Smith Mountain Lake today

Well, shoot, guys. I was pretty happy with our catch today...until I saw pictures of all these huge stringers in other posts yesterday and today. :(

Oh well, not bad for newbies still trying to figure out what the heck we're doing on a lake not well-known for crappies.

It was cold today, 47 deg. with strong winds. Water was 52-55 and fish were all tight to downed trees in 10-18 feet of water and biting anywhere from 10" deep to on the bottom. Our solid char tubes with red speckles seemed to catch the most.

One day we'll get good enough to post a big stringer too. LOL

Sheila

Attachment 143193

You the MAN .

Great first post, nice job.

Nothing wrong with that lot. Cool colored fish. Where on the lake did you put in and fish? I crossed the bridge yesterday in Franklin Co. The lake was slick calm.

Welcome aboard Sheilags

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Originally Posted by slsbin

You the MAN .

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;-)

Thanks Bill. I've been reading here and learning for awhile now, not many posts about SML on here but I figure eventually we'll travel to some of the closer places I read about on the forum.

drb, we have been going to the Hardy Rd bridge ramp but ran into a nice striper man there who told us we should try the Blackwater arm for crappie so we've been going there the last month. Caught 20 a couple weeks ago but only 6 last weekend. They are bigger in the Hardy Road area but harder to find. And I don't know enough about finding them... Either place is only 15 miles from home.

When hubby bought the boat a couple years ago he thought he'd have to drag me out to go. He didn't know I'd be dragging HIM out every weekend, even in frigid weather! I am quite addicted. Lol

:welcome to c.c from a Carolina member

Sheilags, ya need to learn to shoot docks on this lake. that has been our most successful technique here for the past several yrs. find the ones with deep water under it or some form of structure, such as a brush pile, stump or breakline. the titeline trollin will heat up here in a couple months up the major creeks. Great catch an good report!

My bad.

Fishdoc, thanks for the tip. I've been trying to learn to shoot docks and watching videos for how -to on youtube. Unfortunately at this point I'm hooking more thumbs and dock-tops than anything else. LOL. It will come though. This is our 3rd year fishing and we caught 10 times what we've caught in the past (but no limits) so we're getting there. So with our modest successes this year we've gone from extremely frustrated to hopeful and excited! We just love being out there every weekend even when I know we aren't going to catch anything... And it beats cleaning house or getting up leaves :-)

We got turned on to this crappie fishing by my brother in northeast Arkansas, but they have so many great places to fish!. He's been crappie fishing for 25 years or more and has given me tons of great advice and tips but also readily admits he isn't experienced in deep water fishing for them. I think the deepest place we fished near his home was maybe 20', most were no more than 13' (lots of Bays). They aren't so hard to find when they have nowhere to hide.

Hoping to plan some camping/fishing trips next spring to try out some other places within a few hours drive from Roanoke.

Surely there are no flies on that mess of fish. Good catchin'.

Nice report. Thanks, and welcome!

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Originally Posted by fishdoc

... the titeline trollin will heat up here in a couple months up the major creeks....

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fishdoc, I'm not sure we're man & woman enough to be out there in a couple months! brrrrrr!

when ya get 3 warm days in a row, 60 or above, get out there! sumtimes its Jan, sumtimes its Feb, but always by March. and take my word for it, after a couple months, "cabin fever" will set in...I fish bout every wk of the yr an catch crappie 99.9% of the times I get after them... of course I've got 45 yrs experience, that helps!

Sheila ... if I may: here's some posts I've made, concerning "dock shooting", that you might find some tidbits of info from :

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...ecnique-2.html

And here's an article I wrote (a long time ago), describing a method that I've used for decades. I especially like to use this method as a follow-up to having shot a dock, after casting around a blowdown, and next to any bridge pillar : Crappie Pappy Article

(and you can ignore that "Master Crappie Fisherman" stuff ... Slab added that when he posted the article :rolleyes: :Doh: ... and I make no such claim :notworthy )

Welcome to Crappie.com !!

... cp :kewl

I would love to fish smith mountain!

I guide there for Crappie, if interested check out my info on the 5th "sticky" down from the top "Va Crappie Fishing Guides Listing"

Sheila, you can't go wrong with investing in a day on the water with Doc. Well worth the time, it is like taking a 10 day crappie fishing seminar in 8 hours.

