August 2013 – Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORTAugust 2013DALE WILSON’SSML GUIDE SERVICEPHONE NO:  540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950www.captaindalewilson.com

Picture: Matt Ulner from Georgia, holding a nice Striper caught and released while fishing with his wife Lisa and Captain Dale last month.

OVERVIEW: Fishing is fair to good. Later this month fishing should improve.  The hot weather and heavy boat traffic has made most fishing best at night or early morning. The majority of the lake is clear and the water temperature will be in the 80’s. . Largemouth Bass-Fishing will be fair. Best lures will be shaky heads, deep diving crank baits, large Texas rigged plastic worms and jigs. Most largemouth bass are in their summer habitat. Best depths will be from the surface to 25 feet deep. Best areas are deep ledges, rocky bluffs and brush piles. Early morning, late afternoon and at night will be the best time to fish this month. Some shad will continue coming to the shoreline later at night. Some bass will feed on top water later in the month.

Smallmouth Bass– Fishing should be poor because of the hot water temperatures . Best areas will be ledges, long points and humps. Best lures will be top water lures, tube lures, drop shot rigs, and shaky heads. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Cloud days will be the best time to try your luck.

Striped Bass– Fishing will be good. Stripers will be caught mostly in the mid to lower sections of the lake . Best lures will be swim baits, buck tails, and Zoom flukes fished with 1/2 to 3/4 oz. jig heads during the day. Vertical jigging will be a good method. Live bait and trolling will also be a productive method.. The best depth should be from the 20 to 60 feet deep. Best time to try your luck will be early morning and late afternoon. 

Crappie-Fishing for crappie will be fair to poor. They will be found 15 to 25 feet deep this month. Best areas will be in the main creeks around docks, fallen trees, and brush piles in the mid to upper sections of the lake. Small live minnows and 1 ½ inch tubes and twister tail grubs fished on 1/16 to 1/8 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month. Small Gulp minnows also work well when fished on small lead heads or drop shot rigs. Light line (4 lb. test) will help you catch more crappie.

Tip of the month: Night time will be your best time to try your luck for bass. The Stripers feed better early in the morning and late afternoon. If you have young children, bream are easily caught around most docks, using night crawlers. Make sure to leave your running lights on after dark and wear your life jacket.

The post August 2013 – Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report appeared first on The Bass Cast.