Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report July 2015 By Captain Dale Wilson

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORTJuly 2015DALE WILSON’SSML GUIDE SERVICEPHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950www.captaindalewilson.com

Picture: Jess Henley from Florida with a nice largemouth bass caught and released a few days ago, while fishing with Captain Dale. 

OVERVIEW: Fishing will be fair this month! Water temperature will be in the 80’s. Best times will be early morning, late afternoon and after dark. The unusually hot weather has made for tough fishing the past couple of weeks. Night fishing for largemouth bass has been fair. Stripers should start to school and move into their summer habitat soon.

Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass will be fair this month. Best lures will be jigs, drop shot rigs, top water lures, Carolina rigs, large Texas rigged plastic worms and shaky heads. Most largemouth bass will be caught near creek channels, rock piles, brush piles, humps, ledges, and deep docks. Best depths will be from the surface to 25 feet deep. Most largemouth bass will have moved to their summer patterns . Rocks, creek channel bends and brush piles are key factors to finding bass this month. Please practice catch and release.

Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be fair. Best areas will be rocks, humps, ledges, and main channel points. Best lures will be jig & pig, tubes, hair jigs and top water lures. Best areas will be in the mid to the lower sections of the lake. Most smallmouth bass will be suspended this month near schools of baitfish. Cloudy days with light winds are good times to try your luck! Light line and smaller lures will increase your chances to catch smallmouth bass.

Striped Bass- Fishing will be fair. Stripers will be caught in the mid to lower sections of the lake and thelarger creeks. Best lures will be top water poppers, and Zoom flukes fished on 1/2 to 3/4 oz. lead heads. The best depths will be from the 25 to 45 feet deep. Live bait will work this month. Night fishing will be poor this month. Some schools of stripers may surface briefly this month!

Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be poor this month. They will be found 10 to 25 feet deep. 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 1½ to 2 inch tubes or shad shaped plastic lures fished on 1/16 to 1/8 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month.

TIP OF THE Month: Make sure you wear plenty of sunscreen and stay hydrated while fishing in the heat of the day! Best times to fish will be early morning and at night. Make sure your running lights are on after dark! The use of a black light at night will help you to see better after dark! Make sure you wear your life jacket. You can never be too careful when boating after dark! Remember to be courteous and obey all the boating laws. Please practice catch and release. Take a kid fishing!

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