Lake
Monroe's Serious Bassin'
by
Tony Clifton
Anglers
looking for largemouth action in
a portion of the state that has been
plagued by drought in recent years
can find it here. Now is the time
to give Lake Monroe a try!
Central Florida anglers don't normally
have to travel very far to find quality
bass fishing. At least, they haven't
in the past. This year, however,
things could be a bit different.
With the entire Kissimmee Chain drawn
down to levels that may cause navigation
problems, and many other lakes experiencing
low water levels due to the prolonged
drought, just finding a place to
conveniently launch your bass boat
could be difficult. That's why more
than a few anglers will be giving
Lake Monroe's 9,406 acres a long
look this spring.
Unlike many other central Florida
lakes, Monroe has weathered the drought
years quite nicely. As part of the
St. Johns River system, it's not
going to "dry up" unless
the Atlantic Ocean does! That's one
reason anglers might want to consider
it this spring. On top of that, the
lake is now offering outstanding
spring bassin' - thanks to a concerted
effort on the part of the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
(FWCC).
"There was a time, and it wasn't
that long ago, when Lake Monroe wouldn't
have been on any fishing list of
mine," explains Orlando bass
guide Tommy Lee Young. "But
in the last five years it has really
come on strong."
Eddie
Bussard targets the deep grass
lines to find largemouths just
after the spawn.
Photo by Tony
Clifton |
Deltona
bass guide Eddie Bussard, who grew
up on the banks of Lake Monroe, certainly
agrees.
"I would have to say that Monroe
is one of the best spring fishing
spots on the St. Johns River today," he
says. "The FWCC has done an
absolutely phenomenal job in restoring
aquatic vegetation, and that has
really turned this lake around. I've
fished it all my life, and this is
the best it has been in the last
20 years. I'd put it right up there
with the best central Florida has
to offer during the spring spawning
season."
Those accolades have not been associated
with Monroe in the past. If it hadn't
been for a very innovative and highly
successful restoration effort on
the part of the FWCC, they wouldn't
be now.
There were a number of factors that
came into play during the 1970s and
'80s that degraded the lake's water
quality to the point at which vegetation
could not grow.
Without vegetation you don't have
a healthy environment, and without
a healthy environment, you don't
have a fishery. That is precisely
what happened to Monroe, and the
fishery crashed - big time!
Enter the FWCC.
"Working
in cooperation with the St. Johns
River Water Management District (SJRWMD),
we were able to address many of the
water quality problems that had degraded
the lake and killed off the vegetation," says
FWCC biologist Ed Hayes, who led
the restoration effort. "That
was accomplished by reducing or removing
many of the sources of poor quality
inflowing water, and in acquiring
surrounding lands and using them
to re-establish a natural marsh to
further filter excessive nutrients
- which were a major cause of the
water quality problems."
That was a start in restoring the lake, but it still left a denuded lake that
lacked the vegetation to support a healthy fishery. The solution was to plant
the vegetation needed, which proved quite interesting.
" Eelgrass is a key aquatic plant
in the St. Johns River system," Hayes notes, "and it was important
to re-establish that because there was virtually none in the lake. But when we
did our first small test plantings, the eelgrass we planted was disappearing
almost immediately. We looked around - scratched our heads - and finally figured
out that the turtles were eating it. We'd plant it during the day and they would
come in that night and eat all the new plants. Once we figured that out, we used
chicken wire to actually fence in a couple of acres of water to keep the turtles
away from the grass. Eddie Bussard targets the deep grass lines to find
largemouths just after the spawn. Photo by Tony Clifton "That let the grass
grow well," he said, chuckling, "but as soon as we took the fence out,
the turtles invaded in force, and it only took them three or four days to mow
it down. We finally fenced a 100-acre section - planted 10 acres of it - and
kept the fence in place until the grass had really taken hold and started to
spread on its own. Eelgrass will spread quickly in a good environment, and once
the grass expanded, we found it was growing faster than the turtles could eat
it, so we had our solution to the turtle dilemma."
