The current forecast is for warmer temperatures and clear skies that will extend through the coming Labor Day weekend. We are expecting sunny skies without any precipitation through Monday of next week, Labor Day. There is a chance of an isolated thunderstorm in the forecast, but it is not until next Tuesday. Daytime high temperatures are expected to reach into the 90’s this week and then drop down into the low 80’s over the weekend. Evening temperatures should be in the low to mid 60’s for the next week or more. This week should be great for fishing, boating or just enjoying family and friends over the long holiday weekend. Currently, water visibility is excellent and should remain that way well into next week. At night it will become progressively darker on the lake with a 3rd quarter moon Wednesday of this week and a new moon the middle of next week. The lake continues to run between one and two feet below full pond and all public ramps are open and operational.

The bass fishing challenged many this past week, as anglers found it difficult to locate bass, especially better fish. There have been a limited number of good fish caught over the past several tournaments and most of them have been coming on heavy jigs and rigged plastics off the bottom in deep water. Anglers using arky and football head pig and jigs weighing 1/2 ounce more are producing a nice bass occasionally in water 20 to 30 feet deep. The drop shot is working on marked fish suspended in deep water just off the bottom and along the sides of deep water points, but this bite is not as strong as it was several weeks ago. According to several recent angler reports, Texas rigged plastics and crankbaits are working in and around submerged brush. Bass are also being caught near the shoreline off the sides of pilings under deep-water docks and off steep rocky bluffs, using Senko’s and other plastic worms rigged shaky wacky style and on craw and creature plastics rigged on lead headed jigs.

Bass are being found shallow as well as deep. They are starting to school and chase shad, usually early and late. Try top water poppers by Lobina, Rebel and Lucky Craft on schooling fish. Spinner baits also working when bass are schooling , especially when there is a little wind. If you want to learn more about the lures, patterns and techniques that are working for bass now and into the fall, consider attending our "Transition Patterns For SML Bass – Summer To Fall" this Thursday evening, September 2^nd. Details are available in our shop and on our website (see below). Seating is limited, so advance reservations are required.

The Friday Night "Backyard Bassmaster" sponsored tournament out of the State Park was won this past weekend by the team of Riley Wilson and Dennis Brown with a total weight of 12.19 lbs. Riley and Dennis also caught the tournament lunker weighing 3.78 lbs. Bryant Copely and Steve Woodroof took second place honors Friday night with a total weight of 8.78 lbs. Mike Johnson and Jim McCullough came in third with 5.67 lbs. There will be two more Friday Night Tournaments this year. The next one will be this coming weekend on September 3^rd and the last planned tournament will be the following weekend on September 10^th. There are several additional open tournaments planned for this fall. I will post the details of these events in my shop and on our website http://www.virginiaoutdoorsman.com/content/report.html as soon as they become available.

The husband and wife team of Robert and Lori Duncan caught a five fish bag weighing 15.15 lbs. to take first place honors in the most recent Saturday Night Open Tournament out of Foxport Marina. They also caught the tournament lunker, a nice bass that weighed 5.05 lbs. The team of David Peters and Steve Conner brought bass weighing a total of 11.90 lbs. to the scale to claim second place Saturday night. Shane and David Mills teamed up and caught a bag weighing 10.60 lbs. to take third place. I spoke with Dennis "Chicken" Holland, the tournament director, over the weekend and learned the last Saturday Night Foxport Open Tournament for the year will be held this coming Labor Day weekend on Saturday, September 4^th. Both the Saturday and Friday night tournaments are well run open events, so if you are in for the weekend and want to fish in one or more evening bass tournaments, I encourage you to consider participating.

