SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT
February 2012
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
www.captaindalewilson.com
John Jones from Vinton,Va. with a 22 lb. striper caught 1/17/12 while fishing with Capt. Dale Wilson.
OVERVIEW: Fishing continues to be excellent for stripers, crappie and largemouth bass. The weather has been extremely warm for this time of the year and water temperature is above normal making for great winter fishing! Water temperature will be 40’s.
Largemouth Bass-Fishing will be good. Best lures will be jig & pigs, Carolina rigs, spinnerbaits, Alabama rigs and jerk baits. Most largemouth bass will be caught on points, rocky areas, creek channel banks and docks. Largemouth bass will start to relate to shallow structures this month. Best depths will be from the 5 to 30 feet deep. Try using a slow retrieve and find areas with large concentrations of baitfish .
Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be fair. Best areas will be humps, rocky ledges and main points. Best lures will be jig & pig, blade baits, jerk baits and floating-fly-rigs. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Most smallmouth bass will be suspended this month. Cloudy days and windy days are good times to try your luck!
Striped Bass– Fishing will be good. Stripers will be caught in mid to upper areas of the lake. The best areas will be in the larger creeks and main river channels. Best lures will be Alabama rigs, swim baits, buck tails, spoons and Zoom flukes fished with 3/8 to 3/4 oz. lead heads. Live bait will also be productive. The best depths will be from 5 to 50 feet deep. Vertical jigging with spoons and heavy lead heads tipped with flukes will be productive this month. Some stripers will surface. Try to find areas with the largest concentrations of baitfish. Seagulls are a good way to locate feeding fish.
Crappie-Fishing for crappie will be good. They will be found 5 to 25 feet deep this month. Best areas will be in the main creeks around deep docks, fallen trees, and brush piles in the mid to upper parts of the lake. Small live minnows and 1 ½ inch tubes fished on 1/16 to 1/8 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month.
TIP OF THE MONTH: The Alabama rig is a great new creation to catch both stripers and bass. It is made by several companies. The 5 arm is the most popular. It can be fished with flukes, swim baits, grubs and numerous other baits. You will need to use 60 to 80 lb. braided line and a 7 to 8 foot heavy action rod to be successful when fishing this lure.
