Trophy Bass Hunt, Monticello Lake! SUCCESS!!!! 12-20-15

sorry

Where's the pic of the spot?

I don't see a spot

Same here. Jaw line definitely looks like a largemouth. Did you feel the tongue the rough teethlike feel?

Looks like a spot to me.

Digging the elf get up and cool video thanks for posting looks like yall had a blast!

Awesome video! Good job.

Looks like a good time.

I believe the bottom jaw line is measured with the rear of the eye, with the mouth fully shut.
I'm still waiting for TPWD to confirm, I emailed in the form and a ton of pics on Monday.
Tongue was rather toothy, I didn't know she was 2.5 inches longer than the last spot record, or else I would have documented her alot better, "fully closed mouth" no hand on belly...

Pretty sure the "tooth patch" has been removed from the description...


I don't think that fish is "pure spotted bass" but The mouth does look shorter than a regular ole largemouth...

I bet they give you the record

Looks more like a largemouth body but could definitely be some sort of cross. It's a chunk for sure

It's not full spot maybe they will accept it though

Defintly has some cool colors for sure

Looks like a largemouth to me

Monticello in December, great time to be there.
Many good memories of being there in the past, some cold days and some not so bad.
Congrats on the catch and thanks for sharing the video.

are y'all all inside those buoys?

Great fish man.

That is a nice fish...most likely not a spot but did you not see the marker buoys? The ones that say KEEP OUT? The game warden for that lake is on this site fairly frequently.

The buoys say "Caution" not "Keep out"

The buoys do say caution. But youre not supposed to be beyond them or tie up to them. It is against the law. I have seen many people given tickets for it

I guess it was our lucky day, the construction boats zipped by and didn't say anything. I was also chatting them up on vhf..
I've seen buoys that say "keep out" that's a clear indication, "caution" means be careful.
If the GW tells me otherwise then I won't do it again.

I am curious if one could be ticketed based on the video?

Not a spot but some darned nice fish.....

https://www.boat-ed.com/assets/pdf/handbook/tx_handbook_entire.pdf
I could be ticketed, but according to the handbook, and TPWD regs on their site, nothing states I can't be past the marker buoys.
If they where black and white buoys then I could be, or if it says keep out.
Ticketing doesn't mean I can't argue my case in court. I have a friend that had a video of them trespassing on the Devil's river, TPWD simply asked them to edit that part out of the video.

They probably have already seen the video, they tend to look stuff like that online.

Some good fish you caught by the way! But, you were breaking the law, not the first to do it though

Hey Heath,

If your reading this. What are the rules about the buoys at the discharge at Monticello? I always thought it was "illegal" to fish past them. I was out there a few weeks ago and there was a boat right on the fence, way past the buoys. Of course this same boat ran on plane under the car bridge which is clearly market "Idle Speed".

Nothings illegal unless you get caught...

I saw Heath had commented on this about 20 minutes after it was posted but it was only there for about 2 minutes... Tried to "quick quote" but when i hit refresh it was gone. It said something along the lines of "The best part about this is that it was videoed in a spot that you're not supposed to be in." But it was gone quickly

I know a couple people who have gotten tickets for this

Top pic and bottom pic looks like every other spot I've caught.... Just way bigger! Congrats!

Thanks bud!!
Just curious, is Heath our resident GW?
I'm not very active on here.

Yes he's the GW for that area....good fellow by all accounts

That Tracker boat had been up at the fence for the last two weekends. Yes, the buoys do say
"Danger" and "Keep Out". The second part is just on the bottom, and there is some debris/scaling covering it. I had a bit of a chat with this guy at the Highway Bridge, good guys.

That is a Florida Strain with the smaller mouth than our native Northerns, but bigger than a true spot. The tooth patch is a gray spot on the tongue in the middle/back of the mouth, not the crusher sandpapery teeth all of the largemouth have. Beautiful fish, just don't think it's a Spot. If it were, your record could be disqualified by fishing in a restricted area.

