Smith Mountain Lake Tips

[hokiefisherman93]

anyone have any tips on how to fish smith mountain lake?  i heading out there the second week of august for a whole week and was hoping to get some fishing in.  any clue how the stripers are doing in the lake or what to catch them on?

[Red Bear]

i think all the recreational activity on SML in the summer affects the fishing. i was down there this weekend for the 4th of July and it was insane with all the traffic on the lake. i typically prefer to go in the spring and fall. i had decent luck there back in mid may and early june. if i could get my uncle who has a house there to take his boat out more i probably could give you some tips, but thats like pulling teeth. i havent seen much in the way of lillipads and grass patches there, some of the coves have good vegetation but the water is shallow in those spots. a lot of people fish around docks and banks that have rock lining the shore. there are also plenty of spots with fallen trees in the water. SML is pretty big and i havent seen the whole thing so i dont know too much.

[Sam]

Purchase a GMCO map of the lake.

Note where you are launching your boat.

Stay within three to five miles radius of where you launch, unless you find out about a special place from a local.

Note where you launch as it is easy to get lost on this lake.

SML is a very large lake with lots of traffic.

Fish early to avoid as much traffic as possible.  By 10 or 11 AM it is like I-95 by Woodbridge on a holiday.  Only worse. Be one the water at first light.

Lake can turn nasty fast so watch weather and winds closely.

Study map and look for creeks and streets along the shoreline which will give you the location of the docks and piers.

Fish the shore unless you can find a ledge or hump on the GMCO map.  

Shaky head and wacky rigs for plastics; #5 and #7 Shad Raps and  cranks.  C-Rigs, too, may be productive.  Early AM throw topwaters like RICOs, buzzbaits, Sammy's, etc.

Have fun, wear your PFD at all times, and watch out for the loons on their jet skis and old folks on their pontoon boats.  

[Red Bear]

youre not lying about it being like I95 backed up. the water was real choppy saturday and looked like it was boiling. i felt like i was on the roughest jet ski ride ever instead of in a boat. it even makes night fishing from a dock tough. i know an old man down there who wont even fish on weekends because it gets that busy out there. i didnt even have any luck with the catfish. i did manage to catch a PB carp on a night crawler. i think the best time to go there is in the spring and then fall when there is less recreational use of the lake going on

[hokiefisherman93]

ha i am hoping with having a house for a week i going to be able to produce something.  will let you know how it turns out

[Red Bear]

good luck on your trip, you should be able to catch some fish during the week. the weekends are really tough, and holidays are nightmares. there are definately some nice fish in SML, it gets so much pressure in the middle of the summer though, fishing can be tough.

in the craddock creek area of the lake you will see a light house(right around the corner from the dam), across from that you will see a cove in a no wake zone with a ton of sailboats and a huge boat dock with a green roof behind that. my uncles lake house used to be there, but he moved to a new spot and put that up for sale because they allowed that big green roofed dock to be built and it blocked off the whole view of the lake. someones palms were definately greased to get that thing built, but anyways, there were constantly big bass back in there, they would be swimming in groups of 2-4 mostly. my aunt even caught a striper off the dock back in there and had it mounted. plus over the years we hauled in a bunch of nice catfish. my last time fishing there i pulled in a 20+ lb catfish. even nice white perch and carp came back in there. that cove was loaded with fish, i even caught a musky fingerling back in there haha. and all of this came in the back of the cove. good times =]

[5bass]

SML is my home lake. In August you'll need to fish at night for the best bite or very early or right at dusk. Middle of the day on Smith is tough to get bit unless you know where they're at ahead of time and the best bite will be deep.

The lower end is crystal clear and generally more flat than the upper end above Halesford Bridge which is mid lake. There are several major creeks on both ends of the lake but the more dependable bite will be on the main lake.

SML has about 4 million docks. Unless you know some stuff offshore, you'll be inclined to fish the docks. Nothing wrong with that, 75% of the people I see on SML on any given day are fishing docks. 15% are trolling for stripers and the other 10% are fishing deep stuff out away from everyone else, mixing some docks in here and there.

When you arrive, you will immediately notice that the lake has about 200,000 jet-skiers going in all different directions and approximately 150,000 ski boats with people in tow. These people will cut you off repeatedly, ride back and forth past you (really close) at least 10 times before moving on and will irritate you worse than a bad rash. It's just the way it is on Smith though. It has good fish but getting on your spots and staying there without getting seasick from the neverending waves is a task in itself.

You will need to bring a carolina rig, some football jigs, some deep cranks and some big worms.....and try to fish at night.  

[hokiefisherman93]

last year we rented a house straight across from mitchells point marina?  nevertheless i was only able to catch a couple perch and brim.  at the dam i landed a nice 3lb smallie.  the coves are very nice up there i had a huge bust on a buzzbait in a secluded cove.  not sure what it was but it busted it high out of the water.  this year we got our house up by bridgewater marina so not sure what i going to do now with all the traffic ha

[hokiefisherman93]

and thanks fivebasslimit i will certainly remember that and maybe my efforts will not in vain again ha

[hokiefisherman93]

well before i embark on my trip to smith mountain lake i have a few final questions to ask.  what are the stripers hitting this time of year live bait wise and artificial and at what depth.  and which buoy markers should i concentrate on for stripers and largemouths.  any advice will be greatly appreciated to me being new to this lake.

thanks,

tyler