November 20
Morning surface water temperatures are in the mid- to upper 60s and water levels typically fluctuate frequently. The water is still very clear.
The black bass fishing on Lake Monticello has only gotten better, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that in particular the smallmouth bass action has really turned on. Early in the morning there is a very good biting throwing a crankbait like a DT-10, DT-6 or squarebill around rock in 10 feet of water or less. There have been some large smallmouth caught recently this way.
After that it’s a deeper pattern, and with the birds starting to show up chasing gulls and loons out on the main water has become the go-to daytime pattern. Where the birds are diving there are fish chasing shad, and fishing a jigging spoon under them has been very productive. A swimbait could also work.
A few weeks ago it seemed that all the fish had left open water, but now they have gone back out there after the bait and some good bass have been caught in 45 feet and deeper. Once again no new on-the-water catfish report this week from Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) because it hasn’t gotten cold enough to draw him to Monticello for the wide-open fall bite, but he does advise that with surface temperatures still warm the free-line drifting bite should still be good. However, it could be getting to the point where anglers need to put some weight on their line because the fish are suspending a bit deeper.
Again, once temperatures drop a few more degrees it should be the peak time to catch a big blue catfish on Lake Monticello. Anchoring or drifting in 40-65 plus feet is the best way to catch a giant, and long points and humps close to deep water and timber are the best places to target.
White perch, gizzard shad, and bream will all work.
November 13
Morning surface water temperatures are still around 71 degrees and water levels typically fluctuate frequently. The water is gin clear.
The black bass on Lake Monticello are still biting very well, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that first thing the best bite continues to be found fishing riprap and rocky banks with a shallow running crankbait like a Spro Little John.
After that early bite it’s still all about the pockets, and fish are grouped up in the back third of the pockets in about 15-20 feet of water. The bait is back there and big fish are chasing it, and casting jerkbaits has been the best way to catch them. A tournament was won last Thursday on this pattern.
Having forward-facing sonar really helps locate the fish, but there are also big groups of fish around docks in pockets on Lake Monticello where you can reliably find huge schools of fish without any electronics. While there aren’t many docks, the ones that are there are holding a ton of fish.
There still aren’t many fish offshore.
No new on-the-water catfish report this week from Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) because it hasn’t gotten cold enough to draw him over there for the wide-open fall bite, but he does advise that with surface temperatures still 70 or better free-line drifting bite should still be good. It’s unlikely to the point yet where anglers need to put some weight on their line because the fish are suspending deeper.
Again, once temperatures drop a few more degrees it should be the peak time to catch a big blue catfish on Lake Monticello. Anchoring or drifting in 40-65 plus feet is the best way to catch a giant, and long points and humps close to deep water and timber are the best places to target.
White perch, gizzard shad, and bream will all work.
November 8
Morning surface water temperatures are around 72 degrees and water levels typically fluctuate frequently. The water is gin clear.
The black bass on Lake Monticello are biting very well, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that first thing you need to be fishing riprap and rocky banks with a shallow running crankbait like a Spro Little John.
After that early bite it’s all about the pockets, and fish are grouped up in the back third of the pockets in about 15-20 feet of water. The bait is back there and big fish are chasing it, and casting jerkbaits has been the best way to catch them. For that having forward-facing sonar really helps, but there are also big groups of fish around docks in pockets on Lake Monticello where you can reliably find huge schools of fish without any electronics. While there aren’t many docks, the ones that are there are holding a ton of fish.
Eric and his son Hunter have also spent enough time fishing offshore on the main lake around humps and other structure to see that it’s like a dead zone right now. The pockets are where the bass are.
No new on-the-water catfish report this week from Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) because it hasn’t gotten cold enough to draw him over there for the wide-open fall bite, but he does advise that with surface temperatures still 70 or better free-line drifting bite should still be good. It’s unlikely to the point yet where anglers need to put some weight on their line because the fish are suspending deeper.
Again, once temperatures drop a few more degrees it should be the peak time to catch a big blue catfish on Lake Monticello. Anchoring or drifting in 40-65 plus feet is the best way to catch a giant, and long points and humps close to deep water and timber are the best places to target.
October 30
Morning surface water temperatures are around 70-72 degrees and water levels typically fluctuate frequently.
The black bass fishing on Lake Monticello is still in early fall patterns, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that first thing there is a good buzzbait bite. The best action is in pockets off the main lake. After the sun gets up then fishing crankbaits on points is the best bet. Fish something like a DT-10 in 10-15 feet of water and throw it parallel to the points.
While there isn’t much of a true offshore pattern, there is also some good fishing with a shaky head around brush on points in 15-25 feet of water.
No new on-the-water catfish report this week from Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857), but he does advise that with surface temperatures still 70 or better free-line drifting bite should still be good. It’s unlikely to the point yet where anglers need to put some weight on their line because the fish are suspending deeper.
Additionally, once temperatures drop a few more degrees it should be the peak time to catch a big blue catfish on Lake Monticello. Anchoring or drifting in 40-65 plus feet is the best way to catch a giant, and long points and humps close to deep water and timber are the best places to target.
White perch, gizzard shad, and bream will all work.
October 16
Morning surface water temperatures are around 75 degrees and water levels typically fluctuate frequently.
The black bass fishing on Lake Monticello is pretty consistent from last week, at least before this cold front, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that first thing the best pattern is fishing shallow in less than 8 feet with a spinnerbait and a crankbait around rock. You can also catch some fish on a topwater lure early, especially when shad are popping on the surface.
There is also a good offshore bite later in the day, fishing points and humps in 15-30 feet of water with a shaky head. But the biggest fish continue to come when they are schooling over those some offshore holes, and a walking bait seems to be the best way to catch them.
No new on-the-water catfish report this week from Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857), but he does advise that with surface temperatures still in the mid-70s the free-line drifting bite should still be good. It’s unlikely to the point yet where anglers need to put some weight on their line because the fish are suspending deeper.
Additionally, once temperatures drop a few more degrees it should be the peak time to catch a big blue catfish on Lake Monticello. Anchoring or drifting in 40-65 plus feet is the best way to catch a giant, and long points and humps close to deep water and timber are the best places to target.
White perch, gizzard shad, and bream will all work.
October 9
Morning surface water temperatures are around 77 degrees and the upper end of the lake is clear while the lower end is dirty but improving. Water levels typically fluctuate frequently.
The fishing on Lake Monticello seems to be back pretty close to where it was before Helene, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that his son Hunter finished second in a bass tournament this Saturday on a dead fish penalty with over 16 pounds. First thing they started out shallow in less than 8 feet with a spinnerbait and a crankbait around rock, catching a limit. When that bite was over they moved offshore and fished points and humps with a shaky head in 15-20 feet of water.
The winning team apparently fished offshore, drop shotting deep humps in around 30 feet of water. But they caught their bigger fish when they came up schooling. Right now there are a lot of bass schooling on small bait all over Monticello, and they will take little Pop-Rs, small swimbaits, and down-sized walking baits.
No new on-the-water catfish report this week from Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857), but he does advise that with surface temperatures still in the upper 70s the free-line drifting bite should still be good. It’s unlikely to the point yet where anglers need to put some weight on their line because the fish are suspending deeper.
Additionally, once temperatures drop a few more degrees it should be the peak time to catch a big blue catfish on Lake Monticello. Anchoring or drifting in 40-65 plus feet is the best way to catch a giant, and long points and humps close to deep water and timber are the best places to target.
White perch, gizzard shad, and bream will all work.
October 2
No one we know has been fishing on Monticello since the storm, but reliable second-hand reports confirm that the water is clear on the 99 end and stained down the lake by the reactor. Obviously that is likely to be a fluid situation as water gets pumped in and out of the Broad.
Besides the hearsay that some really big catfish are being caught from public docks on large pieces of fresh bream we don’t have any other news, but we will report back as soon as we do!
September 26
Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 70s. Water levels generally fluctuate daily.
The topwater bite on Lake Monticello is still the best way to catch bass, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that with shad activity all over the surface the best topwater bite is still early – but it can go all day. The best places to look are around natural rock, red clay points, or blowdowns, but more generally anywhere you see bait is worth fishing. Walking baits are producing.
When the topwater bite tails off then crankbaits are fishing well at the mouths of coves in 15-20 feet when Dominion is pulling water, but when there is no current not even soft plastics are working very well right now. It’s unclear why the worm bite has slowed.
Persistently high water temperatures mean that the Monticello catfish can still be caught free-lining in open water, and Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) reports that this is actually a pattern you can carry into the later fall even after temperatures dip. You just need to put some weight on your line as the fish suspend deeper. But for now with temperatures in the upper 70s you can still just pull protein-rich baits high in the water column over deep water.
While the biggest cats have still been caught anchoring recently in deep water, changing water conditions after Helene could ignite the deep-drifting pattern that can be so productive. More to follow after the weekend.
September 19
Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are around 77 degrees. Water levels generally fluctuate daily.
The bass are definitely moving into fall patterns on Lake Monticello, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that first thing there is a good topwater bite all around the lake. The team that figured that out doubled the weight of the next best team in a recent tournament – and had so much fun they came back the next day and caught 23 pounds! Both days it was a mix of largemouth and smallmouth bass.