I'll be back out soon! Hoping to do better than the couple of small ones I got into last week.

So how much did the fish weigh? I must have missed that somehow. Congrats on a nice fish!

That's a big spot looks at the belly that's always how I can tell normal lmb are just white and spots are spotted lol

Sorry bud, I'm a kayak guy, we mainly go on length.. I didn't have a scale handy, and didn't realize I was on a record until I got home. Had I known, I would have asked a buddy for his scale.
But at almost 20", I'm calling it 19.75" to be safe.

It is a big damn spot ..... I don't have much doubt and I've caught 35 years worth of Florida bass from Fork..... That's a spot

Thanks for confirming!! I had some doubts, but after posting on a few forums, and group pages, I got more Spot responses than Largemouth, Still waiting on the final TPWD verdict.
Tight Lines Friend!

Got to tell ya, thought it was a largemouth but pulled up tpwd pics and the jaw does not extend past eye. Nice fish. However would be concered about video evidence being inside buoys....not hating...just sayin.

If you are talking (construction) about the new power poles they're installing across the lake - those guys are friends of mine - and most of them are bass fishermen.

And neither game wardens nor plant security. Why would they confront them? Nice fish!

The construction guys where a blast on vhf, I had mine scanning caught em on Ch11
"buttercup" was one's nickname, they're all cool. I was asking them what lures they used. They recommended "ochos" we heard Nachos.. plenty of fun.
Rog. .. but the buoys only say danger and not keep out, apparently the "keep out" part is covered with muck, and algea and isn't visible; According to David, which I also chatted up under the bridge, really nice guy. It was my first time on that Monti, and I always obey courtesy and safety laws.
Had we seen the Keep out part, we wouldn't have peddled/paddled in.

Dude if you paddled from the boat ramp more power to ya. 😎 Great fish.

Nice fish Saberator! I gotta say though, your better off just eating those green carp than you are posting them on this forum. There's some jelous people on here that will sell you out in a second for being inside the bouy line. Even though the state neglects to maintain the bouts and they aren't legible you'll probably see some repercussions from it. Good luck to you.

Looks like they be a lot of VVVVVV on this page, looks like you all are butt hurt because a yaker tore it up, Iw ill tell you what, I will catch a few black bass and post the fish fry on the pic section.


If ye go behind the bouys you will find this fella

Saber is a stand up guy and a lot of fun. He respects fishing and helps out anyone when he can. I truly trust that he wouldn't have gone past the unreadable and extremely neglected buoys had he known or believed they said keep out. If you think he is just some ignorant guy disrespecting rules you are extremely mistaken and bitter.

Congrats on the fish G, and I hope they give you the record! I know you don't let the haters bother you.

I was out there yesterday.
First, I can confirm the buoys are the crossed diamond Danger, Keep Out.
Second, the bite on the north end was off.
Third, be on the lookout and help each other out, I didn't hear them, but noticed them finally flagging me down, after towing them in, my luck changed. I ran the boat and got a fuel issue unclogged, and I started catching fish...
Fourth, when you see a game warden coming over a rise with what appears to bean aimed shotgun, even if you are not within the buoys, you'll start to question everything. Apparently he was trying to move some ducks from up there...
Fifth, there are quite a few boaters that will fish beyond the buoys.


Here is a sample of what was caught on a long C-Rig cast...

Thanks to everyone that supported me, here are screenshots of the buoys from the day I was out there.
I'm tired of this post, and I'll probably wont be posting much on this section of the forum.



good work David, glad you got on em!

Ya, the "Bass Fishing" section is funny that way sometimes. Lots of good guys here with lots of good and interesting information. Also a large handful that seem to take ownership in.....well everything! Some have the right to remain silent...but not the ability! Not all though. No reason to let those few run you off. And yes, those were some good Monticello fish!

Here is some good info for future trips to the lake.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/boater-education/additional-resources/buoys-markers