lose a little sleep in order to travel the lake under safer conditions.
Enter your cove with your trolling motor with depth-finder on and the stern
light (use a stern light with a reflective base -- this keeps the light from reflecting
off the water surface). Watch your depth-finder, and look for a lot of dots on the
screen. Position the boat in the middle of the cove, near an area with lots of dots.
Now, WAIT!!
As your eyes become accustomed to the darkness, you will be able to see water
surface. As the sky begins to acquire a little bit of a pink shade, you will begin to
see bubbles rise to the surface. Cast a floating minnow lure toward the bubbles.
With your rod tip down,
retrieve very slowly, keeping the lure on the surface, and be ready for the strike!
This is a great opportunity to catch a trophy. Once daylight arrives, the fish will
move to the main channel, where now you bait fish, jig, or troll deep (about 30-
35 ft).
Now, in the day light fishing deep produces another problem: STRUCTURE!!!! A
good depth-finder is essential, and a “plug knocker” would also be needed. Smith
Mountain Lake is loaded with structure....mostly trees and rocks. The bait-fish
go into the coves at night for the relative safety of the structure as well as food.
WINTER
MOON PHASES
December 6th,
7:27AM to
December 21st, 8:35
PM
-
Cold Moon
January 4th, 11:53
PM to January 20th,
8:13 AM -
Wolf Moon
February 3rd, 6:08
PM to February 18th,
6:47 AM -
Snow Moon
March 15th, 1:05 PM
to March 20th, 4:36
AM
- Worm Moon
23
