SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT – September 2012

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September 1, 2012

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT
September 2012
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
www.captaindalewilson.com

Picture: Captain Dale, son Chris & my granddaughter Addy from Apex,NC / grandson Conner Phillips & granddaughter Brooke Phillips from Radford,Va. with fish caught Aug.12,2012. Great morning!!!

OVERVIEW: Striper fishing has been good!. Bass fishing has been slow. Water temperature will be in the upper 70s to low 80’s. Early morning, late afternoon and cloudy days will be the best times to try your luck.

Largemouth Bass-Fishing will be fair. Best lures will be large plastic worms, surface lures, Carolina rigs, shaky heads, football head jigs and deep diving crank baits. Most largemouth bass will be caught near humps, ledges and brush piles near deep water. Docks will also be productive. Best depths will be from the surface to 20 feet deep. Night fishing will be fair. Top water fishing will be good later this month.

Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be fair. Best areas will be on ledges, deep rocky banks, humps and long flats. Best lures will be deep diving crank baits, top water lures, drop shot rigs and shaky heads. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Cloudy days will be the best time to try your luck. Most smallmouth bass will be suspended near bait fish.

Striped Bass- Fishing will be good. Stripers will be caught mostly in the mid sections of the lake.. Best lures will be swim baits, buck tails, and Zoom flukes fished with 1/2 to 3/4 oz. jig heads. Vertical jigging will be a good method to catch stripers this month. Live bait and trolling will also be productive. The best depths will be from the 20 to 80 feet deep. Best time to try your luck will be early mornings & late afternoons. Some schools of stripers will surface this month.

Crappie-Fishing for crappie will be fair. They will be found 10 to 20 feet deep this month. Best areas will be in the main creeks around deep docks, fallen trees, and brush piles in the mid to upper sections of the lake. Small live minnows and 1 ½ inch tubes fished on 1/16 to 1/8 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month.

Tip of the month: September is a transition month. Try to locate areas with the most bait fish & fish shallow & deep water. Keep your running lights on when fishing after dark. Take a kid fishing.

Brandon Card Ramada Championship Oneida Lake – Podcast Recap – 8.29.12

Podcasts

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August 29, 2012

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Brandon Card Ramada Championship Oneida Lake – Podcast Recap – 8.29.12

Brandon finished this past weeks event in 59th place with a total weight of 22.15lbs.. Take a listen as Brandon Gives us a look back at the event and what he learned.

[podcast]http://thebasscast.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/Brandon-Card-wrap-up-Oneida-Lake.mp3[/podcast]

Reel Drag Bass Anglers Open Tournament – Sept 23

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August 29, 2012

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Reel Drag Bass Anglers Open Tournament –

Sept 23

@

Smith Mountain Dock & Lodge

7-4

Come early and we will offer ya breakfast and or Hot dogs for afterwards and we have a great payback as well.

Thanks, Kevin Lankford 434-941-8822 REEL DRAG B.A.S.S. ANGLERS

CLICK HERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION

Nixon doubles up in Detroit – FLW NEWS

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August 28, 2012

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Nixon doubles up in Detroit

Pro champion Larry Nixon holds up his two biggest smallmouths from day four on Lake St. Clair. (Photo by Brett Carlson)

Bass fishing legend claims second FLW Tour win on Lake St. Clair

26.Aug.2012 by Brett Carlson
WOODHAVEN, Mich. – With his spot in bass fishing history already secure, it would be easy for Larry Nixon to coast for a few years before riding off into retirement. But Nixon simply isn’t wired that way; the competitive fire still burns. This week at the Walmart FLW Tour Open on Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, Nixon clinched his fourth FLW Tour win and his second on Lake St. Clair – a week before his 62nd birthday no less.After a poor practice, Nixon was apprehensive about his chances to even cash a check. He’d go hours without a bite, but every time he’d return to one particular area, he’d get bit and then immediately leave. What Nixon didn’t know was that this 1/4-mile area of St. Clair, located on the south end near the Belle River, was absolutely loaded with giant smallmouths.Thanks to a stable stretch of weather, these bronzebacks were on the feed in preparation for fall. The area itself was essentially a flat in 15-feet of water with a hard bottom and scattered rock and grass. Also cruising the flat was a considerable amount of baitfish – namely emerald shiners. Nixon fittingly named this spot “awesome” on his GPS after day two.“There was one big school of fish out there and it just happened that four of us (McDonald, Shuffield and Fukae were the others) found it,” Nixon said. “But we all worked together and never got in each other’s way. And you wouldn’t believe how many smallmouths we caught from it.”To mimic the baitfish, Nixon drop-shotted with a variety of baits. He started with a Berkley PowerBait Jerk Shad, but late in the week ran out and borrowed some Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ from fellow Chevy pro Luke Clausen. He would simply cast his 1/4-ounce rig to the fish as opposed to dropping it straight down – a technique he referred to as “drag-shotting.”In addition, he would mix in a swimbait (Havoc Sick Fish) with a 1/2-ounce head. While most of his fish came on the drop-shot, the swimbait accounted for several of the week’s kickers.