:hesaid

Welcome to Crappie.com. You've come to the right place to learn much and hone your crappie fishing skills as much as you will.

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Originally Posted by crappiepappy

Sheila ... if I may: here's some posts I've made, concerning "dock shooting", that you might find some tidbits of info from :

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...ecnique-2.html

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crappiepappy - thankyouthankyouthankyou! Finally had time to sit down and read these links. Your article on dock shooting techniques was so clear and descriptive that I ran right out and got my rod and a bucket and started shooting in the driveway (don't know what the neighbors thought...). First shot went pppfffftt and, from your article, I knew right away what I'd done; after that, I shot 3 for 3 from about 11 or 12 feet away. Then I backed up another 5 or 6 feet and had to work at that distance for awhile, though the jig was getting beside the bucket just not in the bucket. After making a few adjustments and a slightly shorter 'lead' instead of running the line out to the big eye (the rod I was using isn't very stiff) I finally started hitting the bullseye. Going to keep working at various distances.

Okay, so the bullseye is about 12" round....but that's okay, I'm not trying to shoot miniature docks. (haha). By George (or by pappy) I think I've got it! Can't wait to get out on the water and try it.

Thank you for sharing your expertise!:notworthy

~Sheila

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Originally Posted by Sheilags

crappiepappy - thankyouthankyouthankyou! Finally had time to sit down and read these links. Your article on dock shooting techniques was so clear and descriptive that I ran right out and got my rod and a bucket and started shooting in the driveway (don't know what the neighbors thought...). First shot went pppfffftt and, from your article, I knew right away what I'd done; after that, I shot 3 for 3 from about 11 or 12 feet away. Then I backed up another 5 or 6 feet and had to work at that distance for awhile, though the jig was getting beside the bucket just not in the bucket. After making a few adjustments and a slightly shorter 'lead' instead of running the line out to the big eye (the rod I was using isn't very stiff) I finally started hitting the bullseye. Going to keep working at various distances.

Okay, so the bullseye is about 12" round....but that's okay, I'm not trying to shoot miniature docks. (haha). By George (or by pappy) I think I've got it! Can't wait to get out on the water and try it.

Thank you for sharing your expertise!:notworthy

~Sheila

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You're very welcome, and I hope to hear about you "wearin'em out" shooting docks !!

Not only is shooting a jig "into" a bucket good practice ... but, you might also try to make the jig hit the driveway just in front of the bucket (& skip into it). That's good practice for those occasions where you want to skip the jig off the water, just in front of those hole openings.

I used to practice on a picnic table ... standing off about 15-20' & shooting under the table, then switching to shooting between the seat & top. All I was trying to do was get a feel for the timing of my release, and the trajectory angle of my jig when I "aimed" with the line (from the jig to the rod tip) rather than the rod. Once you get the timing down, and get used to the rod/reel that you're going to be using, use your practice time to make some more difficult shots. Any practice is good practice !!

And if you watch TV shows & online videos of people shooting docks ... believe me when I tell you that they edit out all their errant shots :Rofl (and they DO have some, on occasion). I've been shooting docks for nearly 14yrs, albeit not on a consistent basis, and I'm still liable to send a jig flying over the ROOF of the dock :Doh: I just laugh it off & concentrate a little harder on the following tries.

Here's an article I wrote about a method I use : Crappie Pappy Article ... and when I'm shooting docks, I use this method as a last ditch effort to get a few more fish off of it. It's especially deadly on the outer poles of a stationary dock, IF the poles are in the shade or the water they're in is deep. It works really well around bridge pillars and down through the branches of a blowdown tree, too.

... cp :kewl

Learning to skip the jig really comes in handy. Especially at Bugg's Island where all the docks are floaters.

also, I've tried a lot of rods an found the Shimano Clarus 6 ft UL rated for 2-6 lb test with 4 lb mono on it to be the best of the lot. and a 2500 size reel keeps ya line from coiling so bad. serves well as a castin an jiggin rod too. and CP's tip for skippin is rite on! we use Bobby Garland Baby Shad bodies on 1/16th oz round heads for this application. used to be that this was THE presentation rite after the spawn, but the last few yrs they seem to gettin under the docks earlier an earlier each yr. I think its the pressure from all the trollers forcin the issue.IMHO.

SUPPER! .. that's really all that's needed for a successful day.