Beyond that there are fish on brush piles in the mouths of coves in 15-20 feet of water, and you can also catch fish on points in the same depth. However, the quality of the bite and how you approach the fish is dependent on water conditions. One team caught three 7-pounders on 8XD and 10XD crankbaits in practice when they were pulling water, but when there was no current on tournament day could only get bit on worms and managed 8 pounds. Most of the time you can catch all the small bass you want in less than 15-20 feet of water inside coves fishing a shaky head.
Overall, it does seem that most of the fish have left their offshore haunts and headed towards the shore.
While he hasn’t been there this week there have been some good results with the big Monticello catfish, and Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) reports that in a recent tournament the biggest fish were caught anchoring in fairly deep water. Before long the fall deep-drifting pattern should come on, but for now it seems that anchoring big baits out deep around depth changes is the best approach.
It also remains warm enough that the free-line drifting bite is really good, and anglers can still catch excellent numbers of fish with some better ones over 5 pounds mixed in.
Again, the pattern is just pulling several rods with small baits high in the water column over deep water, and any protein from herring to chicken to white perch to bream and more will catch fish. Even though most of the fish are 1-3 pounds blues have big mouths and an 8/0 circle hook will rarely miss, and it can help when you run into one of the bigger fish that are always out there and sometimes bite.
September 5
Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are around 80 degrees and clarity is normal. Water levels generally fluctuate daily.
It continues to be a tale of two lakes on Lake Monticello, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that the bassfishing is nothing short of a grind when the water is not running and creating current. In a tournament under these conditions over the weekend 6 pounds won! But then when the water is moving the fishing can be much better.
Fish continue to migrate from the main lake to the coves. While there are still a lot of big fish on the main lake some have left, but it seems that most of the smaller fish have headed into the coves and pockets. Generally the deeper fish are 30 feet down on the main lake – either on the bottom or suspended – while the fish in coves and pockets are in 15-18 feet.
It's a familiar story with baits, and when there is no current you pretty much have to throw a shaky head or drop shot. At the same time, when there is current flutter spoons and big crankbaits continue to catch fish.
Current flow also make a difference with the big catfish, and Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service(803-924-0857) reports that when the water isn’t moving it’s far less likely to get a big bite. But the free-line fishing continues to be very good about all the time, and anglers are still catching excellent numbers of fish with some better ones over 5 pounds mixed in.
Again, the pattern is just pulling several rods with small baits high in the water column over deep water, and any protein from herring to chicken to white perch to bream and more will catch fish. Even though most of the fish are 1-3 pounds blues have big mouths and an 8/0 circle hook will rarely miss, and it can help when you run into one of the bigger fish that are always out there and sometimes bite.
August 27
Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are down to about 80 degrees, but will rise again as air temperatures do. Water levels generally fluctuate daily.
The cooler weather last week has pretty dramatically moved the bass on Lake Monticello, and BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that as the temperatures dropped the bait and in turn bass have left the main lake and headed to the coves. While they did not see or catch a single fish on the main lake, in one pocket they saw several hundred bass. Most of the fish they caught were in the 15-18 foot range, but they did find some in deeper coves up to 30 feet deep.
In a familiar pattern the fishing is still slow when they aren’t pulling water, and anglers have to rely on drop shots and other finesse techniques. When there is current bass will still eat crankbaits, flutter spoons, and big worms.
It’s unclear whether bait and fish will move back to the main lake as temperatures rebound, but as the days get shorter there is certainly the possibility that they will stay in the coves.
While there’s still not much good news to report with big catfish, Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) reports that the free-line drifting bite over deep water has been very good this week. Anglers have been catching excellent numbers of fish with some better ones over 5 pounds mixed in.
Again, the pattern is just pulling several rods with small baits high in the water column over deep water, and any protein from herring to chicken to white perch to bream and more will catch fish. Even though most of the fish are under 5 pounds blues have big mouths and an 8/0 circle hook will rarely miss, and it can help when you run into one of the bigger fish that are sometimes out there.
August 13
Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are about 85 degrees. Water levels generally fluctuate daily.
While BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union hasn’t been on the lake since the storm came through, he notes that there was already some seasonal change taking place just before that. As the nights get shorter bait starts to move into the coves, and they are already finding smaller bass starting to move shallower into those same areas.
At the same time the bigger fish are still out on the main lake around points and humps in 25-35 feet of water, and when they are pulling water they will take a deep diving crankbait or flutter spoon. When they aren’t pulling water fish will only take something like a shaky head – and you are less likely to catch a good one.
Eric also notes that main lake brush in 22-30 feet is still loaded with crappie.
The blue catfish spawn should finally be done on Monticello, but Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) reports that they still aren’t catching a lot of big fish. Worries about a population issue continue.