“When that wind blows on St. Clair they don’t chase nothing,” Nixon explained. “But if it gets flat calm and sunny, they will chomp that swimbait. Overall I had to use a lot of baits. It didn’t work the same every day. I’d get there and couldn’t get a bite, so I’d grab another rod and start catching them.”

As good as his primary area was, he left around 10:30 a.m. to sample another spot. Twenty minutes later he caught a 5 1/2-pounder that brought his limit past 20 pounds. All of his final-day weight (officially 20-4) came on the drop-shot in Sunday’s blustery weather. After that, he decided it would be wise to ease his way back in the heavy chop.

“That rough water today by the Chevy building coming down the Detroit River? I’m glad I left an hour and a half early, because it took every single bit of it to get through the ‘Miracle Mile.’ You know why they call it that? It’s a miracle if you get through it in a bass boat.”

Nixon’s four-day cumulative weight was 84 pounds, 11 ounces. All 20 of his bass were smallmouths that came exclusively from Lake St. Clair. This was Nixon’s 18th tour-level win, his first since 2007, in 36 years of professional bass fishing. He earned $100,000.

“I’m in total shock. We found those fish on the first day of practice, and I really didn’t know how many were there. And after that I just kept struggling and struggling and looking for something else. I didn’t dream there was enough fish there to win the tournament.

“A lot of my body parts are worn out, I’ll tell you that right now. I’m not a spring chicken anymore. But fishing is my fountain of youth. They say for every day you go fishing you get another day to live. If that’s true, I have a long, long time yet. This one is pretty special, and that lake (St. Clair) has been awful good to me.”

FLW OUTDOORS.com

Summer Time Frog Fishing by Kevin Hawk

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August 27, 2012

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Enjoy this great tip on throwing the Frog on those hot summer days by now BASS Pro Kevin Hawk.

2013 Classic qualifiers announced- Bassmaster

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August 27, 2012

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2013 Classic qualifiers announced

James Overstreet

John Crews is one of the Elite Series pros headed to the Classic.

Aug 26, 2012

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Thirty-one Bassmaster Elite Series pros were winners on Sunday, even though their victories didn’t involve trophies or titles.

What they received were coveted qualifications for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 22-24 on Grand Lake out of Tulsa, Okla. The Top 28 in the 2012 Elite points standings were officially awarded the berths at the Aug. 26 close of the regular season, the Ramada Championship on Oneida Lake.

Because duplicate qualifications open up Classic seats to anglers lower than 28th in the points, three additional seats went to the anglers in 29th through 31st place: Cliff Prince, Jason Quinn and Michael Iaconelli.

The three can thank Todd Faircloth, Chris Lane and Brent Chapman, all with multiple qualifications to pass down. Chapman — the newly crowned Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year — and Faircloth had already nailed down a 2013 qualification by winning an Elite event. Lane had one in the bag as the defending Classic champ.

Over the next few months, Lane and Chapman might be able to help out two other Elite pros. If Lane and Chapman complete their respective Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open seasons (Lane in the Southern Open, Chapman in the Central Open), they would be able to claim the qualification that came with their Open tournament wins earlier this season.

Sunday, those last-in breathed deep sighs of relief. But for many of the Elite anglers, the qualifications were no surprise. Those who maintained high points standings throughout the season had been virtually assured a 2013 Classic spot.

But several pros riding the cutoff bubble had been sweating it out for months. Those further down the points list made one last hard charge at the season finale on Oneida Lake. Still, others knew their only chance for Classic 2013 was the instant-in that a win at Oneida would give them.

Case in point: Boyd Duckett. He won the Classic in 2007, his first time in the big show. He qualified for four more consecutive Classics, but he failed to get there in 2012. Coming into Oneida in 53rd place in points, it looked like Duckett might sit out again.

“The Classic is the biggest event in bass fishing,” he said Saturday on the eve of his final push. “You spend your whole life trying to make one. And when you make one, you never want to miss another one. I can’t emphasize enough how bad it was last year not to make it.”

Duckett approached Oneida as a Classic quest. He knew he’d likely have to do it via the win-you’re-in rule. He started slowly — 27th on Day 1— then came from behind on the final day to knock out two-day leader Randy Howell.

“I came up here to try to make the Classic. I don’t know if I’m happier about that or winning,” Duckett grinned.

First-time qualifiers for the Classic were Nate Wellman, Yusuke Miyazaki, newly crowned Bassmaster Rookie of the Year Brandon Card, and Cliff Prince, also a 2012 rookie.

