Post by mwardncsu on Jul 23, 2012 15:32:13 GMT -5
Courtesy of Mike Snead.....
Water Temperature: 83 degrees
Water Clarity: Good
According to the current long range weather forecast we can expect temperatures will remain seasonally warm over the next several weeks with highs in the 80’s and 90’s each day. The low temperature at night will be in the 60’s and 70’s. The lake water clarity is good overall and with the water level within a foot or so of full pond, all public boat ramps are operational. The forecast predicts the skies will be partly cloudy over most of the next several weeks and that there will be the chance of an isolated thunderstorm most days, especially in the late afternoon. While the warm temperatures continue to heat both the surface water and those immediately beneath the surface, the warm surface water hasn’t pushed down much over six or eight feet. The current temperature of the lake within 8 feet of the surface is running around 82 degrees. At a depth of 20 feet the temperature drops significantly and is currently running around 68 degrees. As we descend to a depth of 30 feet the temperature drops an additional six degrees or so with the temperature running around 62 degrees. Many of the temperature sensitive baitfish (alewives) and fish species that prefer cooler water and feed on these baitfish, like the striped bass, have also moved down in the water column where they can find cooler, well oxygenated water and a good supply of food.
The next first quarter moon will be on Thursday of this week (July 26th) and a full moon on Wednesday night of the following week (August 2nd) so there will be good light on the water at night when the moon is overhead. For those who want to plan their fishing around the sun and moon activities I suggest you check out a site I just found, www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/moonrise.html. It provides a wealth of information about the sun and moon and offers timers, weather reports and selected smart phone applications.
Bass fishing continues to be good. Several anglers recently reported success using both spinnerbaits, small swimbaits and Alabama rigs off the sides and ends of deep water docks and along secondary points early in the morning. This time of year the heavier shad imitating Alabama rigs and spinnerbaits (¾ ounce) are good choices as they allow you to keep the lure deeper and vary the retrieve speed. Currently there are a lot of smaller baitfish in the food chain, so using spinnerbaits with smaller blades and smaller plastic lures on the Alabama rig not only imitates the available forage, but also reduces the resistance and lift of the lure when retrieved. The spinnerbait skirt color and color of the lures on the A-rig should represent the shad in the forage base so pearl, chartreuse shad or white with light blue flecks are all good colors and with clear water small silver or silver holographic blades are a good choice. Small shad colored crankbaits and traditional crawfish imitating crankbaits are also working around docks, rock ledges and submerged structure.
Other good lures when fishing deepwater docks include the shaky head jig, Texas rigged plastic worm with a relatively light sinker and the wacky rigged Yamasenko worm. Shaky head worms by Roboworm and ZOOM are good choices as are small plastic craws by Netbait, Yamamoto, ZOOM and Berkley. When fishing the wacky rigged Senko worm good colors include green pumpkin with black or purple flake and watermelon with black or red flake. When fishing senko’s wacky style I suggest you keep the lure in the shaded side of deep water dock pilings or other vertical structure and let the worm fall naturally, without any tension on the line or other resistance and watch your line for any unusual movement.
A number of bass have moved into deeper, cooler water where they can be found suspended next to dock pilings, along the sides of steep points or on deep water humps, especially those with natural rock and submerged brush piles. These fish can be caught using a variety of different lures including the drop shot rig, a heavy football jig as well as the popular Carolina and Texas rigged plastics. Plastic worms by V&M, ZOOM and Deep Creek and lizards and creature baits are all producing fish. A deep-water crankbait that get down quickly is also a good choice as they are reportedly working around submerged structure. Deep diving crankbaits by Strike King, Spro, Norman and Koppers as well as those by Bandit, Bomber, and Rapala are all popular with local anglers.
