SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT
July 2016
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
www.captaindalewilson.com
Brian Mason from New Jersey with a citation small mouth bass caught while fishing with Captain Dale 5/30/16.
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OVERVIEW- Fishing will be good this month! Water temperature will be in the 80’s. Best times will be early morning, late afternoon and at night this month. Fishing the past few weeks has been good! Most species of fish are in their summer patterns. Night time is the best time to try your luck!
Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass will be fair this month. Best lures will be jigs, drop shots, deep diving crank baits, top water lures, Texas rigged large plastic worms and shaky heads. Most largemouth bass will be caught near deep water ledges, brush piles, points and deep water docks. Best depths will be from 2 to 25 feet deep. When fishing at night some bass will be caught on wake type lures such as Thunder sticks fished close to rip rap points and others on football head jigs, Texas rigged large plastic worms and deep diving crank baits.
Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be fair. Best areas will be humps, ledges and long main channel points. Best lures will be tubes, jigs, top water lures and deep diving crank baits.. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Cloudy days with light winds and night time are good times to try your luck! Look for areas with rocks, on points next to deep water. Look for stumps and isolated rocks on flats near deep water. Most smallmouth bass will feed after dark this month.
Striped Bass- Fishing should be good this month. Stripers will be caught in the lower to mid sections of the lake and the large creeks. Best lures will be top water and Zoom flukes fished on 1/2 to 3/4 oz. lead heads. Stripers will surface some during the month of July. Best times to find schooling fish is cloudy days, early morning and later afternoon. The best depths will be from the surface to 45 feet deep. Live bait fished on planner boards will also work well this month. Most fish will be suspended and will constantly be on the move. Find the largest concentration of shad. Night fishing will be poor this month. Mid to lower end of the lake seems to be the best area to catch stripers this month. .
Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be poor this month. They will be found 5 to 25 ft. deep. Crappie will be found around docks, deep brush piles, and fallen tree tops. Small live minnows and 1½ to 2 inch tubes or shad shaped plastic lures fished on 1/16 to 1/8 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month.
TIP OF THE Month- Night time will be the best time to fish this month. Use a black light when fishing at night. Best time to fish is from an hour before dark to an hour after day break. You can also hear reports about local fishing on the website: THE BASS CAST RADIO SHOW each month. Make sure your running lights are on after dark! Remember to be courteous and obey all the boating laws. TAKE A KID FISHING!