“Getting into the Classic was a primary goal starting out this season,” Card said. “I’ve been watching the Bassmaster Classic on TV since I was 7 or 8, and now I’ll be in it. I’ve never fished in Oklahoma, and I’m excited to get out there and try to figure it out.”

Prince was ecstatic.

“My main goal when I came here (to Oneida Lake) was to qualify for the Classic. Actually, it’s been my main goal for the year,” Prince said.

Five other Elite pros qualified for the Classic by winning an Elite event (see list below). One Elite rookie, Casey Scanlon, won a Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open, but he can’t officially claim his Classic seat until he participates in the division’s final event in September.

The Elite anglers who could land a spot through possible future double-qualifications on the Open level are Mike McClelland, Bella Vista, Ark., 32nd in points; and Jared Lintner, Arroyo Grande, Calif., 33rd in points.

It’s also possible that some other Elite angler would be Classic-bound by winning an Open. They would have had to have planned for it early in the season: To claim the Classic entry, a winner must compete in all three Open division events to collect the Classic entry.

Bassmaster Elite Series anglers who have qualified for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic (as of Aug. 26)

Elite anglers who won 2012 Elite-level events:

1. Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala.; 2012 Classic

2. Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas; St. Johns River Showdown

3 Ish Monroe, Hughson, Calif.; Power-Pole Slam on Lake Okeechobee

4. Brandon Palaniuk, Rathdrum, Idaho; TroKar Quest on Bull Shoals Lake

5. Jeremy Starks, Scott Depot, W.Va.; Douglas Lake Challenge

6. Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan.; Toledo Bend Battle

7. Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas; Mississippi River Rumble

8. Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich.; Green Bay Challenge

9. Boyd Duckett, Demopolis, Ala.; Ramada Championship on Oneida Lake

The Top 28 Elite anglers:

1. Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan.

2. Ott DeFoe, Knoxville, Tenn.

3. Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla.

4. Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas

5. Randy Howell, Springville, Ala.

6. Matt Herren, Trussville, Ala.

7. Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich.

8. Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.

9. Bill Lowen, Brookville, Ind.

10. Aaron Martens, Leeds, Ala.

11. Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif.

12. Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla.

13. Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La.

14. Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala.

15. David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn.

16. Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

17. Nate Wellman, Newaygo, Mich.

18. Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss.

19. John Crews, Salem, Va.

20. Mark Davis, Mount Ida., Ark.

21. Yusuke Miyazaki, Forney, Texas

22. Brandon Card, Caryville, Tenn.

23. Gerald Swindle, Warrior, Ala.

24. Takahiro Omori, Emory, Texas

25. Shaw Grigsby, Gainesville, Fla.

26. Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C.

27. Tommy Biffle, Wagoner, Okla.

28. Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala.

Elite anglers on Classic 2013 roster via others’ multiple qualifications:

29. Cliff Prince, Palatka, Fla.

30. Jason Quinn, Lake Wylie, S.C.

31. Michael Iaconelli, Pittsgrove, N.J.

Duckett schools 'em – 2012 Elite Series Ramada Championship Oneida Lake – Syracuse, NY

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August 27, 2012

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Alabama angler snaps up win on Oneida, lands elusive Classic berth

James Overstreet

Boyd Duckett embraces Randy Howell as they wait for Howell’s weight.

By Deb Johnson

Aug 26, 2012

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Boyd Duckett used to count on his red shoes as his talisman. Now it seems his two-week-old son is bringing him all the luck he needs.

In pro fishing, it’s half-jokingly called “the baby pattern” because pros with new kids have proved to suddenly be more motivated. And that was true for Duckett when he came from behind Sunday to win the Ramada Championship on Oneida Lake by 6 ounces, snapping up a win that Day Two and Day Three leader Randy Howell had hoped might be his.

But Duckett was driven by something else, too. The 2007 Bassmaster Classic champ was determined to qualify for the 2013 Classic, and he knew he’d likely have to do it via the win-you’re-in rule. Sitting 53rd in points going into Oneida, he knew that the only way left for that to happen was the Aug. 23-26 Oneida Lake event.

“I came up here to try to make the Classic. I don’t know if I’m happier about that or winning,” Duckett grinned after he accepted his trophy, the $100,000 prize — and his 2013 Classic entry.

“The Classic is the biggest event in bass fishing,” the pro from Demopolis, Ala., said Saturday on the eve of his final push. “You spend your whole life trying to make one. And when you make one, you never want to miss another one. I can’t emphasize enough how bad it was last time not to make it.”

After winning the Classic in 2007, Duckett qualified for the next five. The 2012 Classic he missed was after a dismal 2011 season — 84th place in points, he said.

