THEY’RE LANDLOCKED BUT THEY HAVEN’T LOST THEIR FIGHT

I had never been to Lewis Smith Lake, or Smith Lake as it is more commonly known. So, when a friend called to ask if I was interested in joining him for some striper fishing, I could not say yes fast enough. Although I have fished striped bass in the surf, during their run up the Delaware River, and offshore when the bunker chase is on, I had never fished for land locked stripers. I knew the lake had a large spotted bass population and I knew Cullman, the largest nearby town, was home to two-time Classic winner Jordan Lee but that was the extent of my local knowledge. Fishing friends who had been there always commented on the spotted bass fishery and the absolute beauty of the lake.  I had heard there were striped bass in the lake from the livestream tournament coverage.

Despite much of the angling talk being about spotted bass, it turns out Smith Lake is one of the best striper lakes in the southeast. It is very common to catch fish in the 9-10 lb. range, and the Gulf Coast strain stocked in Alabama grows about 5 lbs. a year. This strain has a shorter stockier profile and is more tolerant to warm water than the Atlantic strain. Alabama Fish and Game harvest eggs from 30-40 lb. females, raise them in a hatchery, and stock approx. 66, 000 fingerlings annually. Stripers were initially introduced in Smith in 1983 and there have been some 50 pounders caught.

The lake is an impoundment of the Black Warrior River stretching 35 miles with 500 miles of shoreline and spanning 21,200 acres. The average depth is 66 feet. The dam was completed in 1961 by the Alabama Power Company and stands today as one of the largest earthen dams in the eastern United States at 2,200 ft. long and 300 ft. high. The name honors Lewis Martin Smith, president of Alabama Power from 1952 to 1957.

Our fishing day started clear and cold. Overnight temps had fallen to freezing- unusual in October for Alabama.  The sudden drop in air temperature gave rise to fog over the much warmer water. As much as we had trouble seeing the shoreline, we also had trouble locating feeding schools of stripers. The full moon the night before had sent the hungry schools in motion, so locating them in the extensive network of creek arms and main channels presented a challenge. A special shout out to our guide, Bill Vines of Stripe Fishing Headquarters. He did an excellent job and located a small group of fish and set the rods down to between 30-40 feet using a circle hook baited with a cast net caught live bait and anchored by a two oz. weight. When big schools are moving near the surface, casting jerkbaits and other lures is a good option, but year-round, the best catching is with live bait (typically blueback herring and shad). Our results were pretty good, including a nice-sized spotted bass. The lake was indeed beautiful with a mix of state park land and large lake homes surrounding the endless twists and turns of the lake.  Like any “Stripeinator”, I can guarantee “I’ll be back!”