July – SML Fishing Report by Captain Dale Wilson

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORTJULY 2011 DALE WILSON’SSML GUIDE SERVICEPHONE NO:  540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950www.captaindalewilson.com

OVERVIEW:   Early morning, late afternoon and night time will be the best times to try your luck. Bass and striper fishing has been good!  Water temperature will be in the 80’s.

Largemouth Bass-Fishing will be good. Best lures will be large plastic worms, jig & pig, Thunder sticks, deep diving crankbaits and drop shots. Most largemouth bass will be caught on humps, main channel  points, ledges and  deep rocky shorelines. Some largemouth bass will chase schools of bait early and late in the day.. Largemouth bass will be in their summer patterns. Best depths will be 10 to 18 feet deep. Night fishing will be good.

Smallmouth Bass– Fishing should be fair. Best areas will be humps, rocky areas and main points. Best lures will be jig & pig, drop shots, small crankbaits, top water lures and jigs. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Smallmouth bass will surface feed this month. Cloudy days are a good time to try your luck!

Striped Bass– Fishing will be good. Stripers will be caught in various areas of the lake.The best areas will be in the mid sections of  both rivers and the larger creeks. Best lures will be swimbaits,  bucktails and Zoom flukes fished  on 3/8 to 3/4 oz. lead heads. Live bait and trolling will also be productive. The best depths will be from 20 to 60 feet deep. Night fishing will be fair. Some schools of stripers will surface early and late day.

Crappie-Fishing for crappie will be fair. They will be found 10 to 25 feet deep this month. Best areas will be in the main creeks around deep docks, fallen trees, and brush piles in the mid to upper parts of the lake. Small live minnows and 1 ½ inch tubes fished on 1/16 to 1/8 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month.

TIP OF THE MONTH: Try using light test fluorocarbon line and smaller size lures when fishing during the day time. Large crankbaits and 8 to 10 inch plastic worms work good after dark. Most fish will relate to some type of structure during the summer months.

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