights Sunday seemed to come shallow cranking. 

While Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) didn’t make it up to Monticello this weekend, the Tri-Lakes Catfish Club had a 13-boat tournament Saturday and conditions were rough. Nathan Morrow took first place with 40.1 pounds including an 18.7 pound big fish, Team Outlaws took second with 29.5 pounds and Team Gut Bucket took third also with 29.5 after the big fish tie breaker. The overall big fish was caught by Team Smackdown at 20.10 pounds. 

Over half the field did not weight a fish, and overall it’s clearly still some tough fishing on Monticello. 

January 12

Lake Monticello water temperatures range from the low to upper 50s, depending on section of the lake. Near the power plant is warmer. The water is still fairly clear and lake levels normally fluctuate daily.

While some anglers are certainly struggling to catch bass on Lake Monticello right now, BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that there are also plenty of fish being caught. You can fish the way you want to fish if you get in the right area and on the right pattern. 

A primary pattern right now is fishing around bait, and wind blow pockets that stack up with bait are holding a lot of fish. From the bank out to about 18 feet an Alabama rig is working really well, while in the same bait-filled areas in 15-38 feet a jigging spoon is strong. On his last trip out Eric caught 18 fish on the spoon as well as numerous yellow perch and something big that felt like a catfish which they couldn’t turn. 

Near the power plant there is a shallow running crankbait bite with DT-6s, and most of these fish are being caught in 6 or less feet of water.   

While these are good ways to catch numbers of fish, the biggest bass right now seem to be coming on a jig in 15-25 feet. There are even some reports out to 40 feet, but Eric can’t verify that.  While there isn’t much deeper rock on Lake Monticello the best jig fishing is around deeper rock. 

Some big smallmouth and seven plus pound largemouth have come recently on a jig. 

It’s hard to make sense of the catfishon Lake Monticello, and Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that they are marking an absolute ton of fish. However, the trick is getting them to bite and some days they will barely eat. Perhaps it’s a time of year thing, and perhaps the problem is an excess of bait.  Maybe one reason bass fishermen continue to catch big catfish is because on days when they aren’t really hungry you can still possibly trigger a reaction bite. 

Drifting still doesn’t seem to be much good, and the best fishing has come anchoring on ledges and covering water with a ton of baits from 15 to 60 plus feet of water. White perch and gizzard shad should be the best baits right now, but nothing is very consistent.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the tournament this Saturday. 

January 5

Lake Monticello water temperatures are in the low to mid-50s. Lake levels normally fluctuate daily.

As predicted the shallow bass patterns have pretty much disappeared on Lake Monticello, but BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that there has been a good bite on a jigging spoons in about 45 feet of water. The fish are relating to ditches at the center of creeks and gullies, and the bite continues to be better on the Highway 99 Ramp end of the lake instead of down near the power plant. 

It's not fast action for bigcatfish on Lake Monticello, but Captain William Attaway (803-924-0857) reports that if you are patient you can still get a big bite. Drifting has pretty much disappeared as an effective pattern, and the best action has been coming anchoring on very deep ledges with in 55-65 plus feet of water.  

White perch and gizzard shad are the best baits right now.