ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
There are three words you need to remember - rocks, trees and docks - if you want to catch bass at Smith Mountain Lake this weekend.
``That is our favorite three things to fish,'' said Mike Huffman, one of the top fishermen in the region, and director of last weekend's Mr.Bass tournament.
This could be the weekend when bass suddenly throw caution to the waves and go into a feeding frenzy prior to the serious business of bedding, Huffman said. He wanted the spring blitz to occur during Mr.Bass, but it didn't happen.
This weekend for sure?
Well, Mother Nature will have a say. Bass can go up and down faster than the Dow Jones average. But this weekend looks promising, Huffman said.
``The fish are kind of hung right now,'' he said. ``They want to come up and start eating, then they don't want to come up.''
When the bass are hungry and shallow, even a weekend duffer can look like Roland Martin or Bill Dance by simply casting to shoreline docks, trees and rocks.
Prime spots to look for bass are the tail ends of creeks and coves where fish are lured by warmer water and food, Huffman said.
``I think the fish are back in the coves now,'' he said. ``A couple of weeks ago they were on the secondary points back in the mouth of the creeks. Now they have gone on around.''
Productive lures for catching them include the Rattlin' Rogue, which won the Mr.Bass tournament, and the Rattlin' Husky. Both are in the ``stick bait'' category and work well in shallow water. The Shad Rap is a crankbait that has merited a reputation for being an excellent early season lure. You won't go wrong with spinnerbaits, either, especially in chartreuse-and-white or white. Also worth a toss are plastic, Slug-go type lures. The Zoom Fluke also has been a good one this spring.
``When we go to a boat dock, normally what we will do is throw a crankbait or stick bait down both sides and across the front,'' said Huffman. ``If we can get back up under the dock with a crankbait - this is awfully tough - we will throw it back under there. Then we will put that down and pick up a Slug-go type bait that will float down toward the bottom with a real, slow fall.''
On a cloudy day, the bass will be within a couple of inches of rocks, but on a sunny day they will hold to the nearest dropoff, Huffman said. His advice is to throw a spinnerbait or crankbait parallel to the rocks.
As for fallen trees, ``Right now the fish are out on the ends of the trees,'' Huffman said. In the next two weeks, look for them to move from the branches to the trunks where the water is more shallow.
If the tree is completely under water, work a stick bait across its top to entice a strike, Huffman said. ``Then throw a Slug-go and let it sink beneath the tree. Sometimes the bass are right under the butt ends of the trees.''
Bass don't just go by the calendar, but also by the thermometer. They will be the most active where the water is warmest.
``A temperature gauge is going to be an important piece of equipment on your boat the next two or three weeks,'' Huffman said.
BRAGGING SIZE: Michael Hurst of Radford caught a 42.6-pound muskie at Claytor Lake. Eddie Parks of Dublin landed a 30 1/2-pound flathead catfish from Claytor.
A pair of muskies was weighed at Indian Point Marina on Smith Mountain Lake. Randy Jordon got a 26-pounder and Jack Miller weighed a 24 1/2-pounder.
A 13 1/2-pound largemouth was landed at Briery Creek lake by David Orrick of Spotsylvania. Two 10-pound bass were taken at Gaston Lake. One hit a black jig at a boat dock as the angler picked out a backlash.
Lake Moomaw produced a pair of fine smallmouth for Larry Simms of Covington, one 5 pounds, 15 ounces, the other 3 pounds, 8 ounces. James Alexander caught a brown trout at Moomaw that was just under nine pounds.
TURKEY TALK: Too much wind and too many hens have caused problems for spring gobbler hunters; nonetheless, several big game checking stations have done a brisk business since the season opened Saturday. Old Mill Grocery in Botetourt County had checked 22 through Wednesday.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB