July-august

Striper fishing, or as I call it “striper chasing” is now in its normal summertime pattern. Schools have been showing up in their normal summertime areas in the mid-lower sections of the lake. Surface water temps currently sitting around 84-85 degrees, while temp at 20 ft is around 73-75 degrees and at 35 ft around 66-68. The warm temperatures and the thermocline in the river system pushes the fish out of both rivers and into the mid to lower lake areas. The thermocline in the river keeps light from penetrating the lower section of the water column, blocking algae and plant photosynthesis, which in turn drops the dissolved oxygen levels in the river’s deeper water. This sends stripers out of the river system and down the lake to find refuge in the deep water with higher oxygen levels that meet their needs. So down lake areas are always the areas to focusing on in the summer at SML.
Right now, on the Roanoke River side of the lake, fish schools are showing up in pretty much all the major feeder creeks, and arms below the bridge. On the Blackwater side, most fish are being found from Gills Creek and down toward the dam. Look for fish anywhere between 25-50’ feet in the mornings, and 60-80’ later in the day. Generally speaking, the fish you are marking deeper are usually the bigger fish, as they need cooler temperatures. Start in the backs of the creeks/arms in the mornings, then work your way out of them to deeper water over the course of the morning. Also, stay on the move, don’t fish on dead water! Sonar is a must have this time of year. Garmin Livescope/ live sonar is also a deadly tool to find these schools. Downlines and 3/8oz to 1/2oz weighted lines will be your best bet right now. Fish heavier weights at the front of the boat and lighter weights at the back to reduce tangles. Once you find fish, bait your lines with blue back herring, or artificial jig. A swamp monkey jig head, with a white zoom super fluke is always a hard artificial bait to beat in the summer. Herring have been hard to get lately, which is very usual for this time of year. Best times lately to catch bait has seemed to be around 11pm-1am and between 3am-5:30am. You need to find a light that sits in at least 25 feet of water, and is on the main channel, out of the river.
Good luck to all, see you out there!
Capt. Weston Hartman
Online: https://www.hartmanstriperfishingsml.com/ (540) 204-7146