How to Catch Striped Bass at Smith Mountain Lake

Smith Mountain Lake is known for its quiet secluded location and ambiance. From boating, swimming, hiking, water skiing, kayaking, to angling, the visitors can do a lot in this vast reservoir. And when it comes to fishing in the Smith Mountain Lake, the first and foremost choice for the angler would be the very in-demand sport fish, the striped bass, aka striper.

How to catch striped bass at Smith Mountain Lake, and if there are any particular techniques or rules to catch stripers here, that must be the common inquiry for most of you who still haven’t visited this stunning lake situated near Roanoke in Bedford and Franklin counties. We have the answer for you, and that we will discuss, right below. We will try our best to make your visit to Smith Mountain Lake and angling stripers their fun, easy, and frequent.

The Battle Between the Angler and The Striper at Smith Mountain Lake

Stripers are known to be the most challenging freshwater fish residing in Smith Mountain Lake. Some of the huge stripers are available in this lake to put the toughest of fights making the angling worth it. The striped bass fights, and it fights so hard that anglers get all the more excited due to the challenge thrown by the feisty fish towards them. A hard fighting sporty fish that striped bass is, the angler can get prepared to have a lot of thrilling and adventurous experience with this toughy while making them take the bite.

How to Catch Striped Bass at Smith Mountain Lake

Trust us when we say, and most of the skilled anglers already know, it’s going to be a battle between the human and the fish with the finest of the gear and bait. The fish will dodge the techniques applied by the anglers, try their fullest to survive, and escape in the huge space available in the reservoir. On the other hand, the anglers will try their best to hook them to show off a couple as their trophy. The battle would be one exciting one for the anglers, no matter whether the striper got caught or fought hard and escaped.

How to Catch Striped Bass At Smith Mountain Lake

You will have to follow every rule you know, the basic ones to catch the striped bass with your durable gear. Freshwater angling of the stripers is pretty much the same. The techniques are nothing new; only the location varies. But first, you will have to reach Smith Mountain Lake. So, here is how you will commence your entire journey of fishing stripers in Smith Mountain Lake.

Take A Trip to The Smith Mountain Lake

It was obvious. You will have to take a trip to the lake. It could be in Summer, Fall, Spring, even Winter. And the season matters, especially if you are angling striped bass in this lake.

The Summer Season

If you have got your time to fish the striper in this lake in summer, target the fish in deeper water. The weather is hot. Hence the fish will search for a more suitable temperature to stay in comfort. The deeper you target your fish in the water, the brighter the chances of getting the striper will be for you. In this season, stripers love natural bait fishes, and if you offer them their preferred bait fish, multiple stripers will be hooked for sure.

The Winter Season

In the winter, the situation is the complete opposite. Stripers are found wandering on the surface level all around the day. The water turns a little warmer due to the sun peeping in the daytime. However, among all the different seasons, winter is least preferred for anglers. It is not only because the stripers are not as active as they are in the Spring. It is also because the weather is not favorable for the fishers themselves.

However, the braveheart striper enthusiasts’ valor knows no bounds. Thus are seen angling stripers even in the cold surroundings. In winter, stripers are all about artificial lures that mimic their favorite bait fish like bunkers and herrings, even shads.

The Fall

During winter, striped bass is comparatively lazy. But when the season takes a turn from the hot summer to the relatively cool fall, stripers get super active and switch on their feeding mode. In this season, the stripers are seen roaming around, schooling and chasing schools of bait fishes in the Smith Mountain Lake. If you somehow manage to find one group, angling multiple striped basses or at least a couple will be nothing unusual.

The Spring

If you angled one or two striped basses in your visit to Smith Mountain lake in all the other seasons, you would catch multiples for sure in the Spring. It’s the spawning season for the stripers; hence with the right gear, bait, and technique, catching multiples in no time will be no surprise. Even if you do not try hard, you can have one or two relatively quickly. In their spawning season, stripers prefer having big meals.

Hence get attracted to bigger baits compared to the other seasons’ successful attempts to lure them with small bait fishes or artificial lures. Search for them in the shallower water of Smith Mountain Lake in this season. Spawning in shallow water is almost a rule. So search for the big trophy stripers in the shallow water of the Smith Mountain Lake in the Spring, offering them bigger baits. If you think a chunk of herring or bunker will be enough, make it a whole shad or herring because that’s what a spawning striper needs before starting its spawning journey, not just a piece or small bait.

Reserve A Boat

We have already mentioned the boating system being available in the Smith Mountain Lake area. It’s not only to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the lake but also to enjoy angling striped bass in different sites of this huge lake too. Stripers will never remain just in one place. Hence the anglers roaming will make things easier and chances of successful chasing brighter. It’s not affordable to reserve a boat but not too difficult to afford. After all, you are on a well-prepared and planned trip.

More striped bass fishing related article at OutdoorBoat

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11 Striped Bass Fishing Tips

Get On the Boat with Your Basic but Durable Striped Bass Gear

Have all your gear and arrange the baits according to the season and your convenience, of course. The rest lies in your techniques and a bit in your luck. Prepare your fishing rig with all your equipment, the best and easiest of them all being the Slip Sinker Rig, of course. Hook the baitfish, chunk from the whole fish or the entire fish, and have a gala time angling the striped bass on the boat.

Setting up multiple fishing rods with different bait dangling on the hook will increase your chances of hooking multiple striped basses in a short time. So, if you have multiple rods, make use of those.

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