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Post by chriskline on Jul 20, 2015 13:18:39 GMT -5
Well folks, i fiiiinally got my tackle to Indiana (after 3 years living here)... I'm going to mainly (for now) be fishing Monroe as it is just a 10 minute drive from the house.
I'm just looking for some pointers on where people are having luck and what they're using. I'm guessing most of the fishing in there is going to be crappie, LM bass and walleye. (any smallies in there???) Most of the gear i brought back is jigs, spinners, crank baits, some worm harnesses... I have a boat, but no trolling motor (gonna have to see if my motor can go slow enough to troll) so i can get to just about anywhere on the lake.
Soooo... any tips? and thanks in advance!!
<most of my fishing experience has been smallmouth and walleye fishing on Niagara River and eastern end of Lake Erie>
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Post by onebentarrow on Jul 20, 2015 16:26:18 GMT -5
U did not state what size boat and motor u have. I have 2 boats,a 12 foot with a 10 horse and I back troll with it, ie put motor in reverse and idle (or a little more) backwards. Works great. The 17 foot has too big a motor so I have to use a trollingmotor. U may need to git a drift sock to tie to the front of the boat to slow u down enough. I have heard a cheep drift sock is a 5 gal bucket with some holes in the bottom and a rope. Can't give any help on fishing as I have never been on that lake. Good luck. Keep us posted on your success as we (I) might come that way if u do good
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Post by duff on Jul 20, 2015 19:39:58 GMT -5
Wipers and channel catfish are my favorite to chase there. Find the shad find the cish!
Good luck
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Post by nfalls116 on Jul 20, 2015 19:53:20 GMT -5
Wipers and channel catfish are my favorite to chase there. Find the shad find the cish! Good luck wipers? |
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Post by duff on Jul 20, 2015 20:21:45 GMT -5
Hybred striped bass.
White X striped bass = wiper
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Post by nfalls116 on Jul 20, 2015 20:31:01 GMT -5
Hybred striped bass. White X striped bass = wiper Oh we always just called them hybrid striped bass must be some kind of hip new lingo |
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Post by duff on Jul 20, 2015 20:39:08 GMT -5
Nope unless from the 90s is new. That was ehat dnr called them back then.
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Post by nfalls116 on Jul 20, 2015 20:46:01 GMT -5
Nope unless from the 90s is new. That was ehat dnr called them back then. well its to old then |
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Post by chriskline on Jul 21, 2015 7:21:00 GMT -5
U did not state what size boat and motor u have. I have an 18' Glastron with a 190 I/O. I'm almost positive it wont be able to go slow enough, but wont know for sure til i try. It does have all the connections to just drop a trolling motor on (it's a ski/fish combo), but i bought it used and it didnt have the troller with it. |
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Post by irishhunter on Jul 26, 2015 8:12:50 GMT -5
water is very high right now
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Post by duff on Jul 26, 2015 8:58:53 GMT -5
Took a run about on the lake Saturday afternoon it is bery high. Lots of debris. Would be hard trolling but if you had live bait and found the shad schools I bet you could do ok on the wipers and cats
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Post by duff on Jul 26, 2015 9:05:57 GMT -5
U did not state what size boat and motor u have. I have an 18' Glastron with a 190 I/O. I'm almost positive it wont be able to go slow enough, but wont know for sure til i try. It does have all the connections to just drop a trolling motor on (it's a ski/fish combo), but i bought it used and it didnt have the troller with it. Depending on you budget I would love to get a wireless trolling motor with push button deploy and stow but that is about 1000 minimum...Not really in my range. I did buy a new trolling motor 2 yrs back that has a cord long enough to reach back where I sit when trolling but it is still a pita to deploy and stow....but in the 3-500 range was more for me. It is nice for drifting and slow trolling to control my motor from the back of the boat. |
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Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Jul 27, 2015 15:33:13 GMT -5
I've caught a lot of crappie there this year just off a dock. Wiper are nice there too.
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Post by duff on Jul 28, 2015 4:33:38 GMT -5
Jon, were the decent sized crappie or could you see light through them?
Seems all the crappie I catch there are super thin. But I can catch them by the boatload. I did see where a crappie tourney down there was won with average weight just over 2# per fish. I'd live to find them!!!
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Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Jul 28, 2015 5:35:27 GMT -5
Jon, were the decent sized crappie or could you see light through them? Seems all the crappie I catch there are super thin. But I can catch them by the boatload. I did see where a crappie tourney down there was won with average weight just over 2# per fish. I'd live to find them!!! That is amazing! I'd only need one of them. Mine have all been about the same average size, nothing that I felt like taking a photo of. LOL However, we caught plenty and my buddy cleaned them all for me.  |
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Post by Land Between the Lakes on Aug 8, 2015 18:42:21 GMT -5
The lake gets a lot of pressure. But right now the night fishing for Bass is good. In the summer the best thing to do is to go out on the main lake and try to find ledges and offshore structure and find schools of bass and crappie. Right now there is some decent topwater fishing on the points and in the coves early in the morning and late in the evening, the night fishing is also decent.
In the fall the shad should start to migrating to the bays once the water starts cooling down, this can create really good fishing in October for Bass up shallow. The fall fishing is good because the lake is not crowded at all.
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Post by Land Between the Lakes on Aug 8, 2015 18:48:02 GMT -5
Jon, were the decent sized crappie or could you see light through them? Seems all the crappie I catch there are super thin. But I can catch them by the boatload. I did see where a crappie tourney down there was won with average weight just over 2# per fish. I'd live to find them!!! That is amazing! I'd only need one of them. Mine have all been about the same average size, nothing that I felt like taking a photo of. LOL However, we caught plenty and my buddy cleaned them all for me. I really think the reason Lake Monroe has so many small Crappie is because they are over populated in certain areas. I honesty think this is because there has been a decline in the Bass and other predatory fish populations. So the lake is unbalanced and not healthy. There used to be more vegetation in the lake, and a lot more Bass in my opinion. Then the vegetation started decreasing and so did the bass population. Since then they lake has been full of tons of small Crappie. I think it's because there are not enough Bass and other predators to keep the Crappie numbers in check. There are too many Crappie competing with each other for food, so none of them hardly get big. If the lake had more Bass and other predatory fish, they would eat a large amount of the small crappie and their fry and eggs. Then you would have fewer Crappie. And the few Crappie would have more food and less competition for food so they would get larger. |
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Post by esshup on Aug 8, 2015 22:01:19 GMT -5
Crappie have a boom and bust spawning cycle. Some years they pull off a huge spawn, others not so large. Since Crappie spawn before bass, the young of the year Crappie can eat the baby Bass.
You are correct, in a large lake, there needs to be more predators. BUT, with shad and other smaller, less spiny fish, the bass will target those fish first, then the crappies. The largemouth that were spawned last year are the ones that will be eating this years YOY Crappie.
If Monroe sees a lot of bass tournaments, that's another reason for lower bass numbers. I'd wager that there is mortality from C&R that just don't float.
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