Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report
By: Captain Chad Green – Lascastguideservicesml
It is cold outside but the fishing is getting hot. Get out on the water when you can and enjoy the sunrises and sunsets. Practice catch-and-release as much as possible to preserve our great fisheries. As always, just make one more Last Cast, as it could be the next trophy fish.
Visit Indian Point Marina for any tackle that you may need and they will fix you up.
Visit https://missilebaits.store/ and check out all they have to offer.
Special Thanks to Brian Carter at the https://thebasscast.com/
Check out Smith Mountain Boat and Tackle Penhook for your boating needs https://www.smboats.com
PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE ON CITATION SIZE FISH
Largemouth Bass/Smallmouth Bass
The water temps will drop drastically this week and we may see shad die off soon depending on how cold it does get. Look for bass in many different depths this month. The bass are still feeding heavily on crawfish over the last few weeks but I look for that to change soon. Most of the baitfish are in deep water 30-50ft in the mid-lake area. As the threadfin shad comes to the surface to feed at night they may start to die off if the temps get below 42 degrees. The shad-kill bite can change things drastically in a short time. Jerkbaits will start to be a primary tactic resembling a dying shad. Crankbaits, A rigs, Jigs will still produce fish as not fish feed on shad during the winter. Weather will dictate what baits work the best on each day. Depth ranges from 5-30ft will produce fish all month long. Rocks, docks, points, and brush piles will all hold fish. Bass can still be very aggressive in cold weather and when you find them it can be fast and furious in a short time. This is a great month to catch trophy fish as well.
Striped Bass
Striper fishing will be good this month and look for them in larger schools as they start to migrate down the lake with falling water temps. They will travel in smaller schools searching for feeding opportunities. Jigging in the 20-40ft range will produce fish throughout the day. Larger fish will show up this month at times and may be in smaller schools. The upper end of the lake to mid-lake is where most of the action will be this month. Seagulls will start to find some feeding fish in the cold months so keep an eye out. Look for fish in the mouths of the larger tributaries. Swing by Indian Point Marina they provide you with a great selection of what you need.
Crappie
Most of the Crappie have been in the 15-25 foot range.
