Whats up guys I have a club tournament as a co-angler April 8th and 9th at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia and need some help. We fished here around the same time last year and it sucked to say the least. There were three other large tournaments going on so it was very heavily pressured. I ended up with one nice 4lb fish and one 1.5lb fish at the end of 3 days of fishing. Both came on a 3/8th ounce living rubber jig fished around docks. So I need some help to say the least. My plan as of now is this: I know pretty much everyone in our club boater wise will be focusing on docks the entire time so I feel like I need to prepare for that. In the morning its spook time, im going to throw a Zara spook around the docks as much as I can first thing in the morning and see if I can catch any crusing fish early. Once the sun gets up im pretty muck planning on skipping a wacky worm and drop shotting around docks the rest of the day. The only thing that sucks is I have about 0% confidence in the drop shot and wacky rig so im hoping my morning topwater pays off haha. Any help would be greatly appreciated guys. Dock fishing and Clear water are far from my comfort zone so I really struggle with this. Thanks guys. 

Fished there for a week, during the spawn, and an Elite event.  Ended up getting all my good fish on a shakey head.  KVD won that event on the same bait.

Ask Sam, he will know.  @Sam

8 hours ago, J Francho said:

Fished there for a week, during the spawn, and an Elite event.  Ended up getting all my good fish on a shakey head.  KVD won that event on the same bait.

 

Yeah ah I forgot to mention shakey head as well. My boater did pretty well last year skipping a shakey head under docks. 

8 hours ago, WdyCrankbait said:

Ask Sam, he will know.  @Sam

 

Sam was one of the first people to answer my questions about SML last year I'm sure he will be along directly haha

 You may want to try a small crappie jig with a white grub and a yellow grub about 12 inches below it. They seem to like them in Charlotte Co Va this time of year. 8 lb test line at most. It want cost you much and may be a hot lick for you

TJE, are you fishing the Virginia BASS Federation Mr. Bass tournament?

No, you are fishing another tournament.

 

SML is a b-I-g lake.

 

Check out this link for water temperature and other data:  http://www.captaindalewilson.com/Fishing_Report.html

 

Right now its spinnerbaits and jigs. But that could change as the water temperature starts to increase.

 

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

22 minutes ago, Sam said:

No, you are fishing another tournament.

 

SML is a b-I-g lake.

 

Check out this link for water temperature and other data:  http://www.captaindalewilson.com/Fishing_Report.html

 

Right now its spinnerbaits and jigs. But that could change as the water temperature starts to increase.

 

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

 

Are spinnerbaits really a good choice for such clear water? Are people fishing them shallow around docks or deeper on points?

Spinnerbaits are a good choice in ANY color water.

I have not seen the lake this year so can't opine on your query about water clarity.

 

As J pens above, spinnerbaits at working.

 

And you know you have to be ready to throw anything you can to find the pattern. So don't rule out anything and make sure you throw a sexy shad square bill; a white spinnerbait; an orange and a black/blue jig with a nice pig added; Senkos; shaky head trick worms; and for fun, a small 6-inch finesse worm of your choice.

 

A Carolina rig can work, too, so don't rule out that presentation.

 

With the water temperature rising you may find them feeding before the spawn.

 

Good luck and let us know how you do.

Is this still a good idea? This rain has really kicked em this week! And the wind isnt helping much either haha

I have caught some on a texas rigged chigger craw. 1/4 oz tungsten weight.