Thread: Smith Lewis Lake

I’m going crappie fishing at Smith Lake for the first time tomorrow! Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!


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Smith is tough to fish. There are some big crappie but I usually don’t catch large numbers. I’ve been fishing brush piles in 20-24 foot of water, I’ve caught 1 fish this year in shallow water. Find the bait and then look for fish. Don’t be surprised if you catch spotted bass or a hybrid or saltwater. You can try docks, I have a friend that does pretty well shooting docks. The water levels have fluctuated so much that it’s been tougher than typical. Good luck

Thank you for the great advice! I'm excited about trying the lake.

Originally Posted by Dr Rob

Thank you for the great advice! I'm excited about trying the lake.

How’d you do?


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You guys were so right! Tough lake to fish! Especially with all of the boat traffic and wind. Caught nothing but spotted bass all day. Found quite a bit of structure and used the Livescope. Just when I thought “this fish has got to be a crappie”, it would turn out to be another spotted bass! Had a great time anyway. Beautiful lake to fish. I want to go back soon. I wonder with the lake loaded with spotted bass, are the bass eating all of the younger crappie and there’s nothing left but the wise old slabs that are to smart to catch??? Lol!

Gonna be tough. Water is 3 1/2 ft above full pool. I don’t know why but that scatters the fish for me. I hope you catch a bunch. It’s a beautiful lake you will enjoy the scenery for sure.

Hardest lake I have ever tried to fish.

I live about 20 mins West of Smith lake and have fished there for about 40 years. Which part of the lake were you fishing? It’s been a tough year there with the rain and fluctuations in the water levels. I personally feel like it isn’t fertile enough to have numbers of crappie and the structure that crappie need isn’t abundant . There are some nice crappie in Smith but I still struggle there. I’ve been fishing there more this year than in the past decade and have caught a few fish and am going to keep plugging away and try to get better there. A friend and I caught these a couple of weeks ago. Fished for about 3 hours

Those are some nice crappie! My son and I put in at Smith Lake Dam Boat Ramp. I believe we started at the Wilson Bend area and hit several places until we came up on a bridge that was across the lake from a small marina. Then we came back and went up Doctor Harris Creek. I didn’t realize that there were that many houses or cabins on the lake. Also the depth of the lake was crazy! It was 192 feet at the boat landing!

That big one look to be a hybrid, I haven't seen too many of those.

Originally Posted by cattoon

I live about 20 mins West of Smith lake and have fished there for about 40 years. Which part of the lake were you fishing? It’s been a tough year there with the rain and fluctuations in the water levels. I personally feel like it isn’t fertile enough to have numbers of crappie and the structure that crappie need isn’t abundant . There are some nice crappie in Smith but I still struggle there. I’ve been fishing there more this year than in the past decade and have caught a few fish and am going to keep plugging away and try to get better there. A friend and I caught these a couple of weeks ago. Fished for about 3 hours

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