Focusing more on Brown fish

[bmadd]

I fish Kentucky Lake and primarily have fished for largemouth. There have been a few occasions where I have caught several smallmouth. I have decided I'd like to try and target those a little bit more. I did a general google search but most of the information I'm finding is for river smallies. Anybody that fishes lakes for smallies, in particular in the south, what information helped you most? What's some good reading on seasonal patterns of lake bound smallies? Any help would greatly be appreciated  

[CJ]

Hey man, I've been doing the same thing here on Ky. Lake. Up north of you though.

They're spawning right now. I haven't been able to catch them in this phase thus far. But, once they're done, it ain't real hard except for location. They should spawn out later this month. Then they will gather up on rocky mainlake points. Usually starting around 6-8 ft. deep then they will progress deeper as the water warms. The points at the mouths of the bays is a good place to start. Keep an eye on the TVA website for the discharge. Above 40,000 cfs is better and above 60,000 is good. One of the best smallmouth lures here is a green pumkin tube. I use two different ones. A BPS 3 1/2 in. tender tube and a Mizmo 4 in. big boy. I dye about 1/3 of the skirt chartuese. Just drag them real slow. C-rigged baby brush hogs work and so do jigs, all in green pumkin/chartuese colors. Good Luck!

If I get on this bite this year, I will let you know what's up.

CJ

[bmadd]

I appreciate it CJ. Most of my smallmouths have come from the pea gravel banks/flats outside of Byrd and Hughes. I've also had some luck around the 79 bridge and around Standing Rock but that's a little farther south of you. Where do you normally launch from?

[CODbasser]

im from va...i fish claytor lake...its the lake thats dams the newriver in pulaski county....alot of people target smallmouth here...you can catch them when they are spawning...here they spawn on the mainlake alot...just fish rocky flats if you can find them...you have to commit to it though..its not the kind of thing that you can just go make a few casts and expect to catch fish...if you get your bait infront of them they will eat it....far more aggressive than largemouth on the bed

[CJ]

bmadd, I fish from the dam to the 79 bridge. I've only been able to catch smaller brown fish right now on pea gravel. I've mostly been on the east side from Rhodes to Byrd. I'm about to go back after some green fish with the lake coming up this high. That should give the SM time to get off the beds and get out on the points. Plus there will be some days that the TVA is going to have to discharge some water later this month. That should make the conditions ideal!

[Crestliner2008]

I'm not fortunate enough to fish the more temperate climes you folks are in - as well as some truly great smallmouth waters. However, I do pretty well on our reservoirs up here.

Smallies do not all spawn at the same time. Rather this period can be stretched over a month or more, depending on the depth & size of the lake. If they are in the spawn right now in your lake, you should be able to get them shallow with hard jerks, Senkos or jigs. If you don't fish the beds (I never do!), you can always find some fish at the first or second break. In this case, use your sonar, find bait and put a drop shot down. You'll get bit.