Monticello mayhem

Bass begin transitioning to fall pattern

September is a bit of a transition month for bass at Lake Monticello, but BYA Fishing’s Eric Enlow of Union said the first week or so of the month usually fishes like an extension of summer. Shortly after that, the bass really get on their fall transition.

“The bass will begin pulling into windblown pockets and coves, just going where the baitfish go. You’ll still find a few fish on main lake points, but most of the fish are moving shallower by this time of year,” he said.

When going after the small numbers of bass on the main lake points, Enlow said Strike King 6XD and 8XD lures are good, as long as water is being pulled. Shaky heads are also good choices.

But the bulk of his fishing right now will be with a 5XD or 6XD on secondary points in about 10 feet of water, and tight to those points, as long as the lake is pulling water.

When the water’s not moving, he’ll find the fish off of the points, and staging in ditches from 10 to 25 feet deep. He likes using a big Zoom Ole Monster worm, Texas-rigged when targeting these fish.

On some days, Enlow said the bass will school in the early morning. His favorite lure for these fish is a BYA Mad Shad, a hard-bodied fluke that uses a soft plastic tail and can be fished at any depth.

In the second half of this month, water temperatures typically drop a considerable amount, and this adds a new dynamic to the fishing.

Smallmouth too

Once those surface temeratures get down into the 70s, buzzbaits come into play and can be very effective.

“The buzzbait bite really comes on at Monticello, and we’ll catch them running pockets in the early morning all over the lake. Then, on the lower end of the lake, along the bank, we’ll catch them on buzzbaits all along downed trees near the bank. This catches largemouth and smallmouth,” he said. “The smallmouth bite is surprisingly good. On cool mornings, we catch them around woody cover in shallow water on buzzbaits.”

Just like in the first half of the month, if bass are schooling in the early morning hours, the Mad Shad works well. But if the fish aren’t schooling and some water is being pulled, it’s time to do some crankbait fishing at the ends of secondary points. Crankbaits like a DT-6 or a DT-10 are good options. As the sun rises and the day begins to heat up, casting a 5XD or 6XD in the middle of pockets, and running them along the tops of brush is a good tactic.

Many anglers struggle when no water is being pulled on Lake Monticello during any point this month. Enlow said that’s when anglers need to use a shaky head.

“Perch jerking” is also effective this month on Monticello. This is basically dropping any type of lure straight down, then retrieving it with quick jerks. Doing this in just about any depth, where any type of debris is located, will catch any number of species, including bass, perch, crappie, catfish and bream.