Striper fishing was also good over the past several weeks, especially once the schooled fish were located. Anglers using live bait on downlines and shot lines reported the most success as they found schools of striped bass in numerous locations in the middle sections of the lake. Schooled stripers were often found from 20 to 60 feet below the surface. Small shad are starting to produce good numbers of stripers when they are found deep, in or near submerged timber. Sometimes, in the summer, the very small shad will produce stripers when a larger, beautiful alewife or “money maker” gizzard will not. When fishing with the smaller shad this time of year I suggest downsizing both hooks and leaders. I use hooks as small as a #1 or #2 (Owner mutu-light or similarly sized Gamakatsu circle octopus hooks) with 12 to 15 lb. test fluorocarbon leaders when fishing with small baitfish in the summer months. I believe the smaller terminal tackle and lighter leader make a difference. As the size of the baitfish increases or when using larger gizzard shad and alewives I still use heavier, more conventional size terminal tackle.
Anglers who locate schools of stripers using electronics also report success vertical jigging for them with small jigging spoons and flukes rigged on quality custom jigheads (with 4/0 Owner or Gamakatsu hooks). Attaching a small quality swivel to the jighead with a split ring will help eliminate line twist when vertical jigging with flukes. When schools of stripers are marked using electronics they can also be caught by casting out, counting down and retrieving these lures as well as the conventional bucktail.
Trolling is another effective technique this time of year as it allows the angler to cover significant amounts of water. Stripers are being caught by anglers trolling a variety of different lures including Sutton spoons, plastic swim shad, sassy shad, crankbaits, diving jerkbaits and Umbrella rigs. Some anglers also report success trolling with the popular Alabama rig. Many anglers will troll while using their electronics to search for schooled stripers and then once located will switch and put out live bait on downiness or jig with spoons and flukes on jigheads.
The catfish bite continues to be strong. Flatheads are hitting live shad and panfish under floats at night. Flathead and channel cats are both being caught by anglers using night crawlers, shad, cut bait and a variety of different stink baits on the bottom during the day.
If you have photographs or information you wish shared with others who read the Smith Mountain Eagle, please feel free to join the many anglers who support this report by emailing the information to me at virginiaoutdoorsman@gmail.com.
Tight lines and stay safe on the water.
Mike Snead
Water Temperature: 83 degrees
Water Clarity: Good
According to the current long range weather forecast we can expect temperatures will remain seasonally warm over the next several weeks with highs in the 80’s and 90’s each day. The low temperature at night will be in the 60’s and 70’s. The lake water clarity is good overall and with the water level within a foot or so of full pond, all public boat ramps are operational. The forecast predicts the skies will be partly cloudy over most of the next several weeks and that there will be the chance of an isolated thunderstorm most days, especially in the late afternoon. While the warm temperatures continue to heat both the surface water and those immediately beneath the surface, the warm surface water hasn’t pushed down much over six or eight feet. The current temperature of the lake within 8 feet of the surface is running around 82 degrees. At a depth of 20 feet the temperature drops significantly and is currently running around 68 degrees. As we descend to a depth of 30 feet the temperature drops an additional six degrees or so with the temperature running around 62 degrees. Many of the temperature sensitive baitfish (alewives) and fish species that prefer cooler water and feed on these baitfish, like the striped bass, have also moved down in the water column where they can find cooler, well oxygenated water and a good supply of food.
The next first quarter moon will be on Thursday of this week (July 26th) and a full moon on Wednesday night of the following week (August 2nd) so there will be good light on the water at night when the moon is overhead. For those who want to plan their fishing around the sun and moon activities I suggest you check out a site I just found, www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/moonrise.html. It provides a wealth of information about the sun and moon and offers timers, weather reports and selected smart phone applications.
Bass fishing continues to be good. Several anglers recently reported success using both spinnerbaits, small swimbaits and Alabama rigs off the sides and ends of deep water docks and along secondary points early in the morning. This time of year the heavier shad imitating Alabama rigs and spinnerbaits (¾ ounce) are good choices as they allow you to keep the lure deeper and vary the retrieve speed. Currently there are a lot of smaller baitfish in the food chain, so using spinnerbaits with smaller blades and smaller plastic lures on the Alabama rig not only imitates the available forage, but also reduces the resistance and lift of the lure when retrieved. The spinnerbait skirt color and color of the lures on the A-rig should represent the shad in the forage base so pearl, chartreuse shad or white with light blue flecks are all good colors and with clear water small silver or silver holographic blades are a good choice. Small shad colored crankbaits and traditional crawfish imitating crankbaits are also working around docks, rock ledges and submerged structure.
