Smith Mountain Lake November Fishing Report - Clear water and hope for wind

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE BAIT SHOP FOR ALL THE LATE FALL TACKLE I USE

The water is GIN clear and that can make things tough, but don’t be discouraged….. Wind is your friend and it’s transition time for the weather so it comes and goes every few days! Late fall fishing can be a struggle depending on lake conditions and those conditions can be different every other year. For example the first year I lived here it was high and muddy from two hurricanes dropping a lot of rain. The water was a nice green stain basically all fall and the crank bite was amazing. On the other side of that coin is low draw down clear water that can make catching bigger fish a little tougher. SML is done turning over at this point and the water has stabilized. I’m seeing bass both in the way backs of pockets and still out on the main lake. The bait is also pretty random.

What is nice about this time of year however is being able to downsize the number of rods you need on the deck. I refer to this time of year as “textbook” for the most part. The fish stage up on very obvious structure like rocky points, super big flats with bait and suspending on clay. The trick is finding something that matches the size of bait they are eating and cracking the code on those slick calm days when they can see everything.

For me it’s power fishing 80% of the time no matter the conditions to start each trip. Everyday these fish are getting closer and closer to having to eat everything they can to prepare for winter. They are still putting their feedbag on, each day just might be different. I like to keep things simple with a crankbait, jig, jerkbait, topwater and fluke. If I need to go finesse i’m sticking a Ned or shaky head in my hand.

Real quick on the crankbaits. I always have at least two on the deck to be able to present something different. Like I mentioned in my October report, crawfish are extremely important in the fall and early winter so having a bait that has good hunting action is key to getting those craw eaters. Check out the Megabass-Z Z3 in colors like Phantom Green Craw and IT Craw. This bait dives to 10-13 feet and can be deadly this time of year hitting those deep rocking spots with the water level being down. Another great bait is the Storm Wiggle Wart or Spro RKcrawler in any craw pattern. You also need to have something that resembles the baitfish. A lot of the bass are chasing very small bait this time of year because they are plentiful and easy to eat. I toss a Megabass S Crank 1.5. This bait is under 3” long and looks just like the smaller bait fish roaming around. Keep alternating between a craw style and a shad style each day to find which fish are more active.

Jerkbait fishing is super straight forward for me. Megabass has had the market on lockdown for years with the amazing Vision 110 series, but don’t forget about their smaller offerings in the Megabass Nanahan and the larger Megabass Katana. Matching the hatch is the KEY to getting fish to eat the jerkbait so keep experimenting.

If you’re not super confident with jig fishing, now is your time to start. Around the full moons is the best for getting bigs to bites and to be throwing it around everything you can. The Missile Baits Ike Mini Flip jig and Missle Baits Headbanger jig cover everything you need. Grab some bluegill colors and some craw patterns to break down the bite even more. I will start switching from a very erratic jig trailer to something a little more calm like the Mini D Chunk. Target isolated rocks and boulders with the head banger and skip docks near the backs of pockets with the bluegill patterns for those big bass up finishing off the last bluegill nuggets of the year.

Topwater is still wide open with basically any type working well this month. If you’re a buzzbait person hit those shallow pockets and cover water, if walking the dog is your deal hit the points (always start deeper then you think out here) if you’re a popper person slow playing the lure over bait balls can usually cause some massive strikes. Fish the conditions every day to see which one is working best. These fish are ready to eat!!!

For anyone that reads these reports regularly you know I love a fluke. It’s one of the best baits ever made. It’s hard to not have one on all year. The fluke can be fished anywhere this time of year. You can skip it around structure in the backs of the pockets, under docks, around rock and over schooling fish on the main lake. Try some whacky colors to trigger more bites and set you bait apart from the bait balls.

Like I mentioned above a lot of fish are either way in the backs of the pockets or still out on the main lake. It’s a super quick fish transition month so you’ll want to start each trip by starting at the mouth of any major creek arm and working back on the secondaries until you run into them. In some cases you won’t find them until the last few feet in the back of the pockets. Smallmouth are out and eating super aggressively. They love to chase so a topwater or jerkbait are a great choice for them. Largemouth are focused on eating crawfish and bait in the backs of the pockets.

Stipers are starting to stack up in HUGE schools. The lower end around the mountain, shoals in Craddock Creek and the mid lake area are full of them. Topwater is great this time of year if you find they staging higher in the water or a swimbait on a ball head will get it done when they are deeper. Keep you eyes out for massive schools blowing up in those areas and get on the big motor as fast as you can.

Crappie are also getting stacked in brush and making it super easy to have great numbers days. I typically like using smaller jigs this time of year because the fish are aggressive.

Tightlines and stay safe out there and be sure to check out the BAITSHOP for all the baits i’m throwing this month!