MonticelloMinnow & Tackle

Wayne County · open before daylight

Minnows are lively. Report's posted.

Live bait, tackle, ice, and an honest weekly fishing report for Lake Cumberland walleye, crappie, striper, and bass. We are the stop between Monticello and the ramp.

Call the shop

Read this week's report

A whole bass boat on clear green Lake Cumberland water at dawn, with one angler casting from the front deck below a limestone bluff.
First light under the bluff on Lake Cumberland.
  • Family owned
  • Door opens at 5 a.m.
  • Wayne & Clinton counties
  • Demo prices only

Bait board

Same board that hangs by the door. In, Low, or Out. Updated with the Monday report.

Full bait and tackle
  • Aerated glass bait tank of silver minnows along a shop wall, with a dip net held over a round foam minnow bucket of water.

    Minnows

    In

    $4.50 a dozen Demo price

    Silver fatheads and shiners in the aerated tanks along the wall. We dip them with a net into your foam bucket, or a knotted plastic bag of water if you forgot one.

  • Open glass-door bait cooler stocked with lidded styrofoam cups, and one open cup of nightcrawlers in soil bedding.

    Nightcrawlers

    In

    $4.00 a dozen Demo price

    A dozen to a lidded styrofoam cup with bedding, kept in the glass-door cooler. Red worms are in the lidded cups beside them at $3.75 a dozen, demo price.

  • A whole clear plastic cup of wax worms in sawdust bedding on a wooden counter, with the lid beside the cup.

    Wax worms

    Low

    $3.50 a dozen Demo price

    Pale larvae in a lidded plastic cup of sawdust bedding. The cup count is thin after Saturday. Call before you count on them.

  • A whole round aerated bait tank holding silver threadfin shad in a tackle shop.

    Live shad

    Low

    $8.00 a dozen Demo price

    Threadfin shad in the round aerated tank. We had a run on them Sunday. If the tank is down to a handful, the freezer packs are the backup.

  • An open chest freezer in a bait shop filled with vacuum-sealed packs of frozen baitfish.

    Frozen bait

    In

    $6.00 a pack Demo price

    Vacuum packs of frozen shad in the chest freezer. Use them when the live tank is low, or for a slow troll when you do not want to keep a bucket alive.

  • A screened wooden cricket bin beside a closed wire-mesh cricket cage on a bait-shop counter.

    Crickets

    Out

    $3.00 a dozen Demo price

    When they are in, they live in a screened bin and go home in your wire-mesh cricket cage or a small closed plastic bag. Cool October nights emptied the bin. We will say when they are back.

Dawn on Lake Cumberland: clear green water, a limestone bluff, and wooded hills.
Morning fog on the south end of the lake.

Posted Monday, October 19, 2026

What's biting

  • Walleye

    Main-lake points off Mill Springs and the Otter Creek side

  • Crappie

    Brush in Otter Creek and the mouth of Indian Creek

  • Striper

    Lower creek arms, early, where the bait is balled up

  • Bass

    Rocky banks and points under the limestone, both largemouth and smallmouth

Read the full report

Hours

We're open before most boats hit the water.

Monday – Saturday
5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday
5:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Before you launch

  • Check the board. Low means call.
  • Read the report. Ruth writes it Monday.
  • Ice is in the merchandiser by the door.
  • We don't sell licenses, but we'll help you get one online.

Hours, ramps, and FAQ

CallText