That wasn't as simple as it sounds, however, because it took over 100,000 individual
eelgrass plants (about 10 acres worth) to get the grass re-established to the
point where it could survive the turtles. Today there are over 1,300 acres of
eelgrass in the lake, and it has taken hold well in just about every section
of the lake where it would naturally occur.
In addition to the eelgrass effort, there was also a major bulrush planting to
provide a deeper aquatic weed line; that, too, was a success.
While acquiring shallow vegetation was a major goal, open water areas were not
neglected, and the FWCC also planted numerous brush piles in the 8- to 10-foot
range to provide deepwater habitat for bass, speckled perch and other game fish.
It was a major effort, and so successful that the program was given an award
for the most Successful Re-Vegetation Project In The United States, by the American
Fisheries Society Reservoir Committee!
" We have done about all we can with
the re-vegetation," says Hayes, "and are now just monitoring the fish
population to see how it has responded to the habitat improvement."
According to the guides, there is no real need to monitor.
" This is one of the best spawning
areas on the entire St. Johns River, and it has been for the last five years
since they got the eelgrass back," claims Eddie Bussard. "Anglers need
to know that the spawn will almost always start on the full moon in January.
From there, you've got consistent spawning activity in shallow water all through
the month of February, and into the first part of March."
Tapping into that early spawn and the resulting flood of big bass that move to
shallow water isn't difficult. But it does help to know where the majority of
the bass are going to be, and on this lake it's easy to figure out - just go
north.
Part 2: Lake Monroe's Serious Bassin' More hotspots
Monroe totals almost 10,000 acres and is a "flow-through" wide spot
in the St. Johns, with the actual current flow literally chopping the lake in
half. The southern half gets the current flow, which bass try to avoid during
the spawn, while the northern half is a low-flow "oxbow" that provides
the sheltered, minimal water movement environment the fish seek out for bedding.
The inflow point for the lake is in the southeast corner, while the outflow is
on the lower west side, near the point where U.S. 17/92 intersects the I-4 bridge.
That puts maximum current flow on the southern one-third of the lake. The northern
two-thirds thus becomes prime spawning cover, and there are several locations
within the area that have proven to be highly productive over the last five years.
" One of my favorite spots for spawning
bass is the Bethel Canal," explains Tommy Lee Young. "It enters the
northeast corner of the lake and runs for a couple of miles and then loops back
around to the lake on the south. The main canal is about 4 feet deep at normal
water, but there are branches that have been dug a little deeper - about 6 or
7 feet - that shoot off from it. That's enough water to hold a fish in the immediate
area if a cold front comes through and pushes them off the beds. Once the bass
move into that area they tend to stay there for a while. This area is well-sheltered
from the wind, and it draws a lot of bass during January and February."
Anglers experienced at probing manmade canals for spawning bass are well aware
that the fish show a preference for fanning a bed next to even the smallest patch
of shoreline vegetation. But in this canal system there is another target that
shouldn't be ignored.
" Never pass up a dock piling," Young
says and grins. "These fish love to fan a bed right next to them. There
aren't a lot of docks in this canal system, but I'd fish each one carefully."
Another top spawning area exists on the upper west side of the lake, but it takes
an adventurous angler to find it.
" There is a 5-acre borrow pit to
the west of the I-4 bridge," notes Bussard. "You reach it by ducking
under the bridge and working your way across a very shallow flat that is really
grown up with cattails. If someone has been in there before you, you'll see the
trail they cut through the reeds. If you're the first, you'll have to make your
own trail. But it's worth getting to. Once you get through that 1/2-mile of shallow
marsh, you've got a 5-acre borrow pit that's 5 or 6 feet deep, and the bass love
it! It always holds good bass during the spawn, and they'll start to move into
it as early as mid-December."
To find the pit, which is only barely visible from the bridge itself, come about
1/2-mile south of the north end of the bridge, duck under the bridge, and start
working your way across the marsh to the west for a few hundred yards. Be careful
crossing the marsh, because there are a number of large trees on the bottom that
could damage a prop or lower unit if hit at high speed.
If that is more effort than you are willing to make, Bussard points out several
other borrow pits scattered along the bridge itself. They offer deeper holes
in shallow cover and also draw bass.
