Smith Mountain Lake April Fishing Report - Spawners, Shad Spawn, cold fronts and the Big Bass Tour

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Everything is blooming and it’s awesome! Bass are moving shallow every minute of the day, bluegills are right behind them, stripers are starting to get into some really big groups and the entire lake is coming alive with people! It’s such a great time to come to the lake and lean into some big ones and fish the way you want to fish.

First let’s talk spawn. Largemouth and smallmouth are both in all three stages of the spawn. I would say as of today we have a decent first push to the bank, but the largest wave will be later into April this year. We are having some great runs of hot calm weather followed by a few very cold nights that are causing them to stall a bit. I am still seeing and catching a lot of bigger fish off main lake docks and secondary points as they transition back for spawning. Bucks are plentiful around most riprap banks in 1-4 feet of water as they find their bedding locations and there are some big females floating in the ditches waiting for the next warming trend. There is a small number of bass that have finished spawning and are already eating topwater on the flats, but we are still a few weeks away from that being lights out.

A lot of my fishing has been between the areas of Parkway marina and up the blackwater for numbers and bigger fish seem to be waiting to come up to spawn on the Roanoke side.

We are also seeing a little bit of shad spawn starting in some of the upper sections of both the blackwater river and the Roanoke river. Again, this is heavily based on water temps so with the cold snaps it stalls out hard, but once we start to see anything in that 65 degree range or higher on a consistent basis the shad spawn will be starting.

Stripers are loading up in large groups on both the blackwater and Roanoke side of the lake on main lake points and standing timber.

Pre spawn fish are still focused heavy on the big swimbait deal so keeping the Megabass Magdraft on the deck is a must. These bites will come less and less as the water warms, but will come right back during the shad spawn. I am also a big fan of tossing around a glide bait on deeper docks and on the suspended females. I usually stick with a chop glide like the Clutch Baby Boss or the KGB Chad Shad. Stick with a bone/white color to help you see since we have a ton of pollen in the water.

Last for pre-spawners I would have a Carolina rig ready to roll. Some times there are big groups of females that are hanging low on the bottom off secondaries and showing them a C-rig this early in the season is a great way to get some bites. I like tossing a large lizard like a 6th sense ridge lizard or a Missile baits d-stroyer. I like to lighten up the c-rig weight so that the entire rig is a little more free flowing so I stick with a 3/8oz or 1/4oz weight and lighter line.

For bed fishing I LOVE tossing around a bait to get the fish mad. The 6th sense panorama is my first choice in the 6” and 9” versions. This bait is used just to make them mad so rigging I just use a large shakey head or texas rig to allow me to control the bait in the bed. For most of my bed fish catching I am using a dropshot rig with a smaller bait like the Missile Baits bombshot worm or Ned bomb or a 4” Missile baits magic worm. I like to downsize when I know the fish is ready to bite so I don’t deal with foul hooking or them being able to grab the bait and move it. I will also use the big glides I mentioned earlier as search baits for bigger bedding fish over laydowns and along riprap banks to see if I can get a bigger fish to show it’s self.

For post spawn fish I believe most the fish are focused on shad and the shad spawn that will quickly follow. A Brazalo M1 buzzbait with a white Missile Baits D-bomb is all you need for smashing some big pre-spawners. Focus on areas super close to spawning areas fishing over wood, super shallow docks and rock. A Zoom Fluke is about to play heavy as well. Grab some 1/0 worm hooks and a pack of white and focus on those same areas. I do like to have a normal fluke and a larger one when I am around the gizzards.

Remember when you are fishing this month to give the fish some space while spawning. If you like to bed fish don’t return to fish to catch them again and if the fish is actively spawning with its mate just leave them be. Never take fish away from the beds after you catch them and handle them with care.

This goes double for The Big Bass event that is coming to the lake. This is a great event that brings a ton of people to the lake, however it is looking like it is going to fall directly on the biggest wave of spawners. So again, please leave the smaller fish alone to spawn and the ones that actively spawning.

Tight lines and be safe this month as the boat traffic is going to increase.

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