“Last year I had a horrible season. This year, I worked really, really hard to prepare myself with a champion angler’s attitude,” he said.

Duckett approached Oneida as a Classic quest. He started slowly — 27th on Day One, with a middle-of-the-pack catch of 13-11. But on Day Two, he produced a whopping 17-1 sack and shot to second place. He kept second place on the third day, even though his weight was 14-0. On the final day, he pulled another huge sack out of Oneida — 17-0 — and surged past Howell. The score was Duckett, 62 pounds, 6 ounces to Howell’s 62 pounds even.

Oneida is 20-some miles long and miles wide in spots, but Duckett never saw much of it during the Ramada Championship. He found a sweet mix of largemouth and smallmouth bass in Maple Bay, and milked it for every bass he brought to the scales over four days.

He happened on the spot while sitting on shore during practice. He and Kelly Jordon, sharing a house on Maple Bay, were sitting at a picnic table and noticed roily water offshore.

“The fish were about 400 yards out, and we couldn’t quite see what they were — we thought maybe perch — but they turned out to be smallmouth,” he said. “And that’s how I found my fish.”

They held up all week. One area was more of a largemouth spot. There he mostly flipped a 3-inch Berkley Chigger Craw in green pumpkin or cinnamon, or a ChatterBait or Lucky Craft Gunfish topwater. When he saw smallmouth schooling, he’d troll to them, usually picking up his 4-inch blue-herring Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait rigged on a 1/8-ounce Buckeye J-Will swimbait head.

On Sunday, the Hollow Belly happened to produce a 4-3 largemouth (the biggest fish brought to the scales that day). That catch, said Duckett, was the turning point.

“I felt then I had a really good chance,” he said.

Howell of Springville, Ala., thought the same. For him, though, it was the sixth soul-trying attempt since 2006 to win an Oneida Lake event. Howell’s Oneida history includes a 24th-place finish in 2006; a ninth in 2007, a 20th in 2008, a 26th in 2009 after leading the first day, and a fifth in a 2011 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open.

He led Duckett going into the final round by 2 pounds, 6 ounces. But Sunday he managed only four bass — one shy of a limit — and fell 6 ounces behind.

“I can’t believe it, I really thought I still had enough,” Howell said on stage.

One of Howell’s primary patterns put him offshore in the wind, one factor Duckett did not have to contend with in the protected Maple Bay. Anglers complained that conditions were too calm for good fishing Day One. Winds were perfect on Day Two, but by the final round, the anglers had to concentrate to keep their balance in the big waves.

Howell’s primary lures were a Strike King Series 5 that produced a 3-11 largemouth on Sunday, his largest of the day. He also used a NetBait BK Swimmer, rotating pearl-white or albino on a 1/2-ounce Do-It Mold swimbait head, and a 1-ounce Monster Grass jig by Lunker Lure with a Kinami Baits Psycho Dad crawfish trailer.

He also relied on a Pop-R topwater and Super Spook.

He thinks back on the bass that blew up on his Pop-R on Sunday.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, it just didn’t eat it,” he said. “Four fish that weighed 14-4 were good, solid fish. Any size keeper was all I needed. That’s what really gets me.”

Finishing third was Scott Rook of Little Rock, Ark., with 60-7. It wasn’t quite enough to gain him a Classic berth that, like Duckett, he came to New York to win. Takahiro Omori, 2004 Classic champ, was fourth with 57-4. Ott DeFoe was fifth with 56-14.

The largest bass brought in Sunday was Duckett’s 4-3, not big enough to overtake Takahiro Omori’s 5-6 of Saturday for the Carhartt Big Bass of Tournament award of $750, plus another $750 if the angler was wearing Carhartt clothing.

Other bonuses awarded at the Ramada Championship:

* Berkley Heavyweight Award of $500 for the best five-fish limit: Michael Iaconelli’s Day One bag of 20-3.

* Power-Pole Captain’s Cash of $1,000 if the winner has Power-Poles installed on his boat: Duckett.

* Luck “E” Strike Comeback Award of $500 to the most-improved pro in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race: Duckett, from 53rd place to 35th place.

Next up for the Bassmaster Elite Series is the postseason event, the Toyota Trucks All-Star Week, Sept. 20-23 out of Decatur, Ill. The Top 8 in Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings qualified Sunday. Four anglers voted in by fans will join the eight qualifiers to compete for a piece of the $100,000 prize package. Voting will begin Tuesday, Aug. 28, online at Bassmaster.com.

Host organizations for the Ramada Championship included the Syracuse Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Onondaga County Parks, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and The Great New York State Fair.

BASSMASTER.com

Duckett schools ’em – 2012 Elite Series Ramada Championship Oneida Lake – Syracuse, NY

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August 27, 2012

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Alabama angler snaps up win on Oneida, lands elusive Classic berth