SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT
October 2011
DALE WILSON’S
SML GUIDE SERVICE
PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950
www.captaindalewilson.com
Brooke & Conner Phillips with stripers caught while fishing with their grandfather
Capt. Dale Wilson / Sept. 18,2011.
OVERVIEW: Bass fishing has been good. Stripers have been surfacing early morning, late afternoon and cloudy days. October is usually a good month to catch fish. Water temperature will be in the 60’s.
Largemouth Bass-Fishing will be good. Best lures will be jig & pigs, top water lures, Carolina rigs, spinner baits and drop shots. Most largemouth bass will be caught on humps, deep points, ledges and docks. Some largemouth bass will chase schools of bait early and late in the day. Best depths will be from the surface to 25 feet deep. Some schools of largemouth bass will be suspended under schools baitfish this month.
Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be fair. Best areas will be humps, rocky ledges and main points. Best lures will be jig & pig, drop shots, top water lures, jerkbaits and jigs. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Smallmouth bass will surface feed this month. Cloudy days, early morning and late afternoons are good times to try your luck!
Striped Bass- Fishing will be good. Stripers will be caught in various areas of the lake.
The best areas will be in the mid to upper sections of the lake and the larger creeks. Best lures will be swimbaits, bucktails, top water lures and Zoom flukes fished with 3/8 to 3/4 oz. lead heads. Live bait will also be productive. The best depths will be from the surface to 60 feet deep. Vertical jigging with ¾ oz. leadheads and Hopkin’s spoons will work good this month. Some schools of stripers will surface early and late in the day. Some schools of stripers will move up river and to back of the larger creeks.
Crappie-Fishing for crappie will be good. They will be found 5 to 15 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 parts 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: The best time to catch fish is usually the day before a cold front arrives. Fish feed heavily on shad this month. Look in the back of large coves and the upper parts of the main rivers to locate large schools of shad.
