what do you look for

[Miller]

I was in the boat this weekend and I was lost, I did not know where to start. How does everyone pick the spot they fish, I mean do you only depend on your fishfinder or do you go to your "brushpile"? At smithville there seems to be alot of great water but it can't all be productive. I was just wandering what steps to take to find the best water.


thanks

[cmcduck]

Never fished smithville, but at this time of year with these temps I would be looking for brush in 2-5 ft of water or brush close to the banks and fishing that hard

[ShortStorie]

Look for the boats. Let people know you're new to the lake. They may not tell you their favorite spot but most will tell you how deep the fish are and if they're on standing timber, creek channels or on the banks. Get a topo map and look for the dropoffs. Try Shady Hollow cove... Just south of W on the east side of the lake.... There's an old dam just inside the entrance... on the map and easy to see on your depth finder... Usually boats over it. (Some are regulars here).. On the other side of the lake (2nd cove South of W) is a "Y" shaped cove with lots of timber at the entrance. The fairly deep creek channel running back into it gives you the choice of shallow or deep water with very little boat movement. Rocky or gravel banks rather than mud.

Upper lake warms more quickly... Watch Cook's posts... He lives on the north end of the lake and fishes it a couple times a week.

Hang out at the "W" ramp... More crappie fishermen seem to launch there.
I was surprised by the number of fisherman who are willing to share information.... Particularly if you don't start out by asking for their specific hotspot.

Spawn comes to Smithville later than LOZ and more southern lakes... Recent warm weather may get the males exploring the shallows but they'll scoot back to deeper water. There was a post earlier this week that said the fish were in about 16' of water and more active in the afternoons.

[cook]

There is also a brushpile straight across from the ramp on W,aout 50 yards off the point by that small cove at the start of the bridge.

I fished Monday in the river section,water very muddy and low.They finally stut the dam down over the weekend.No luck on crappie,only gave it an hour.

Tues. I hit the lake,winds were howling.Caught some smaller males along the riprap.Then I tried for white bass where the wind was pushing shad along the banks.Using a roadrunner tipped with 1/2 a nightcrawler.second cast "Bam",5# drum,proceeded to catch 3 more drum and snagged a large shad.

Finally moved under the bridge and tried a jig with just a small pc. of worm under a float.Hard to tell a bite in the winds,but finally set the hook and pulled in a 4" channel cat,caught 3 more channels between 4-6 inches...very pretty fish when they are that small.

Not a good report,temps really warmed up but 2 straight days of 30 plus mph winds really muddied up the water.Give it a few days to settle down,won't be long,turkey season here,mushroom time,work sure gets in the way this time of year!!

[cook]

forgot to add,if you go to the main(ranger?) station,they have a map with the brushpile locations,under the counter.bring your own map and a marker.

[ProfessorTang1]

Also, Camp Branch is another good place to try. You can launch your boat there, and fish the coves on the east side of the bridge. There are quite a few coves that you can hide if the wind is bad.

a 5 pound drum on crappie tackle sounds like a lot of fun!

[Miller]

Thank you guys for the great info. I hope to see you all on the lake.

[cook]

Duncan....uhh...maps....uhhhhh...we gotta get together with a trade