Another top spot is Gemini Springs, in the northwest corner of the lake. This
is an inflowing spring that, even during the lake's troubled times, was a prime
spawning area. The clear, cool water entering the lake resulted in a riot of
aquatic vegetation and has historically been a top spawning area. In fact, the
water quality has been so good that this is one of the few areas on the lake
the FWCC did not feel needed any vegetation plantings restored.
While these are all top areas for bedding fish, savvy anglers know that even
when the conditions are perfect for the bass to spawn, they may not be on the
bed. When Young and Bussard encounter one of those days, their first move is
to start checking the deeper channels that lead from the main lake to the
shallow flats.
" One of the best channels is the
one that runs into the Power Plant area," Bussard says. "It's about
a mile north of the boat ramp in Enterprise, and what you have is a 9- to 12-foot
channel drop coming off of a 4-foot flat. A sharp cold front can stack bass up
on that drop, and diving crankbaits or Carolina rigs will collect some of them."
Peak spawning runs from early January through the month of February, and the
action can be hot. What follows, however, can be even more furious!
" Once the spawning winds down in
early March," Bussard explains, "the bass are ready to eat, and that
coincides with the late spring to early summer menhaden run. Big schools of these
baitfish migrate through the area, and this really picks up in early March and
runs through June. What you get then is some really good schooling action, and
it's not just little fish. There was a local tournament on Monroe last May where
the big bass was just about 12 pounds - and it was surface schooling on shad
in a patch of bulrushes in just a few feet of water."
Finding big bass schooling in water shallow enough to wade may sound a little
weird, but not on Monroe. There is a perfectly good reason for it.
" Bass on this lake," Bussard
explains, "hold on the deepest vegetation line they can find and wait for
the wind or current to move a school of baitfish to them. On Monroe, the deepest
outer grass line is normally going to be bulrush patches. They grow to 3 or 4
feet, while the eelgrass seldom grows beyond 3 feet and usually grows shallower
than that."
Those deeper bulrush patches are the key areas bass and bait meet, and just which
ones will be productive depends largely upon the wind and the current. The inflow
to the lake is in the southeast corner, with the current and bait flow moving
to the lower west corner. This makes the shallow flats along the west shoreline
a prime meeting place.
" Just check the outside bulrush
patches until you see fish working," Bussard advises. "Early or late
in the day is a good time, but the action can occur anytime of the day - especially
on a southeast wind that pushes the bait right to those fish."
While west is often best for schoolers, the Mother's Arm cattail point in the
southeast corner of the lake is also a proven producer. It is just to the north
of the inflow, and any southerly wind can stack up baitfish against that cover,
providing furious schooling activity.
When it comes to selecting lures for Monroe, think two seasons - spawning and
schooling.
Weedless soft plastic baits, such as tube lures or plastic worms and crawfish,
are tops choice for bedding fish; anglers on this lake are well-served by lures
that are colored in June bug, red shad, or a combination of black and blue hues.
Don't, however, overlook the topwater bite that can occur early and late in the
day. Local experts prefer "medium noisy" lures with propellers, and
the hot color combo is gold and black on the back with a fluorescent orange belly.
A 1/2-ounce buzzbait in white with plain aluminum blade can also be deadly.
After the spawn, shift to shad or menhaden-imitating baits. Bussard favors spinnerbaits
in 1/2-ounce, tandem-bladed models. The blades should be nickel, with a shad-finished
body.
Another deadly choice, especially in shallow bulrush patches, is soft plastic
jerkbaits in any shad color. Young is convinced that if bass are schooling on
outside edges, these lures are tough to beat - especially for larger bass.
Monroe-bound anglers will find two excellent boat ramps. One is located on the
outflow of the lake in the lower southwest corner, just north of where U.S. 17/92
intersects I-4. The other is in the northeast corner of the lake on Enterprise
Road, just south of the town of Enterprise.
For those who would like to receive a little expert guidance in learning the
lake, Eddie Bussard and Tommy Lee Young can be contacted at Bass Challenger Guide
Service, 195 Heather Lane Drive, Deltona, FL 32738, or by calling 1-800-241-5314.
reprinted from Florida Fish and Game
