SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT
February 2020
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
www.captaindalewilson.us
Picture: Bobby Wells from Bedford, Va. with a nice winter Smith Mtn. Lake striper!
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OVERVIEW: The bass fishing has been good the past several weeks. Spring is right around the corner! The water temperature has been dropping and will continue to make the fishing better! Fishing overall has been good this past month! Water temperature will be in the upper 40’s. Best times will be early morning, late afternoon and cloudy days. Striper fishing will continue to be good!
Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass has been good this month. Best lures will be jerk baits, jigs, spinner baits, spoons, blade baits and crank baits. Main channel points, brush piles, rocky areas, ledges and deep docks will be the best areas to try your luck. Best depths will be from 6 to 30 feet deep. Remember to take care of the bass and release them! Bass fishing should continue to be good during the cold months into the spawn. Crawfish are a big part of their diet during the later winter. Baitfish will be constantly on the move as the water temps change.
Smallmouth Bass- Fishing will be fair. Best areas will be ledges, humps, and rocky points. Best lures will be tubes, jig & pig, hair jigs, drop shots, blade baits, floating-fly-rigs and medium running 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 rocks and ledges close to the deep water. Look for isolated rock piles near deep water. Smallmouth bass feed heavily on crawfish this time of the year. They will also suspend around schools of baitfish.
Striped Bass- Fishing will continue to improve this month. Stripers will be caught in all sections of the lake and in the large creeks. Best lures will be swim baits, buck tails, spoons, Alabama rigs and Zoom flukes fished on 1/4 to 3/4 oz. lead heads. Best time to fish is cloudy days, early morning and late afternoon. Night fishing will be fair. The best depths will be from the surface to 40 feet deep. Live bait fished on down lines and planner boards work well this month. This is also a good month to troll as the stripers can be shallow. The stripers will constantly be on the move. Look for large schools of stripers with your electronics. Some schools of stripers will surface this month. The seagulls will help you locate schools feeding stripers.
Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be fair this month. The best depths will be 10 to 20 ft. deep. Crappie will be found around deep docks, brush piles, and fallen trees. Docks with brush piles are usually good areas to 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 sections of both rivers.
TIP OF THE Month- The blue back herring has changed the feeding habits of the stripers and the largemouth bass. They stay suspended and deeper!!! Don’t fish alone during the cold months! Remember to always wear your life jacket!!! Fishing will improve as the water temperatures change! Make sure your running lights are on after dark!!! You can also hear reports about local fishing on the website: THE BASS CAST RADIO & WSLK 98.3 radio. Remember: TAKE A KID FISHING! SEE YOU ON THE LAKE!!! GOOD FISHING!