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2010 Summer Fishing Workshops

July 22 - Fishing Smith Mountain Lake - Fishing Basics & Dock Fishing - Learn About The Primary Species and Bait In SML, Fish ID, Seasonal Patterns, Learn About Different Types Of Tackle, Basic Knots, Tackle, Techniques, Rigs and Lures (Hands On Exercise - Knots and Rigs)

July 29 - Summer Bass Fishing Early, Late And At Night - Learn About Bass Patterns At Night, Early and Late and The Tackle, Lures, Places and Presentation Techniques Needed To Catch Them

Aug 5 - Trolling For Summer Stripers - Learn About The Tackle, Equipment and Different Techniques Used To Troll At SML – How To Rig and Fish With Lures, Umbrella & 3-Way Rigs, Learn About Lures, Braid, Lead Core and More (Hands On Exercise – Rigging For Trolling)

Aug. 19 - Fishing Smith Mountain Lake - Fishing Basics & Dock Fishing - Learn About The Primary Species and Bait In SML, Fish ID, Seasonal Patterns, Learn About Different Types Of Tackle, Basic Knots, Tackle, Techniques, Rigs and Lures (Hands On Exercise - Knots and Rigs)

Sep. 2 - Transition Patterns For SML Bass Summer To Fall – Learn About Summer Bass Patterns And The Shift That Occurs As We Move Into Fall. This Workshop Covers Bass Behavior And The Tackle, Lures, Locations and Presentation Techniques Needed To Catch Them When This Shift Occurs.

Sep. 16 - Catching, Keeping and Fishing w/Live Bait – Learn How To Select and Throw A Cast Net, Use Bait Cages, Bait Tanks, Select Live Bait and Fishing Tackle (Rods, Reels, Floats, Redi-rigs, Planer Boards, etc.), Rig and Present Baits, Live Bait Fishing Techniques & Tips (Hands On Exercises – Throwing The Cast Net & Rigging)

When:   6:30 - 8:30 p.m.          Cost:   $20/person

Where:  Large Meeting Room (directions)

             2^nd Flr, Virginia Outdoorsman Sporting Goods

             40 Village Springs Drive, Hardy, VA

     

Registration:      (540) 721-4867

                               

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Striped bass continue to school baitfish near the mouths of most major creeks around the lake. Spooks, Sammy’s, Spook Juniors, paddle tail swimbaits and poppers are good choices for schooling stripers. Stripers are also being caught casting, counting down and retrieving as well as vertically jigging flukes rigged on lead headed jigs and spoons. When jigging, I suggest you attach a swivel to the lure with a split ring to avoid line twist. The fishing continues to be better in the mid lake areas of both the Roanoke and Blackwater Rivers. While some stripers are being found in small pods, most are still found in huge schools. Large schools are being found as shallow as 18 feet and as deep as 65 feet, where vertical jigging and live bait on downlines is successful.

Trolling continues to be an effective technique this time of year. Umbrella rigs like those by Captain Mack and those assembled from components are producing good numbers and some quality striped bass. Lead core outfits continue to work well for those trolling both Urigs and the traditional three-way rigs using a Sutton Spoon and a swim shad or bucktail. A good quality, fully rigged lead core outfit (rod, reel, lead core line, lures) can be purchased at Virginia Outdoorsman Sporting Goods for around $135. Lead core outfits can be fished from any type of boat, including runabouts, houseboats, pontoons and deck boats. Since trolling is an effective technique from spring through fall, this is a great outfit for novice as well as experienced anglers.

Dock fishing continues to be good. Large numbers of small panfish and bluegill are being caught using "red wiggler" worms rigged on small hooks, a split shot and a bobber. I suggest those interested in catching fish around the dock by casting and retrieving lures use one of the tiny shad colored crankbaits by Strike King or others. Crappies are being caught on "small minnows" rigged on thin wire, gold hooks and on light jig heads (1/32 to 1/16 oz) with plastic trailers. Channel catfish continue to be caught on Magic prepared stink baits rigged on spring hooks and fished on a bottom rig in deep water. This stinkbait will stay on the hook when it is pressed into the spring that is around the hook. This combination keeps the bait in one piece and allows it to release its flavor into the water much better than will chicken liver.

