Smith Mountain Lake October Fishing Report - My favorite month of the year

This year could be a really special October. We are having some strong Arctic high pressure systems coming south that are bringing low temperatures into the 40’s at night which is pretty early for this time of year. This will have the fish on the move a little faster this year so be ready to check some areas that you may have overlooked in the last few years. Fish are starting to school together and big stripers and bass are moving shallow quickly to follow the bait fish.

Largemouth and Smallmouth fishing will be lights out this month. We have a few different patterns to fish with where the bait is located. Some bass are already in the backs of pockets waiting for the schools of bait fish to arrive and can be very easy to catch right now. Look for pockets with large flat areas with docks and lay downs and toss around a topwater early in the morning or a spinnerbait/chatter bait once the sun gets up. It’s power fishing season so keep the trolling motor on high and cover some water. These fish will most likely be alone so don’t spend to much time looking for schools of bass in the backs just yet. Smallmouth will be active on the lower end of the lake around the mountain and the natural rocky points. A topwater walking bait is hard to beat, a small swimbait or a jerkbait will get you bites. If you are out on a windy day try throwing around some crankbaits that are going to hit the bottom. The other main pattern will be schooling bass on points. Look for fish to be about halfway back in pockets on secondary points. Use your boat electronics to find where the bait is depth wise and fish around those types of points.

Stripper fishing will just keep getting better and better as we get colder. As mentioned before they will be schooling on points so a topwater is hard to beat this time of year. A scouger head and fluke can also be used when those fish don’t want to come up.

Panfishing is still good around docks and riprap banks as the bluegills stay up shallow to enjoy the last warm water for the year.

Crappie fishing may be tough while those fish transition from their deeper summer patterns to their brush piles for the fall. Look in the 15 foot range.

Overall fishing should be great this time of year with some bigger fish finally deciding to eat more often.