But Monticello is certainly still full of small catfish, and this is prime time for free-line drifting. It’s really as simple as pulling a bunch of small baits high in the water column over deep water, and any protein from herring to chicken to white perch to bream and more will catch fish. Even though most of the fish are under 5 pounds blues have big mouths and an 8/0 circle hook will rarely miss, and it can help when you run into one of the bigger fish that are sometimes out there.
August 1
Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are about 86 degrees and the water is clear even though the river is dirty. Water levels generally fluctuate daily.
For the first time ever on Monticello BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that this week he has seen a thermocline at about 30 feet near the 99 boat ramp, and perhaps that explains why he is seeing a lot of bait move up in the water column. At the same time there are still giant schools of 200-300 fish out on the main lake around points and humps in 25-35 feet of water, and when they are pulling water they will take a deep diving crankbait or flutter spoon. When they aren’t pulling water fish will only take something like a shaky head – and you are less likely to catch a good one.
There are also starting to be more fish in the coves in 8-20 feet of water, but in general they are smaller right now.
Eric also notes that main lake brush in 22-30 feet is loaded with crappie right now.
It’s not entirely clear what’s going on with the big catfish on Monticello right now, and Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) reports that the catches of trophy fish are definitely way down. At the same time, on nearby Parr Reservoir the bite for big blues is on fire, and anglers speculate about whether bow fishing has really hurt the blue cats on Monty.
But Monticello is certainly still full of small catfish, and this is prime time for free-line drifting. It’s really as simple as pulling a bunch of small baits high in the water column over deep water, and any protein from herring to chicken to white perch to bream and more will catch fish. Even though most of the fish are under 5 pounds blues have big mouths and an 8/0 circle hook will rarely miss, and it can help when you run into one of the bigger fish that are sometimes out there.
July 18
Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are about 86-87 degrees and the water is clear. Water levels generally fluctuate daily.
Again this week the bass action on Lake Monticello is all about current, but when they are pulling water (most reliably during the week) BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that the fishing can be outstanding. Eric’s son Hunter has been catching 50 or more fish each day, but the fish are in pretty specific places and you have to know the offshore terrain – or at least be willing to explore it. Beating the bank won’t get you much if anything.
The shallowest they have caught fish has been in 25 feet, and they are catching them out to 35 feet or more. At times they will take flutter spoons and deep-diving crankbaits, but most of the time the ticket to getting bites is a 3/8 ounce football head shaky head with any worm with a red base – redbug, plum, etc. Green pumpkin has not been working as well. The fish are off the ends of points and on humps.
Even if they aren’t deep like the bass the majority of the catfish are certainly over deep water, and Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) reports that eating-sized blues are biting very well on the free-line drifting bite. It’s really as simple as pulling a bunch of small baits high in the water column over deep water, and any protein from herring to chicken to white perch to bream and more will catch fish. Even though most of the fish are under 5 pounds blues have big mouths and an 8/0 circle hook will rarely miss, and it can help when you run into one of the bigger fish that are sometimes out there.
To specifically target big fish the best pattern remains to fish a lot of rods and fan-cast baits at a variety of depths from about 10 feet out to 30 or so feet around long points and underwater humps. White perch and bream are the preferred baits for big fish right now, and gizzard shad will also work. If you fish herring you need to check the line more often with this less durable bait that small fish are more likely to pick at.
July 11
Lake Monticello morning surface water temperatures are in the mid-80s or higher. Water levels generally fluctuate daily.
The lake has gotten so hot that it’s very, very hard to catch fish unless they are pulling water, but when there is current BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union reports that the bass bite is still pretty good. The fish are pretty much all offshore still, and when they are biting you can catch lots of small fish by working the ends of points in 18-25 feet with a shaky head. For bigger fish then an 8XD or 10XD is the best bet. For both baits you need to fish parallel to the points and keep the bait in deep water. Humps will also hold fish.
As it should be for some time the free-line drifting bite for catfish is really good, and Captain William Attaway with Slick Willie’s Guide Service (803-924-0857) reports that eating-sized blues are suspended high in the water column over deep water and they are hungry. You can easily catch a cooler full of fish up to about five pounds, and there is certainly the chance for a big one. A variety of baits ranging from cut fish to chicken to mussels will work, and it’s really as simple as pulling several rods with small pieces of bait across the lake.
As the spawn is mostly over the bite for big fish has also improved, and the best pattern for targeting large fish remains to fish a lot of rods and fan-cast baits at a variety of depths from about 10 feet out to 30 or so feet around long points and underwater humps. White perch and bream are the preferred baits for big fish right now, but herring and gizzard shad will also work.