We continue to bring in the latest in specialty tackle and have just received a good supply of the popular Lazer Lures, jigging spoons, custom shad jigheads, spinner baits and Squirrel tail worms. We also received out initial shipment of the new lightweight Shimano Curado CU50E series reels this Monday. I put one on a G. Loomis or Duckett rod and they are an incredible outfit that is light and very sensitive. This reel is currently in limited supply and not yet available in most Internet and retail shops, so if you want to be the very first to get your hands on one stop by soon. 

We have placed our remaining inventory of tubes, water toys and life jackets on sale to make room for the archery, blackpowder and shooting supplies that are arriving daily. We have a number of hard to find super large life jackets available at great prices. We also have several muzzleloading powders and bullets on sale for Labor Day. For those who want to shoot at targets, skeet or get ready for dove season, we also have Remington 22 LR bullets and shotgun shells on sale. We will be open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday of this week and closed on Sunday and Monday, Memorial Day. Starting next week we will move to our fall schedule and will be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The weather cooling off and we are approaching hunting season. Dove season is just around the corner, so now is the time to register and obtain your HIP number. We have a huge supply of ammunition at great prices including plenty of dove and skeet shells. If you like to hunt with a bow or blackpowder rifle, now is the time to check out your equipment, insure it is ready for the field and test out the newer black powder bullets. If you have not considered switching to the Barnes bullets for your 50-caliber black powder rifle, you are missing an incredible opportunity. Stop by the shop and see me for more information about this incredibly effective ammunition. 

We are strating to receive crossbows and hunting supplies for this season. We will continue to carry the Parker line as usual and will be stocking crossbows from other manufacturers. We continue to buy, sell, trade and transfer both new and used firearms and we carry optics, ammunition, arrows, bolts, archery and blackpowder supplies this time of year. We are currently selling our remaining inventory of life jackets and towables to make room for the hunting and shooting supplies, so if you want to pick either up at a great price stop by and see us.

Remember to sign up!!! If you want to learn about fishing in Smith Mountain Lake and surrounding waters, now is the time to call and reserve a seat in one or more of our evening workshops. We have a "Bass Fishing Patterns - Summer To Fall" workshop on September 2nd. It is a "hands on" class designed for beginner to intermediate bass anglers seeking information about late summer and fall bass behavior, patterns and lure selection. We also have an Intermediate level "Catching, Keeping and Fishing With Live Bait" workshop schedule on September 16th. The full workshop schedule is available above.  Seating is limited and advance registration is required.

We continue to maintain a great selection of the new Duckettfishing "MicroMagic" Micro Guide fishing rods and they are selling fast. I strongly suggest you to stop by and cast one of the Micro Guide rods before purchasing your next striper or tournament bass fishing rod. These extremely sensitive rods will add incredible distance to your casts and are one of the very lightest rods we have ever carried. There are a number of different models, some with split grips and others with conventional full cork grips and these rods are reasonably priced between $149 and $179.  We also have the Shimano Curado, Citica, Chronarch and Core reels for those who prefer these small frame, low profile reels. We recently expanded our selection of finesse plastics, plastic tubes and lizards and added several new swimbaits including the Top Shelf line. 

 

 
We buy, sell and trade guns and we sell guns on consignment. If you have firearms you want to sell, just give us a call to make an appointment to discuss our different programs. We transfer guns purchased online for just $25 and we pack and ship firearms that need to be sent to others within the USA for a very modest fee. We have special shipping permits and can send firearms to licensed (FFL) dealers in other states using the U.S. Postal Service (right next door). This insures accountability and conformance with local firearm laws and ordinances.

Have a great week and enjoy a safe Labor Day weekend.

Mike Snead
Virginia Outdoorsman Sporting Goods and Guide Services
Smith Mountain Lake, VA

                                           

                                               

 

40 Village Springs Drive, Hardy VA 24101

 In Westlake Directly Across From Wendy’s On Rt 122
 (About 3 Miles South Of The Hales Ford Bridge)