Thread: anyone fish monticello

I have catfished there years ago, and have read it produces more bass per acre than any other lake in texas. I love all fishing but suprised to find nothing on the lake here. Is the crappie fishing poor here or what?

The crappie population at Lake Monticello is very limited according to the previous fish surveys I've conducted. I've seen several power plant cooling reservoirs that crappie don't do well in most of the time. Every once in a while a strong year class of crappie will make it and provide some good fishing, but most years there just won't be many fish available to catch.

The last angler survey we conducted at Monticello was from December 2006 through February 2007. Of all the hours anglers spent fishing during that 3-month period, only 0.2% was from anglers specifically fishing for crappie. We estimated that only 49 black crappie were harvested by anglers during that time.

Therefore, I would not recommend trying to fish for crappie on Monticello. I'd stick with more of the traditional winter fisheries. Lots of crappie are being caught on Lake O' the Pines and Caddo right now. I haven't done any work on Bob Sandlin or Cypress Springs this winter, but they could also be good places to try.

I hope this helps.

Tim Bister
District Fisheries Biologist
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
3802 East End Blvd. South
Marshall, TX 75672
903-938-1007
[email protected]