SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING
November 2018
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
WWW.CAPTAINDALEWILSON.US
[print_link]
OVERVIEW- Fishing should improve in the coming weeks! Largemouth bass fishing has been good during the past month! Water temperature will be in the 60’s. Best times will be early morning & late afternoon. November is a good month to fish for crappie at Smith Mtn. Lake. The baitfish are moving up the rivers and towards the end of the larger creeks.
Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass will be good this month. Best lures will be top water lures, jerkbaits, jigs, drop shots, shallow running crank baits, Carolina rigs and shaky heads. Points, stumps, rocky areas, humps and docks will be the best areas to try your luck. Best depths will be from surface to 35 feet deep. Remember to take care of the bass and release them!
Smallmouth Bass- Fishing will be good. November is my favorite month to catch big smallmouth bass at Smith Mtn. lake. Best areas will be humps, ledges and rocky areas. Best lures will be tubes, jigs, jerkbaits, top water lures, hair jigs and crawfish colored crank baits. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Cloudy days with light wind are good times to try your luck! Look for areas with rocky ledges next to deep water. Smallmouth will feed on top some this month. Most smallmouth bass will suspend near schools of baitfish and deep ledges. Smallmouth also feed heavily on crawfish this month.
Striped Bass- Fishing will be good this month. Stripers will be caught in the mid to upper sections of the lake. Best lures will be swim baits, buck tails and Zoom flukes fished on 1/4 to 1/2 oz. lead heads. Best time to fish is cloudy days, early morning and late afternoon. The best depths will be from the surface to 40 feet deep. Live bait fished on down lines and planner boards work this month. The stripers will constantly be on the move. Find the largest concentration of shad. Night fishing will be fair this month. Some stripers will surface this month.
Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be good this month. The best depths will be 5 to 15 ft. deep. Crappie will be found around docks, brush piles, and fallen trees. Docks with brush piles are usually good areas that hold crappie. Small live minnows and 1½ to 2 inch tubes or shad shaped plastic lures fished on 1/32 to 1/16 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month. Best areas are the main creeks and the upper section of the lake. Very light line helps when crappie fishing.
TIP OF THE Month- This month baitfish will be constantly on the move!. Look for fish to move shallow this month. Try to find the areas with the largest concentration of bait fish. Seagulls will help you find fish this month. You can also hear reports about local fishing on the website: THE BASS CAST RADIO SHOW & WSLK radio each month. Make sure your running lights are on after dark & wear your life jackets! REMEMBER TO TAKE A KID FISHING!