Smith Mountain Lake April Fishing Report by Captain Chad Green

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April is here and the weather will settle in next week. A lot of big fish are being caught right now of all species. We have had a small wave of bass spawn on the warm spells in March as sometimes happens. But the big waves have not moved in yet and will not until next week. Fish are still in all depths of water and fishing more like March than April right now. Big changes coming next week though. The bait has not started to mill the banks yet but I would expect that by next weekend in some locations.

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Check out Smith Mountain Boat and Tackle Penhook for your boating needshttps://www.smboats.com,Visit Indian Point Marina as Captain Dewayne Lamb has moved locations. Go by and check his new place and there food truck that will be opening soon.PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE ON CITATION SIZE FISH

Largemouth Bass/Smallmouth BassThe last couple of weeks has been a tough bite on smith mountain. As expected the large weights have come down a little but some big fish have been caught for sure as always. They are ready to spawn and just waiting on mother nature to settle down. The bigger wave will come later next week and the following week as long as weather prevails but keep in mind this is about a 60 day process to finish. You can pick which ever technique you want to fish right now and be successful. Slower presentations will be more productive around the spawn as they are less aggressive. There is more bait present and more opportunities for them to feed as well as other things on their mind. Bass will tend to be more sluggish when the water temps are around 60 degrees for many reasons. Once the water temps reach the low 60s look for shad spawning action this month which is usually around 10-14 days after the big waves of bass spawning unless it gets really warm really quick. Some smallmouth have already spawned but you can bet money when the dogwoods and redbuds are blooming they are up and catchable. Look to see more of them showing up this month as well.

Striped BassThe Stripers have split up in to smaller groups of fish the last few weeks but have been biting very well and a lot of surface activity mainly on the upper reaches of both arms of the lake. Look for them to start running the banks soon also and on a clear calm day you may see some big ones cruising now in the clearer water. I have caught quite a few citation size fish in the last few weeks in very shallow water and they are very aggressive. Any shad imitations they become vulnerable too. They are spooky so approach areas slowly and be quiet on the boat as they will leave the area. I highly recommend turning off your sonar as well.CrappieMost of the Crappie have been in the 10–20 foot range. The crappie fishing has been a lot better the last month or so. There are plenty of crappie to be found. Small Jigs and Minnows will be baits of choice.TournamentsCatt trail 4-7FLW BFL 4-6BassCast 5-1

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