Smith Mountain Lake July Fishing Report - Stabilizing water levels, Icast and Winning a BassKings event
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE BAIT SHOP FOR ALL THE SUMMER TACKLE
I RECOMMEND
It’s been a killer early summer bite so far with lots of different things happening. If you have been following me on social media like IG and Facebook you have seen that we are catching a lot of fish in that 4-6lb range. Honestly, most coming out of rather shallow water for this time of year. I was also able to win the late June BassKings solo event on the lake doing something a little different this year. The fishing has been pretty consistent so lets get into it.
The largemouth are mixing it up this year. Normally by this time I am spending most of my time off shore chasing the schooling fish with clients focusing on topwater in the morning and dropshooting in the afternoon, but this year it has been the opposite. There is a large population of really big largemouth still very shallow in the morning time and again around lunch time that are chasing bluegills and shell crackers around. This is a super fun way to get some monster bites and was my main approach for winning the BassKings event. It takes time to narrow down the areas that the big ones are in, but once you find the bream beds it’s almost a guarantee that bass are near. My lures for that event were a little off the wall. I used a Jackall Gantarel Jr bluegill glide bait to draw fish out during practice to see what size I was looking at. My main color was RT Bluegill. Tossing it around on the right rod is a big deal to make sure you are working the bait right. I use a Megabass Orochi X10 7’10” XX Heavy - Fast action rod, a Shimano Trax 300 with 22lb Sunline Shooter. For the tournament day I relied a two bait deal. First I would toss up a prop bait from Black Label around shade lines and early in the morning to get the most aggressive fish to bite. Second was a ned rig for clean up. I used a Missile Baits NedBall in 1/16oz with a Missile Baits Ned Bomb in Alabama Bream. This bite will still be on for another few weeks while the bream finish up spawning. If you’re on the water and the deeper fish are not biting right do yourself a favor and head shallow for a little while and see what you can find.
For off shore fishing I am starting to see a good population of fish grouping up on the standard main lake points and humps from the bridge to the dam. What’s a little odd this year is the topwater bite never really got going and a lot of the fish are not committing to the bait. As a guide it’s my job to of course get people bites so I have been relying heavily on the fluke and small swimbait bite. Also, when I am fishing alone or looking for new fish I am tossing a flutter spoon a lot and getting some killer bites. I am tossing around two style of flukes depending on how aggressive the fish are. When the fish are up higher in the water and the bait is also high a weightless Zoom super fluke is the go to like it always has been. When the fish are down like 10-15 feet I am now rigging a Strike King Caffeine Shad with a nail weight in the nose to get the bait down quickly. The plastic that is used in that bait provides some more erratic action than a standard zoom fluke. The small swimbait bite is also a little funky this year. I am having to focus on the speed a lot more so I am starting most mornings throwing lighter heads. I have also switched to a Dirty Jigs tungsten head to help clients feel the light bites more. Baits are of course Kietech 2.8’s but also tossing some different baits to show them new baits like the Xzone Swammer or the 6th Sense Party Minnow.
Moving onto smallmouth. They are starting to be harder to find as they move off shore to chase blueback herring. If you can take the time to side scan some of the longer points on the lower end you can run into them and when you do it’s on. Also, when I say off shore I am talking about scanning in 70-100 feet off the drops for the suspended bait balls. These fish are a little closer to eating topwater normally, but are focusing on smaller baits. The Megabass Karashi Twitch Bait is my go to for trying to present something smaller. Great colors are HT Moroko KS and Shirauo KS. As a follow up bait for when the smallies get closer to the flats on the tops of the points it’s hard to beat a dropshot. I am focusing again on a smaller presentation this month so the Missile Baits Magic Worm 4” is all you need to get the bites.
Stripers are really starting to group up in large numbers in the 20-60 foot range on main lake points and the mouths leading into major feeder creeks. Most folks are jigging flukes and minnow style baits on 3/4oz heads ripping it through the schools. Trolling still works great if you work on getting your bait before the sun comes up. Becky’s and Betty’s are holding large schools that are moving in and out of the area daily.
Crappies are also stacking up on some bigger lay downs up the river in Stoney Creek, Indian Creek and Grimes. Minnows or small jigs are the go to for getting bites. It’s mostly a early morning or last little bit of light at sunset. Use your side scan to find those loaded tree ends before you start fishing.
As I am typing this ICast 2025 is happening in Florida and it’s an interesting year for bass fishing. Tons and tons more minnow baits, jig heads and some new glide baits. This is all good, but also not anything that is super surprising. A few things that I am excited for are a new Shimano Nasci spinning reel. This is what every spinning reel is on all my guide rods and has been the best entry level reel I have ever owned, so I am pumped for a newer version. Another bait I am happy to see is some bug/dice style baits. I have been playing with these baits a bit since last year and they do catch fish. It’s nice to see a few different companies coming out to see new and interesting ways it can be rigged and fished. Check out all the new baits here!