Smith Mountain Lake
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Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Reports
Stay up to date with the latest fishing reports from Smith Mountain Lake. Reports are submitted by local anglers, fishing guides, and our team of fishing experts.
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- Species
Largemouth BassTechniqueTexas Rigs (Worming)SeasonSummerStructurePointsCought multiple fish dragging rocky points in 5 to 10ft of water make sure you are close to main channels
SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueTexas Rigs (Worming)SeasonSummerStructureDocksFished docks with brush 10 to 20ft make sure the docks are close to main lake points our main channel an to work the brush slow try to get your bait hung up and hold on !!!
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueDrop ShotSeasonSummerStructureLedges
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Walking)SeasonSummerStructureRip Rap
Looked for banks blue backs were spawning on was able to catch 12 on top an this nice one just under 6lbs shad spawn was mostly over blue backs started spawning around 3 in the morning
Billy KohlsBronze Ambassador
SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueSoft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)SeasonSummerStructureBrush PilesLargemouth and Smallmouth bass are starting to move out of the creak channels and out onto main lake points and deeper docks. The mid section down to the dam is a great place to fish this time of year with the river channel close by. On cloudy and windy days a 2.8, 3.3 and 3.8 Kaitech swimbaits on very sizes of 1/4oz up to 3/8oz Guppy Head and Dobyns Swimbait Heads work well. Throwing them on spinning rods with lighter line with get you more and bigger bites. A Dobyns Champion XP 703SF is a perfect rod for all of those sizes. On sunny post front or sunny afternoons its time to start dragging around jigs and large profile plastics. A Dobyns football head jig in 1/2-3/4oz is perfect to keep bottom contact. Texas rigging a Zoom Ole Monster is key for a big bite or Carolina rigging a creature bait on a 1oz with a leader will get you those post spawn summer time female fish. Check out the Man Bear Pig from Reaction Innovations. Another technique that is over looked this time of year is the bream eating fish that are up shallow. This will almost exclusively be largemouth and it is not for targeting numbers but rather single giant fish. This requires time on the water to find those honeycomb bream beds in the backs of pockets. Find the bream beds and fish whatever targets are close by like laydowns or docks. This bite seems to be best during the hottest part of the day. Use a prop bait or popper for topwater or a senko or flipping bait like a missile baits D bomb or Spicy Beaver. Lastly is focusing on the finesse side of deep fishing. A Dropshot is hard to beat this time of year. A 6” roboworm is my go to 90% of the time on a Dropshot and in the summer it really shines. Focus on deep dock post on the main lake on the sunny side. Be careful of the heavy boat traffic. If you use a Gamakatsu re-barb hook you can also target heavy brush piles to big bass.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Walking)SeasonSummerStructurePoints
Fished main lake points during the shad spawn be sure to parallel the bank an if you don't here any fish busting in 10min to move on to the next point
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Walking)SeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureDocks
Sunday, June 12. We got to the lake around 4:50 and we drove down to Bettys creek and started fishing points. I (Judah) hooked about a 3-pounder on a ned rigged craw but before we could net him he threw my bait! So as the sun started to go down, we moved shallow for an epic topwater bite! We caught a five-fish limit, and the fish were caught on a spook and a buzzbait!
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Prop)SeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureOpen Water/Basin
Great Shad spawn bait to toss on them where they are breaking the surface. Color not as important as just finding where the fish are active. Good buzzbait alternative
