SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT
November 2015
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
www.captaindalewilson.com
Picture: A friend with his first striper caught while fishing with Captain Dale last month.
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OVERVIEW: Fishing should be good this month! Water temperature will be in the 50’s to low 60’s. Best times will be early morning, late afternoon and overcast days. Fishing the past few weeks has been fair! All the rain has cooled the water and added oxygen making the fish become scattered. Many different patterns are working. This is a major transition time of the year. Please practice catch and release!!!
Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass will improve this month. Best lures will be jigs, drop shot rigs, top water lures, spinner baits, Texas rigged plastic worms, crank baits and shaky heads. Most largemouth bass will be caught in coves and creeks, rock piles, brush, humps, stumps and docks. Best depths will be from the surface to 25 feet deep. Most largemouth bass will have moved to their fall patterns this month . Rocks, creeks and brush are key factors to finding bass this month. Stained water and shad movements will also be keys to catching bass this month.
Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be good. Best areas will be humps and main channel points. Best lures will be crank baits, tubes, jigs and top water lures. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Most smallmouth bass will be suspended this month around schools of baitfish. Cloudy days with light winds are good times to try your luck! Light line and smaller lures will increase your chances to catch smallmouth bass.
Striped Bass– Fishing should be better this month. Stripers will be caught in the mid to upper sections of the lake and the large creeks. Best lures will be top water lures and Zoom flukes fished on 1/4 to 1/2 oz. lead heads. Casting to points early and late day, that have shad, can be productive. The best depths will be from the surface to 40 feet deep. Live bait fished on planner boards will work this month. Look for schools of stripers surfacing. Most fish will be suspended and will constantly be on the move. Find the largest concentration of shad.
Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be good this month. They will be found 5 to 15 ft. deep. Crappie will be suspended around docks, brush piles and fallen tree tops near creek channels. Small live minnows and 1½ to 2 inch tubes or shad shaped plastic lures fished on 1/32 to 1/6 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month.
TIP OF THE Month- You will need to try many different fishing patterns to consistently catch fish this month. Some species of fish will feed on crawfish as the water cools. Remember shad constantly move as the water temps fall. You can also hear reports about local fishing on the website: The Bass Cast Radio show. Make sure your running lights are on after dark! Make sure you wear your life jacket. You can never be too careful when boating! Remember to be courteous and obey all the boating laws. Take a kid fishing!
