# Smith Mountain Lake, VA



## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Looking to plan a Striper trip either this spring or next fall, and have never been to SML but have heard some great things about it. 

Not sure if I want to hit it this spring or next fall (heard OCT can rock) but I really prefer casting for them rather than trolling shad.

Anyone have any experiences they can share? My usual routine is booking a guide the first day, then following that pattern as much as possible the rest of the trip on our own. A guide recommendation would we sweet!

Thanks!


----------



## catfishhunter33 (Apr 6, 2004)

shad taxi 

went out with todd , very informative and professional


----------



## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Right on. That's actually the guide I found online that I was leaning towards.


----------



## Beer:30 (Feb 23, 2007)

Fished it in the spring, 3 yrs ago. Great lake and great fishery. We had to pretty much fish in the evening and over night. Talked to a guide who also owns a tackle shop and he suggested the moon rise and set to fish. Spot on. Nothing better then working a topwater "SLOW" and having a striper, largemouth or smallmouth, explode on it. 
It is tough trying to figure out the water flow, at first. We fished by the dam and they pull and push water for the electricity. Fish one side of the point until you hear the horns and start moving to the other side of the point. 
We found it very hard to find a public ramp. Start doing you homework on where you plan on renting, to see if they have one available. If not you will pay to launch and recover.
Hope this helps,
Luke


----------



## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Thanks for the heads up. That spring night topwater (redfin) pattern sounds identical to what we do in TN.

Saw a vid on shad taxis site of stripers blowin up the surface in OCT...got my blood pumpin!


----------



## bruce (Feb 10, 2007)

go to virginiaoutdoorsman.com mike snead is full of info.


----------



## elkhtr (Oct 23, 2006)

Was with Beer30 on a family vacation with some fishing mixed in. We found "Todd" the shadtaxi just driving by his place and he was booked up. He took some time with us and gave us some direction, even though we were just shootin the bull. Good guy who clearly knows his stuff. He does prefer draggin shad though. Pulls multiple boards with a wide spread. We were there over Memorial Day. He said the smaller fish, but numbers were closer to the dam and bigger fish were farther up. Night fishing for them was a blast. They make an incredible first run.


----------



## Erterbass (Jul 4, 2005)

catfishhunter33 said:


> shad taxi
> 
> went out with todd , very informative and professional


Todd's the man on SML. Great guy who grew up on the lake and knows when, where and how to find the stripers.

Best location for a public launch - at least easiest to get to - is probably at the Bridgewater development on Moneta Rd./Rt. 122. There are ramps at Bridgewater on the east side of the bridge and another ramp on the west side. There are also ramps at the Smith Mtn. Lake State Park, which is where the BASS guys launch for their tournament.



bruce said:


> go to virginiaoutdoorsman.com mike snead is full of info


Great tackle shop, just a bit further west of Bridgewater up the hill from the lake. Mike will take care of ya...

Get there in spring and you can have a ball with stripers, largemouth and smallmouth. Fun times! 

Bob


----------



## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Thanks for the info guys...you rock!

Any recommendations on places to stay? I'm confident in the night topwater routine, as that's proven effective for us in TN. Therefore if we go that route, I need a place with dockage so I don't have to mess with trailering every morning when I'm flat out BEAT.

Can you run on plane in VA after dark?


----------



## TopCat (Sep 27, 2006)

I just saw this thread is five years old, but if anyone does a search fo SML thought I'd toss some info on here for them. Outside of the Chesapeake Bay it may be the best striper fishery around. The spring topwater bite is tremendous, especially if you can find schools of fish working bait. In the summer a lot of people switch to live bait, shad or alewives trolled high off of planers in the morning; switching to down lines during the day, and back to the topwater-shallow cranks at night. Again, if you can find stripers (or rock as a lot of the locals will call them) working schools of bait, tie on a swim bait, spoon, or shallow crank and it's pretty much game on. I've been able to employ Lake Erie walleye tactics in the heat of the summer. I'll troll HJ12's or Renosky's high on planers set at least 50 to 70 feet away from the boat early in the morning. Then, during the heat of the day, I'll switch to Reef Runners deep on planers. Most of those fish will suspend at about 30 feet, so running it without weight about 250 back gets it into the target range. In the fall any variety of methods will work depending on weather and water conditions. As for places to stay with launch/dock availability, I'd suggest Bernard's Landing. There are a variety of condos for rent there.


----------

