SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
DECEMBER 2018
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
WWW.CAPTAINDALEWILSON.US
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Picture: Tom Pierce from Blue Ridge, Va. with a nice smallmouth bass caught in November while fishing with Captain Dale Wilson.
OVERVIEW- Fishing should good in the coming weeks! Largemouth bass fishing will be slow month! Water temperature will be in the upper 40’s to lower 50’s. Best times will be early morning, late afternoon & cloudy days. December is a fair month to fish for crappie at Smith Mtn. Lake. The baitfish will be moving into their winter patterns.
Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass will be fair this month. Best lures will be jigging spoons, jerk baits, jigs, drop shots, blade baits, Carolina rigs and shaky heads. Deep points, steep rocky areas, humps, ledges and deep docks will be the best areas to try your luck. Best depths will be from 10 to 40 feet deep. Remember to take care of the bass and release them!
Smallmouth Bass- Fishing will be fair. December is one of my favorite months to catch big smallmouth bass at Smith Mtn. lake. Best areas will be humps, ledges and rocky areas. Best lures will be tubes, jigs, jerk baits, hair jigs and blade 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. 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 most sections of the lake. Best lures will be swim baits, buck tails and Zoom flukes fished on 3/8 to 3/4 oz. lead heads. Best time to fish is cloudy days, early morning and late afternoon. The best depths will be from the 15 to 60 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 single stripers will surface this month.
Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be good this month. The best depths will be 10 to 25 ft. deep. Crappie will be found around docks, deep 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 1/16 to 1/8 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- A gift certificate for a guided fishing trip is a great idea for the fisherman in your family! Look for fish to move to their winter habitat this month. Try to find the areas with the largest concentration of bait fish. Seagulls will help you find stripers 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! HAVE A “MERRY CHRISTMAS”!!!