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Smitson's Smith Mountain Lake Bass Fishing Results - 78th Place FLW Tournament

Posted by melvin on May 4, 2013

EverStartNEW_175x63.png Smitson's Smith Mountain Lake Bass Fishing Results Are In !!! Follow along as he navigates his rookie year on the FLW Everstart bass fishing trail. Full Story >

 

Smitson Finishes 78th On Smith Mountain Lake April 2013

Story By: www.melvinsmitson.com

Date: 05/04/13

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My rookie year fishing the FLW Everstart Series is finally under way! After months and months of planning for Smith Mountain Lake is just knew I was as ready as ready could be.
 
Got to the lake Monday before the tournament and I was able to find a few good looking spots that I thought would hold some decent largemouth bass. The weather this year has been on the cooler side so I set out to find pre - spawn and spawning areas with hard bottom features like gravel, red clay, submerged tree stumps, isolated boulders, old boat ramps, wooden docks ect...
 
I threw everything in my tackle box Monday; War Eagle Spinnerbaits, Buckeye Football Jigs, Rat-L-Traps, Soft Plastic Stick Baits, Hard Stick Baits, Swimbaits. You get the idea, you name it and I threw it. No dice, nada, nothing cooking, GOOSE EGG!

 

 

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To my delight, I woke up Tuesday morning and had a pretty good day on the lake. I landed three 7lb bass in a twenty minute span. I thought to myself, now were cooking with Crisco. It's ON !!!
 
Went to bed Tuesday night thinking, man this tournament is going to be a piece of cake. Can't wait to see what kind of luck Wednesday is going to bring. This 40,000.00 check is going to be in the bag if this keeps up no doubt about it...
 
Wednesday was decent I did not find any giant bass but found a nice amount of 3 - 4 pound largemouth bass in Smith Mountain Lake arm. By bedtime Wednesday night my expectations had diminished slightly.
 
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I had seen enough of the lake in three day's of practice to make an educated guess about where the biggest bass were going to be on day 1 of the tournament. Time to turn the light's out and get some rest. Thursday ( Day 1 Of Smith Mountain Lake FLW Everstart Tournament ) is going to be a good day...
 
WARNING: 
 
What I encountered next during my journey was full of heart ache and adventure. Launched the boat Thursday morning and parked the truck and trailer. My heart was pumping with excitement and I'm chomping at the bit to catch a few more big ones to confirm my pattern from the day before.
 
Enter Obstacle # 1
 
Trolling motor is not working. No seriously, my foot is on the pedal and the trolling motor is not working !?!?!
 
Listen close, that ahhhhhhhhhhh fudge cicles you hear echoing through the mountain valley around Smith Mountain Lake is all the excitement of the new day leaving my heart as an undeniable you got to be kidding me flooded my mind.
 
Pull yourself together, pull yourself together, pull yourself together. Then a eureka moment hit me like a ton of bricks. "No problem, I'll just use my outboard motor to get to the spots and use my two Power poles to anchor my boat in fishing position."
 
Enter Obstacle # 2
 
Power poles are not functioning properly !?!?! Alright my hat is getting tighter, my eyes are turning red and I have steam coming out of my ears. One power pole won't go down and the other power pole won't come up. Go ahead and laugh, somebody is routing against me. I'm a rookie I get it.
 
Focus, Focus, Focus and then BANG it came to me. I still had one ace up my sleeve. "Find some shallow water and use the outboard motor to navigate and anchor the boat in fishing position."
 
Enter Obstacle # 3
 
Outboard Motor Alarm Starts Going Off !!!
 
Luckily, the downward spiral of out of the blue mechanical failures ended there. I must of sucked up some mud, grass or small sticks that blew back out of the motor when I put her into reverse. Leaving well enough alone, I hustled back to put my boat back on the trailer. Then I made my way over to the maintenance trailers for repair and damage $$$ estimates.
 
Great news, the Power Pole guy's repaired both my Power Poles on the spot. So then I made my way over to the next trailer to see about fixing my trolling motor. Turns out that I needed a SE Module and brush guard assembly for my trolling motor.
 
The maintenance trailer did not have one so I called Anglers Choice Marine where I had purchased my boat several months earlier and they directed me to Ben McCall over at Smith Mountain Lake Electronics.
 
Ben went above and beyond the call of duty while fixing my trolling motor. We finished putting the trolling motor back together at 1 am Friday morning.
 
Fast forward 4 hours later and I was headed back to the lake so I could try and make the top 10 cut. All systems fixed up and ready to GO, FULL SPEED AHEAD, DAD DAD DAD DA TAADAAA, CHARGE !!!
 
The adrenaline started kicking in and my mind started racing with anticipation. I have a great shot at catching my 5 fish limit today. Maybe it was the caffeine from the Monster Energy drink talking as I got closer to the ramp. I was all jacked up thinking all I need to do is find a kicker fish.
 
Nope didn't happen...
 
By now, all that heartache and excitement had taken it's toll and threw me off my game. I wound up catching 1 fish on Friday that weighed 4 lbs 02 oz that gave me a grand total of 13lb 07oz and a 78th place finish.
 
Overall, I had a really great bass fishing trip to Smith Mountain Lake. Saw lot's of bass swimming around the clear water looking to make their beds and some bass that were already on their beds spawning. The warmest water I fished all week was around 66 degrees.
 
Thinking back, wish I had stuck to my original game plan but making tired decisions caught up to me. I started out Friday first thing in the morning fishing secondary points. The lake water was smooth as glass and I knew better than to fish points without wind.
 
Hindsight is what it is, "To me hindsight is clearer than a 8 ft drop off chuck full of 10 pounders cruising around Smith Mountain Lake ready to spawn." ~ Melvin Smitson
 
However, I do have a pretty neat fishing story to share and remember for years to come. Thanks for reading my Smith Mountain Lake bass fishing report. Please visit and shop online with all the great sponsors that help make my bass fishing career possible.
 
Rat-L-Trap, War Eagle Custom Lures, Buckeye Lures, Zeko Shoes, Eco Pro Tungsten, The Crab Place, Flatbellies Fishing Lures, Gambler Lures, Big Bear Fishing Rods.
 
Tight Lines,
 
Melvin Smitson
 
Special thanks to:
 
Anglers Choice Marine - www.anglerschoicemarine.com
Smith Mountain Lake Marine Electronics - www.smlmarineelectronics.com
FLW Everstart Maintenance Trailer Crew - www.flwoutdoors.com