Current Smith Mountain Lake Conditions And Bite

[hulagrubman]

thinking i need to get out of the house and take a trip.  anybody been on smith lately?  hows the water and fishing?  i assume this weather has the majority of bass still suspending a little deeper and maybe coming up in the afternoons?  thanks for any info

[Hyrule Bass]

havent been there since October. the water was really low most of the fall/winter but appears to have came back up to normal is about the most i can tell you. ive never been down there before March of any year...

[Nitrofreak]

The lake is at full pool right now,   hearing from a friend,  if I were you I would be turning my attention to the main lake points there with some good vertical structure,  I fished this lake with my friend a few months ago and they were on the very bottom while the lake was shallow, some were stuck up on the shallow cover but very few,  I can imagine the main lake points are a hot item after that big drain off.

[Zoff]

I will be going Saturday.  The lake is at full pond and fairly clear. (  http://smithmountainlakelevel.com/ ) Water temperature is around 41° to 44° F.  A friend has been fishing it and said that they have had great results dragging... DRAGGING... jigs over rocks, riprap, and other hard bottom.  The going color is a brown jig with a blue trailer.  Personally, I have found a 4" to 6" green pumpkin finesse to work well this time of year in the same environment.  If they are running deep.... below 25 feet... use a rattle trap or umbrella rig.  Use a bait you can get to the bottom quickly then slowly retrieve.  The thermocline seems to be around 5 to 10 feet off the bottom.  Appears that the bass are sitting just outside the shallow water then dart in to snag some snacks then back to the deep.  Fishing sharp drop offs and ledges are the key.

[Nitrofreak]

Awesome info there big guy !!!

[Zoff]

Biggest of 6 at about 5.5 pounds.  The others ranged from 1 to 3 pounds. This picture has a story... I was alone and had set my phone to take a pic on timer.  Just after the pic took... the bow hit the bank ( you can see how close the trees look ) and I nearly went into the lake.  Needless to say... I dropped the pig into the water for a little "catch and release". 

[Zoff]

Oh... 6" Z-Man Green Pumpkin Finesse shakeyhead in about 4 feet of water.  Caught all 6 within 3 or 4 yards of each other in about 20 minutes time.  I only spent about 3 hours there as it was too cold and windy.

[Tlinn]

Any info on fishing at the end of April. What should i target as far as structure. Also where at on the lake. I have never fished here and it's really the first time I have fished a bigger lake. Any help is much appreciated

[Zoff]

Any info on fishing at the end of April. What should i target as far as structure. Also where at on the lake. I have never fished here and it's really the first time I have fished a bigger lake. Any help is much appreciated

I'm going out tomorrow.  I'll let ya know what happens.

[Tlinn]

How did you end up doing? I know this lake is huge, should I target any areas so I'm not wasting my time out there. I think I'll be putting in at parkway marina.

[Zoff]

Sorry... forgot to post.

 

Went out from 7am to 4pm.  Boated 8 that averaged 2 or so pounds.  There was a tourney that day so it was hard to find places to fish.  Water temp ranged from 46 to 51 degrees.

[keith71]

Zoff, I fished that tournament Saturday and struck out.My partner and I fished Gills creek and Blackwater with everything form square bills to spinnerbaits and jigs.Thought it would get better as the day went on but it didnt,guess thats just fishing.Good job catching eight.

[Zoff]

I went all the way up and past Beaver Dam.  Got into the big rocks and dragged shakeyheads.  Really a rough catch.

[keith71]

Thanks for the tip,it was tough.

[Tallent25]

we are gonna be down this weekend any tips of where to start fishing ? never been ive heard they spwan a little later there so im assuming there not on beds yet here some are geting on the beds with he water up above 60  anything is greatly apprecaited !

[Tlinn]

Thanks for the info. If you go out in the next two weeks let me know how you do. I got some info from a buddy and he was saying to hit the creeks and inlets north west of union hall. Is the fishing any good there? Also how long of a run would it be from parkway marina to that spot? I'm hoping the water warms up in by the end if the month so I can catch some spawners in the shallows.