Smith Mountain lake Fishing Report October 2015 by Captain Dale Wilson

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

OVERVIEW: Fishing will be good this month! Water temperature will be in the 60’s. Best times will be early morning, late afternoon and overcast days. Fishing the past few weeks has been great! All the rain has cooled the water and added oxygen making the fish become very active. Stripers and bass have been surfacing during and around the full moon.

Largemouth Bass– Fishing for largemouth bass will be good this month. Best lures will be jigs, drop shot rigs, top water lures, spinner baits, Texas rigged plastic worms and shaky heads. Most largemouth bass will be caught in coves and creeks, rock piles, brush, humps, stumps and docks. Best depths will be from the surface to 18 feet deep. Most largemouth bass will move to their fall patterns this month . Rocks, creeks and brush are key factors to finding bass this month. Stained water and shade movements will also be keys to catching bass this month. Please practice catch and release.

Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be fair. Best areas will be humps and main channel points. Best lures will be crank baits, tubes, 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 around 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 should be good this month. Stripers will be caught in the mid to lower sections of the lake and the large creeks. Best lures will be top water lures and Zoom flukes fished on 3/8 to 3/4 oz. lead heads. Vertical jigging is one of the better ways to catch stripers this month. The best depths will be from the surface to 80 feet deep. Live bait will work this month. Look for schools of stripers surfacing. Most fish will be suspended and will constantly be on the move.

Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be good this month. They will be found 5 to 15 ft. deep. Crappie will suspend around docks this month and deep fallen tree tops near deep water. Small live minnows and 1½ to 2 inch tubes or shad shaped plastic lures fished on 1/32 to 1/6 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month.

TIP OF THE Month: Most species of fish will relate to the movement of bait fish this month. October is usually a good month to catch stripers. You can also hear reports about local fishing on the website: The Bass Cast. Make sure your running lights are on after dark! Make sure you wear your life jacket. You can never be too careful when boating! Remember to be courteous and obey all the boating laws. Please practice catch and release. Take a kid fishing!

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