It’s sad that they can close a lake down like that but Squaw is closed also.

Good news is that’s the biggest bass I’ve heard of from Monticello in a looooong time.

That ain't no lie! That may be the biggest fish from Monty in 20 years. I've weighed a few fish for guys on the lake that "knew" they had a DD that turned out to be a 7-8 pounder.

That fish looks Legit!!

It’s a PIG!! I can’t wait to get on Monti in a yak!! Nice fish!

Tried to get it back in the water as fast as possible and as I was about to release it when I realized I hadn't measured. Using both hands and with mouth closed it was hanging at least an inch over the end of chek it stick. When I took my hands off to get picture, it slid towards me and off board... didn't care that it wasn't an accurate measurement in picture, was just thankful I got a weight.

I was there three years ago today(fb just showed my memory) for 3-4 days camping and I would Have sworn the fish were stunted at 7.75 I caught No less than a dozen between 7-7.75.

I think a lot of folks were predicting that the fish would get much bigger once the plant shut down.

I had ulnar nerve displacement on my elbow. It was 6-8 weeks before I really could do anything. A year full recovery. Lost some muscle on the elbow being it got cut in half

Nice fish Iconn!! Saw you out there a bit before they closed park. Guess we shouldn’t have been so tight lipped.....maybe the crowds would have showed to keep it open. But bet you are enjoying it now more.. It was nice having only two or three boats out there on Saturday and Sunday. The previous two years we were having some 60 plus fish days Dec-Feb with nothing under 3 to 4 lbs and numbers of fish in the 8-10 lb range. Just knew it was only a matter of time until numbers of giants showed up once they shut plant down...... I know there are some teenagers in there. Had two on I could not turn that got down in thick grass and got off two Jan ago....

Awesome fish!!!

what do you mean before the park closed?

That's an absolute tubbbbbbbbb congrats on the fish.

The campground/launch on Monticello was closed about two years ago. Which was about a year after the plant shut down and stopped generating.

If I recall correctly they closed the park where the boat launch is located in July of 2019. Therefore you can’t launch a big boat anymore. Unless it has been reopened which I think the original poster was asking. Between the plant being shut down Dec 2017 and the park closure July 2019 the fishing/catching was phenomenal. A day with less than 20 and only a couple in the 5-8 lb range was a bad day. In addition, there may have been only two or three boats and a couple of kayaks on the water at most each trip regardless of the day. The most crowded day I saw during that period was during a kayak tournament in 2018. The top five and I sat in Smith all day crushing them on chatterbaits. That day was like white bass fishing. You would get bit two or three times each cast before hooking up and I think I caught fish every cast or almost every cast for close to two hours. That was in Jan or early Feb in 45–50 degree water. Fun time and wish they would open her back up.

Oh. Ok. I thought you meant this trip last week. As thought it had opened back up.