Packed field takes on Smith Lake

Sunny skies and clear water welcomed the anglers for Day 1 on Smith Lake. Photo by Rob Matsuura.

APRIL 4, 2024 • JUSTIN ONSLOW

CULLMAN, Ala. – With more than 240 boats in the field, the second event of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Central Division season looks to be one with the thinnest of margins for error. At Smith Lake, especially – a fishery loaded with largemouth and spotted bass of similar, modest size – wins and losses, checks and empty hands will be determined by mere ounces.

Smith, by all accounts, is fishing great at the moment, but it’s hard for tournament anglers to separate themselves from the pack when 2-pounders are so abundant and 3-plus-pound kickers are fewer and further between. Catching numbers won’t be an issue. Catching enough to luck into a couple difference-making bass might be.

Changing weather patterns

Austin Swindle, who hails from Parrish, Alabama, and who took fifth at Smith in last year’s Central Division derby, has a pretty good idea of what to expect this week, though changing weather patterns might be the real curveball.

“As the weather’s gotten warmer (leading up to the tournament), people looking for largemouth probably caught them really good in practice,” Swindle said. “Now that you’ve got a good cold trend coming through, the largemouth bite’s probably going to die down some. You’re still going to catch the ones that are on beds, of course, but as far as catching them really good like you would have in practice, it’s going to be a lot tougher in the tournament.”

During practice, water temperatures hovered in the low-to-mid 60s. With the storms that rolled through on Tuesday and a cold front chasing close behind, Swindle estimates water temperatures dropping back into the 50s throughout the tournament. Forecasts call for overnight lows in the mid-to-high 30s.

“Spotted bass get affected by (weather changes), too, but they don’t get affected as bad,” Swindle said. “The spotted bass that spawn on the banks might pull out a little bit deeper. You might have to fish a little bit deeper and a little bit slower.”

Tactics in play

Smith Lake is “crystal clear,” according to Swindle, as it’s known to be throughout much of the year. With that stellar water clarity comes the possibility that forward-facing sonar is going to be a big player, specifically when used in tandem with jerkbaits and swimbaits. And with a massive population of spotted bass, it’s hard to imagine a bunch of anglers not putting forward-facing sonar to work this week.

Still, Swindle thinks there are other techniques that could play as well – or better – than the space-age technology game.

“The spots are still spawning,” he said. “Shaky heads, Ned rigs – that’ll more than likely be what somebody wins the tournament on is just finding a good stretch that has some better-than-average spots on it that are still spawning or just wrapping up spawning.

“Forward-facing sonar will probably do decent. Somebody’s going catch them on it; they always do every tournament. But I think the guy that’ll win it will have a couple stretches that have better-than-average spots on them.”

What it’ll take

Jordan Wiggins won the 2023 Central Division event on Smith with 44-14 over three days. Swindle expects that to be just about what it takes this year, too.

“There’s a lot of numbers but not a lot of size,” he said. “It seems like it’s going to be a grinder tournament. Fifteen pounds a day will probably end up winning it.”

As for just making the cut – a cut line that’s probably going to be jam-packed – that number’s also pretty much in line with last year’s results in Swindle’s mind.

“To make the Top 25 cut, I think you’ll need about 12 3/4 a day,” he posited. “Ounces are going to be big in this tournament. An ounce is going to mean a lot.”

Doing it however you like

This being an early-April event, Smith’s impressive population of bass is going to be spread out far and wide, with concentrations offshore, fish in prespawn staging areas, others on beds and still others in the postspawn stage. There’s an abundance of cover and structure (including docks) and a massive field of anglers on the hunt. As big as Smith Lake is (21,200 acres), it shouldn’t fish overly small this week.

In addition, all three distinct arms of the lake are equally productive right now.

“The lake’s fishing really well on all three sections of it,” Swindle said. “You can pick and choose where you want to go and catch fish on any part of it right now.”

That also means a bevy of baits and tactics should play, including slower finesse offerings, swimbaits, crainkbaits, jerkbaits and even topwaters.

If there’s a particular way you like to fish, Smith will probably make it worth your while in this tournament.

This event is hosted by Visit Cullman. Follow this week’s action at MajorleagueFishing.com and be sure to tune in for the live weigh-in show all three days at 2:30 p.m. CT.