Smith Mountain Lake January Fishing Report - Chew time!

It’s finally here! After another year of a mild early winter we have finally turned the corner and have true winter air temperature and water temperatures. We have had a few snow storms and some very cold evenings that has dropped the water temp from 52 in December to 43 degrees as of January 13th. That snaps was all we needed to get these fish to start putting on the feed bag. Some of the bass tournaments are starting to show bags over 20lbs like we expect and a few giants and the striper guys are reporting good size and numbers now.

Smallmouth and Largemouth are showing up like a normal winter pattern on the lake. A jerkbait, A rig, Damiki Rig and spoon are about all you need on the deck of the boat. The upper rivers bluff walls are a great place to start this time of year to find the bait that has left the backs of the pockets and moved out deeper. If we are closer to the full moon slowly dragging a football jig can also get you a big bite. Keep an eye out for the shad to be stunned and fish around those areas. Fish are eating a lot right now. If you can bare getting out there on a windy day or pre-frontal before a snow or rain storm you can be rewarded with some of the biggest fish of the year.

Stripers are hanging deep right now 20-60ft chasing around bait. You’d have a tough time not having a spoon in your hand for the next month out there. Spend some time on long points dumping into the river channel on the main lake or steep river bends. Using your electronics this time of year is key to finding the mega schools.

Crappies are loaded in most brush down to 30ft. Live bait will get you a limit in no time and small crappie jigs will do about the same. Look up the river in some protected pockets that have depth for brush and rock piles. The fish should be large right now with a good harvest right at your finger tips.