Smith Lake Preview W/ Seth Feider & Bob Downey

Video Transcript

Hey everyone Bob Downey here to Bassmaster Elite Series Pro. Just going to give a quick preview of the Smith Lake tournament that we got coming up for the 7th stop on tour this year. I will be down there in June so a little bit different time of year and just going to break down what I think might be happening. So Smith Lake, I was there in 2019 for the Bassmaster opens. It was in April so it was kind of a spawn post-spawn time of year. I caught some fish that were on a shed spawn deal in the morning and then I would blindfish for spotted bass that I think were spawning. I couldn't visually see them but I was fishing down clay and rock banks where I kind of assumed they were spawning. You know we'll be well past that when we're there in June this year. Smith Lake is a unique lake. It's really deep and generally clear depending on the area of the lake that you're in. If you get way up the river arms especially after a rain you can definitely get some stain and even some mod in those areas but it's primarily a very deep clear reservoir. It almost acts like kind of a highland reservoir like you'd see like table rock or bullsholes. You know that type of place it gets 200 plus feet deep down by the dam. So much deeper than most places we fish and there's blueback carrying in there so that's a nomadic baitfish that tends to roam throughout the open basins of the lake so that can make for a unique bite anytime you're not there around the spawn. You know a spot of bass love to chase bluebacks and so that'll be kind of the big deal that I expect to play when we're there but there's also some largemouth to be had to and we can kind of get into what I think about both those spots and largemouth will be doing a bit . Yeah I was on the pro app last night looking at it doing a little hallmark and looks like the majority of lakes in that upper 70 to mid 80 degree range pretty pretty well full on summertime down there I'd say. Yeah I mean definitely down by the dam you're going to have that clean water pretty much all year long and even the main lake I would say up most of the arms there's three primary arms on smith and even up up those arms as long as you're on the main lake it's going to stay relatively clear even in a high rain situation but you start getting off of those main river arms back in the creeks and back in the pockets and that's where you'll start to see your stain especially if if there's a bunch of rain smith has a tendency to fluctuate quite a bit so if you get a big push of rain you know we likely could see it rise a couple feet or more during the tournament that's typically more common in the springtime I would say you know in June I don't expect those water levels to fluctuate as much just because we're not dealing with you know a three-day soaker like you might get in June some or you know excuse me in the spring sometimes so yeah water clarity you know down by the dam and main river arms is going to stay pretty clear but you get back in those pockets and that's where you're going to start to see some more of your stained water for sure yeah it's a deep deep lake and like I said we're going there in the heat of the summer so I'm expecting those fish to be pretty deep but they are mostly spotted bass so I think we're going to see a lot of suspended fish as far as structure goes there's a lot of you know timber and brush in the lake and I think that type of cover close to main river channel I know even though it's probably too deep for the fish to get in I think they'll suspend around that break or hang around the edges of the river channel and then at the same time to it is a herring lake so you know those fish are going to be keen on those herring I'm assuming they're going to be pretty deep I don't know what that looks like I don't know if they're 20 feet down over 100 or 40 feet down or 10 feet down but you know they're they pretty much spend their life chasing those herring and I 'm assuming all the herrings are going to be deep so really all those places on you know the main river channel there'll be a point or just a sharp break or something that also has you know standing timber or brush piles on something like that they can go hide in when they're not actively chasing the herrings are probably going to be the the best spots the large mouth my approach would be more that shallow range you know whether it's thrown flooded brush laydowns shallow or floating docks that sort of deal you know there's potential that I suppose these large mouth might get a shore a bit too in the summertime that's kind of an unknown for me at this point and then for the spotted bass I'm primarily going to be looking for fish that are offshore you know we're well beyond the spawn there could be a hint of a shed spawn still going on but I kind of doubt it we'll see when we get there if there is there's potential there'd be some fish shallow in the mornings you know under those docks or on rip-rap banks but for the most part I think I'm going to look at offshore whether it's long tapering points or you know right out in the middle of the base and of the creek arms and potentially the main river arms too and really relating to bait more than anything else. This same set of baits for the most part you know I'm probably going to have a top water on some jerk baits you know a handful of jig head minnows different sizes different weights and then you know potentially a shaky head and a jig if those fish are related to points where they're not suspended up but that's going to be my approach for the spots to begin with we'll see what happens what I discover the first day or so. As far as baits go you're going to want to you know match the herring so like the two that come to my head right away there is going to be priced some school and fish some fish blowing herring on the surface so rappa's got a new jowler top water it's kind of similar to it's kind of halfway between a spook and a shower blows you can cast it a mile I think that'll be a good thing to have late on the deck at all times ready to go if they do come up start breaking the surface school and then ever I'm seeing a lot more fish you know down 10 15 20 30 feet however it may be just as demand streaks a smaller on a jig head and a spinning pole and you know do the whole mid-strolling deal over the suspended spots and then a third one I guess would be probably a drop shot or a shaky head something if there is some fish or kind of holding on that wood or tighten that cover something get down in there we'd list to them with you know something like a finesse worm on a straight tail finesse worm and probably those three baits I would think we'll get you through most of the smell like I know the all the players when it comes down to it in the end you know it's just going to be getting the right area and staying on the fish wind can be a big deal especially on smith if it's clear water you know chasing the wind is kind of a term that you might hear sometimes and these offshore fish if we can find them on points or in drains and maybe those points or drains have some wind blowing into them you know that can make the bite better in those areas too so I would almost say wind is maybe a bigger factor on a clear water fishery like that you know potentially some overcast for the for the larg emouth but yeah we'll see but those are all things to keep in mind as we practice and then go into the tournament. In my experience when you got on that really clear water weather is kind of your friend you know getting some clouds getting some wind just cutting down on the visibility for them and like I said I'm expecting just bright skies and low wind just because that 's kind of what it seems like once it gets super hot down south you don't really get as much wind down there so I think it'll be tougher fishing and on top of you know the time of year we're going we'll be you know it's summertime I think that'll be tough fishing as well and yeah like I said I think weather could help a lot but I think it's kind of expected a full-on grind event but the lake is as a giant fish population so even grinding on smith might look like you know 15 20 bites a day