Other good lures when fishing deepwater docks include the shaky head jig, Texas rigged plastic worm with a relatively light sinker and the wacky rigged Yamasenko worm. Shaky head worms by Roboworm and ZOOM are good choices as are small plastic craws by Netbait, Yamamoto, ZOOM and Berkley. When fishing the wacky rigged Senko worm good colors include green pumpkin with black or purple flake and watermelon with black or red flake. When fishing senko’s wacky style I suggest you keep the lure in the shaded side of deep water dock pilings or other vertical structure and let the worm fall naturally, without any tension on the line or other resistance and watch your line for any unusual movement.
A number of bass have moved into deeper, cooler water where they can be found suspended next to dock pilings, along the sides of steep points or on deep water humps, especially those with natural rock and submerged brush piles. These fish can be caught using a variety of different lures including the drop shot rig, a heavy football jig as well as the popular Carolina and Texas rigged plastics. Plastic worms by V&M, ZOOM and Deep Creek and lizards and creature baits are all producing fish. A deep-water crankbait that get down quickly is also a good choice as they are reportedly working around submerged structure. Deep diving crankbaits by Strike King, Spro, Norman and Koppers as well as those by Bandit, Bomber, and Rapala are all popular with local anglers.
Striper fishing was also good over the past several weeks, especially once the schooled fish were located. Anglers using live bait on downlines and shot lines reported the most success as they found schools of striped bass in numerous locations in the middle sections of the lake. Schooled stripers were often found from 20 to 60 feet below the surface. Small shad are starting to produce good numbers of stripers when they are found deep, in or near submerged timber. Sometimes, in the summer, the very small shad will produce stripers when a larger, beautiful alewife or “money maker” gizzard will not. When fishing with the smaller shad this time of year I suggest downsizing both hooks and leaders. I use hooks as small as a #1 or #2 (Owner mutu-light or similarly sized Gamakatsu circle octopus hooks) with 12 to 15 lb. test fluorocarbon leaders when fishing with small baitfish in the summer months. I believe the smaller terminal tackle and lighter leader make a difference. As the size of the baitfish increases or when using larger gizzard shad and alewives I still use heavier, more conventional size terminal tackle.
Anglers who locate schools of stripers using electronics also report success vertical jigging for them with small jigging spoons and flukes rigged on quality custom jigheads (with 4/0 Owner or Gamakatsu hooks). Attaching a small quality swivel to the jighead with a split ring will help eliminate line twist when vertical jigging with flukes. When schools of stripers are marked using electronics they can also be caught by casting out, counting down and retrieving these lures as well as the conventional bucktail.
Trolling is another effective technique this time of year as it allows the angler to cover significant amounts of water. Stripers are being caught by anglers trolling a variety of different lures including Sutton spoons, plastic swim shad, sassy shad, crankbaits, diving jerkbaits and Umbrella rigs. Some anglers also report success trolling with the popular Alabama rig. Many anglers will troll while using their electronics to search for schooled stripers and then once located will switch and put out live bait on downiness or jig with spoons and flukes on jigheads.
The catfish bite continues to be strong. Flatheads are hitting live shad and panfish under floats at night. Flathead and channel cats are both being caught by anglers using night crawlers, shad, cut bait and a variety of different stink baits on the bottom during the day.
If you have photographs or information you wish shared with others who read the Smith Mountain Eagle, please feel free to join the many anglers who support this report by emailing the information to me at virginiaoutdoorsman@gmail.com.
Tight lines and stay safe on the water.
Mike Snead