Smith Mountain Lake January Fishing Report - Game on! Fish are eating, water is finally cold and lots of rain!!!
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE BAIT SHOP FOR ALL THE EARLY WINTER TACKLE I USE
OMG it’s finally happening!!!!! We have cold water, lots of wet days in the forecast and the fish are putting on the feedbag really heavy. Winter fishing is one of my favorite times to fish in VA. Some of the days have high temperatures close to 50 degrees and the fish will bite on a windy day and also a bright sunny low wind day. Keep in mind this time of year the fish are going to have a smaller bite window, but the bigger fish are going to eat. Also, the bass and striper are both looking for large meals that will keep them full for a few days. I would plan to have a few big baits to present and also some smaller baits for those post front sunny calm days.
Largemouth are easier to find this time of year and are stacked together this time of year. Ditches and drains are at great place to start looking this time of year and understanding how to find these on your map is the key to finding the bass. Steep banks and longer points dumping to the main channel are second to the ditches, but can also produce some big fish. Ditches and drains are the last deep water in the back of pockets. It can be large pockets or smaller cuts. Look on your mapping for the depth change of 30 feet to 20 feet or 20 feet to 10 feet. Larger flats in the backs of those pockets can be good also if we get a few days of warm weather back to back.
Smallmouth do somewhat of the opposite of the largemouth. The lower end of Smith Mountain Lake is loaded with humps and longer points with natural rock as well as tons of standing timber. Smallmouth will use those longer areas for feeding and the tree tops for a holding pattern. When I say deep I do mean 40 feet - 60 feet. These fish are usually in small groups of 2-3. FFS is key to doing this but it can still be done with a 2D sonar.
As for what baits to use, here is what I would have on to target larger green fish. A large paddle tail swimbait around gizzard shad and bass is one of the best ways to get the bigger bite. The Megabass Magdraft is a staple in the paddle tail category and everyone should have a few. I throw a 6” version on a Dobyns 764 Champ XP rod and 18lb Sunline Sniper. For the 8” Magdraft I use a Dobyns 795 Champ XP and up my line to 20lb. A jerkbait is a close second to a swimbait. Again a Megabass vision 110 is the gold standard of jerkbaits. Pick up a few in the original size, the +1 and the +2. As a follow up to a bigger meal you can also throw a Megabass Katana. These draw big fish to the boat and can get you some monster bites.
For a more finesse approach a dropshot is hard to beat. This time of year is about slowing down so don’t plan to fish them fast. I will downsize my worm this time of year to a 4” Missile Mini Magic worm. Focus on channel swing banks and deeper docks to find those bass on sunny days.
Smallmouth are much more aggressive this time of year. They are spread out a lot more and can be harder to find, but they will bite a lot more often. A damiki rig and small swimbait are all you need to get those fish to bite. I focus on presenting a few different weights to allow for different fall rates. I always have a 1/4oz and 3/8oz head on the damiki and will have a 1/8oz and 3/8oz swimbait head. Speed has to be considered when throwing the swimbait, some days they want to chase something down and another they will want it very slow. My preferred Damiki head is a VMC Mooneye head. My preferred swimbait head is a Megabass Okashira head in both the original and the screwlock. Baits I throw are a Damiki Armor Shad, Berkley Glup or Zoom Fluke. For swimbaits its a Megabass Hazedong Shad 3”.
The striper bite is on fire right now. Most main lake points that have timber off the ends are loaded with extremely large schools. A spoon, hairjig or swimbait is all you need. Look for fish on the breaklines and drops that dump into the main river channel. You can also run into the back of most major creek arms like Gills, Becky’s and Betty’s or Yacht club and find schools pushing bait in the backs.
The Crappie and Yellow Perch fishing has also been lights out. Crappies are loaded on docks up the rivers on the main channel with depths of 15-25 feet of the ends of the docks and yellow perch seem to be taking over a lot of brush piles in that 10-15 feet range. Minnows is still your best choice but if you need to go artifical a little grub is all you need.
Tightlines and stay safe out there!! Also be sure to check out the BAITSHOP for all the baits i’m throwing this month!