Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report April 2016 by Captain Dale Wilson

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT April 2016 DALE WILSON’S SML GUIDE SERVICE PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950 www.captaindalewilson.com

Picture: Citation smallmouth bass caught & released by a friend, while fishing with Captain Dale Wilson last month.

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OVERVIEW- Fishing should be great this month! Water temperature will be in the 60’s to mid 70’s. Best times will be cloudy days. Late afternoon is usually when fish are most active and at night later in the month. Fishing the past few weeks has been good! Most of the baitfish has moved towards the upper end of the rivers, coves and the major creeks. The warmer weather has caused fishing patterns to change for the better. The longer days and the water temperature rising causes the fish to get more active in shallow water as they prepare to spawn.

Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass will be good this month. Best lures will be jigs, spinner baits, drop shots, shallow diving crank baits, jerk baits and shaky heads. Most largemouth bass will be caught near shallow coves, stumps, shallow brush piles, secondary points and shallow water docks. Best depths will be from 2 to 15 feet deep. Look for stained water and shad movements to help locate bass. Most largemouth bass will start to spawn this month.

Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be good. Best areas will be humps, stumps and shallow secondary points. Best lures will be jerk baits, tubes, jigs and shallow to medium running crank baits.. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Most smallmouth bass will be suspended under schools of baitfish. Cloudy days with wind are good times to try your luck! Look for areas with rocks on points next to deep water. Late April some smallmouth bass will start to spawn in shallower water. Look for stumps and isolated rocks on flats near deep water.

Striped Bass- Fishing should be good this month. Stripers will be caught in most sections of the lake and the large creeks. Best lures will be swim baits, Red- fins, Thunder Sticks and Zoom flukes fished on 1/4 to 3/8 oz. lead heads. Casting early and late day will be productive. The best depths will be from the surface to 30 feet deep. Live bait fished on planner boards will work good this month. Most fish will be suspended and will constantly be on the move. Find the largest concentration of shad. Night fishing should improve later in April. Mid to lower end of the lake seems to work best when night fishing.

Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be great this month. They will be found 2 to 10 ft. deep. Crappie will be found around docks, brush piles, stumps and fallen tree tops. Small live minnows and 1½ to 2 inch tubes or shad shaped plastic lures fished on 1/32 to 1/16 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month. Most crappie will spawn this month.

TIP OF THE Month- Shad constantly move to the shallow water at night to spawn, when the water temps warm. Most species of fish, especially bass and stripers, will feed at night. You can also hear reports about local fishing on the website: THE BASS CAST RADIO SHOW each month. Make sure your running lights are on after dark! Remember to be courteous and obey all the boating laws. Take a kid fishing!

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