Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Report September 2015 by Captain Dale Wilson

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE FISHING REPORT September 2015 DALE WILSON’S SML GUIDE SERVICE PHONE NO: 540-297-5650 / 540-874-4950 www.captaindalewilson.com

OVERVIEW: Fishing should be good this month! Water temperature will be in the 70’s. Best times will be early morning, late afternoon and after dark. Fishing the past few weeks has been fair. Night fishing for largemouth bass should remain fair after dark. Stripers and largemouth bass will be in their summer patterns throughout most of this month.

Largemouth Bass- Fishing for largemouth bass should improve this month. Best lures will be jigs, drop shot rigs, top water lures, Carolina rigs, 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 30 feet deep. Most largemouth bass will remain in their summer patterns until later in the month . Rocks, creek channel bends and brush piles are key factors to finding bass this month. Please practice catch and release. If you fish tournaments use ice in your live wells to help keep your fish alive during hot weather.

Smallmouth Bass- Fishing should be fair. Best areas will be humps, ledges, and main channel points. Best lures will be crank baits, 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 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 better this month. Stripers will be caught in the mid to lower sections of the lake and the large creeks. Best lures will be spoons 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 25 to 80 feet deep. Live bait will work this month. Night fishing will be poor this month. Look for schools of stripers near the river channels. Most fish will be suspended and will constantly be on the move.

Crappie- Fishing for crappie will be fair this month. They will be found 15 to 25 ft. deep. Crappie will suspend in the tops of standing timber 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 1/16 to 1/8 oz. lead heads will work best to catch crappie this month.

TIP OF THE Month: Most species of fish will continue to relate to deep water early this month. September is usually a good month to catch stripers. You can also hear local 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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