Smith Lake

Never fished Smith Lake. Daughter has school tourney Oct. 20th. I'm gonna try to perfish week before to see if I can learn something to help them. Any tips or suggestions appreciated. All I know is deep and clear. And Blueback Herron are something to pay attention to.

Thanks
Chad

It will be crowded that is the same day as the autism tournament. This cool weather will really fire up the schooling activity. I will say this though...when you find those big schools on Thursday before the derby keep in mind that they will not act the same when 100 boats run over there head. The bluebacks get a lot more hype than deserved. There really aren’t that many in the lake yet in my opinion. I would say 1 out of 10 active schools are feeding on bluebacks. As far as fishing goes, I would throw a spook or gunfish on the active feeding fish. If that doesn’t work I would throw a spy bait or spoon.

I’m fishing the autism tournament but I will be in the dirt. That deep bite is all about right place right time. It’s not consistent enough for my liking this time of year. A man can probably get paid on a shaky head or jig but I don’t think that is a winning deal right now.

Buzzbait??

Dynamite with 2inchs of fuse.

Appreciate the help. 🙄

Dad caught 30 in two hours today on schooling fish. Said they were anywhere from 8” to 3lbs. I would have a top water tied on (Sammy or whopper plopper), a suspended jerk bait and a Fluke). It’ll take 15lbs+ to win it.

Undoubtedly you don’t fish Smith very often

Thanks

Only in the dead of winter. When the traffic dies down.

The school action should be getting hot and heavy and day now. I caught a bunch of fish schooling monday

Is your daughter fishing the Airport Marine trail? My son will be fishing their Smith tournament on the 20th.

Yes, we're fishing the Airport Marine trail. This will be our first school tourney. She in the 8th grade, not sure if the separate the junior and seniors up or it's everyone against everyone. We fish with Brookwood in Tuscaloosa.

Chad

That's awesome!! Love seeing more young ladies get involved in the sport. Airport Marine trail doesn't split for HS/Junior - it's just one field. They run an excellent high school trail - we always enjoy their tournaments & it's growing bigger each year. Flynn Gerald makes it a lot of fun for the kids which is what it's all about. My son fishes for Sand Rock HS - he's a 10th grader. I hope your daughter has a terrific first tournament - best of luck to her!!

Tambo appreciate the Luck and good luck to y'all. We just trying to have fun. I just hope we have enough to weigh in. Or at least something to weigh in. She loves to fish and hunt. She also excited to be one of few girls out there.

Chad

The lakes water level is down 10' from full pool so be careful.

Appreciate the suggestions guys, we pre-fishing tomorrow and tournament is Saturday. Good Luck to all the kids fishing. Stay safe and tight lines.

Chad Burnette

Good luck Chad

Good luck Chad

Good luck Chad

Good luck.

They were chewing this morning. By the looks of the forecast it gonna be a 1 rod derby

Which rod?

Well, didn't do as good as we would of liked. She caught a couple in slot limit. Had one over for 2.56 lbs. Had a big fish on that got off. It was a 4 or 5 lber. Broke her heart. Big ones seem to always get off. Ugh! She had fun anyways. Learning that fishing isn't easy. After it was over she was asking when the next on is.

Chad

Tell her not to get discouraged - Saturday was tough on Smith! My son and his partner had an awesome day in practice Friday and then struggled on Saturday - the fish just weren't there but that's fishing for you. I'm glad that she had fun and is ready to go again...that's awesome! What tournament is she fishing next?

Next Tournament will be the L&L Marine tournament in Gainesville November the 10th. South of Tuscaloosa. Our school is fishing Airport and L&L trails this year.

Tambo, did y'all weigh in anything? I'm not a big fan of that slot limit. But it didn't have any effect on what we would of had. Just for kids sake, they were frustrated having to throw back what normally are keeper fish.

Chad

They will bust you on that slot as well. We had a club tournament and a guy had 5 slot fish in his weight in bag. Game warden just happened to stop by for the weight in. Lol he kept saying I didn't know.

My son Brody & his partner managed to come in 8th place - they weighed in 10.24. After the way they struggled most of the day, they were tickled to death with 10lbs! By 12:30 they had exhausted all their best spots from practice and had only one fish. They finally switched gears and went looking for new areas. Within 15 minutes they finished their limit. I was proud of them for hanging in there. Sometimes I think a good practice jinxes you on tournament day!