Being on the water early in the morning
is so refreshing, and the scenery can’t be
beat. The early morning sky reflecting off
the calm water is just beautiful. It’s a great
way to start the day! It can’t be anything
but great for your attitude and basic well
being.Try it! It’s wonderful. Spending a day
fishing is a great way to spend a day; in fact,
just being on the water does wonders for
your mental health. Now you can
fire your therapist! OK… maybe
not…
In March, the air is a little cool
and the wind chill from running
your boat can require wearing a
good jacket in the morning, and
maybe for the whole day. But
spring is in the air, so let’s talk
about bass fishing.
I am most often asked when is
the best time to go, and of course,
how to catch them. First of all, I
always fish according to the moon
phase. If the previous night had
a moon, I’ll get on the water at
about 8:30 am and fish for about
three hours, and then have lunch. I
will usually stop some place on the
water; there are quite a number of
good places to go where they know
how to feed hungry anglers. Since
I’m fishing by the moon, I know I
can take the time to take a leisurely
break and relax in a nice lunch
room.There’s no hurry, as long as I
make sure that I am back at my chosen spot
from 3 PM to 6 PM.
If there is no moon the night before,
I’ll be on the water at daybreak to fish the
first three hours....And then take an early
lunch and relax, so that I can be back on
the water to fish between Noon and three
PM. Remember, this a guideline and not a
hard and fast rule. Nonetheless, you will be
amazed at how accurate this guideline can
be.
Early in the year, I suggest jigging
points, humps and drops, when fishing for
bass. On or about March 15th, the water
temperature typically reaches 54 degrees.
This is a good time to start fishing shallow
points with jigs, worms or plugs. The
alewives are spawning, and you will find
them in the warmer water points. These
are the points that face the south. In this
area, the sun is in the southern hemisphere.
Therefore, a north bank will be warmer,
because it faces south and will be warmed
by the sun.
At around April 21st, the water should
be warmer at night, which means the
baitfish will start to spawn. The larger fish
will then start feeding on the spawning
baitfish at night. This will continue until
about July 1st, give or take, depending on
variations in the water temperature. This
is also a great time to catch stripers and
walleye. Mid-night until 2 am seems to
be the most productive time. On a dark
night (with no moon), casting
with a surface lure to the bank
and retrieving to the boat in deep
water is the way to go. This works
best when there are no lights on
the boat. Naturally, you need to
be very careful to be out of the
flow of boat traffic when fishing
without lights. A jointed Red-Fin
or Thunderstick seems to work the
best. Lon-A’s also work very well
under these conditions.
When there is a moon at night,
you need to reverse everything. Put
your boat in shallow water (about
three feet), and cast to the deep
water with a deep-running plug. A
deep-diving Red-Fin or Spoonbill
Rebel would be my choice for that
method. A Little Mac also works
well here, for walleye, stripers, and
large-mouth and small-mouth
bass. This is a very good time to
catch a trophy fish.
Whether fishing shallow or
deep, the retrieval should be slow.
Keep your rod tip down.Mid-night tit 2 am
seems to be the most productive time. After
2
am, or after the fishing slows, start fishing
a shallow runner parallel to the shoreline,
bumping the rocks with your lure during
retrieval. When retrieving a deep runner,
the lure will be bumping the bottom. If it
hangs, stop, let the lure float back for a few
seconds, and then continue. When you get
by Bob King
Fisherman’s
Almanac
The
Discover Smith Mountain Lake | Spring 2013
9