Monroe Feb 16-20: Pray for me!

I have a mandatory vacation feb 16-20th. I've been chomping at the bit to get out on the water!

I wanted to go down to Dale Hollow, but I don't have the extra money to pay for a hotel so I'll be crashing with some old friends in Bloomington.

My plan is to target Wipers and Bass/Walleye.
I've never fished this early in the season for them. I was thinking about putting in near the dam.


Blade baits, jigging spoons and some jigs are what I plan on using. Probably be targeting some deep water.

Can anyone offer me any advise or tips? I'm pretty pessimistic as to whether anything is catchable this time of year on Monroe!

You might try blades or jigging spoons in Sugar Creek. Find the shad.....find the Stripers. Start out near the mouth of the creek and work your way in.

if you have the equipment you might even want to try using the float-n-fly, especially around the bluff walls for some spots and maybe even some wipers.

Anytime water is this cold, anywhere you go, stay with vertical presentations.

No fish is going to go chase anything down. Even wipers will be feeding vertical through shad schools.

If I were you, I would just go party at the bars.

ole top

You might try Cataract, also. There's bars there also, but the ones in Bloomington probably offer better music.

Don't waste time or money going to a bar around Cataract Lake. They are dives at best.

The closest good bar to Cataract are all the way back to the Alabama Lounge on US 40 in Brazil, or the Tophatter Tavern in Greencastle. Those are not very close at all.

What in the heck are you thinking anyway, mid-February on Lake Monroe, it will take a miracle for you to get onto a bite.

ole top

To me Greencastle is that area, unless you go into Terre Haute or West Terre Haute to the Horseshoe Club. Raccoon is close; Waveland not too far if you're into a little road trip. You can get a cabin. They aren't too expensive this time of year.

To prepare for a road trip, or if I had this time, I would go to the Boat, Sport and Travel Show, (or any other venues during your time off) visit the DNR booth to get a map of all State lakes and go exploring, including idle only lakes. Ask DNR how to get a list of locally operated properties like West Boggs. Talk to some of the guides. There are all kinds of fish out there! If you want to know more about a specific body of water, or some places that may get less pressure than others, try contacting some of the State's fisheries biologists. They can tell you a lot about the waters around them.