Smith Lake - Alabama's Deep Treasure

The Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River was backed up to create more than 500 miles of shoreline on a three fingered lake. The Sipsey River makes up the left fork, Rock Creek the middle fork and Ryan Creek the right fork. The lake consists of over 21,000 acres but is very deep and probably holds more water than any Alabama lake. Located an hour north of Birmingham or south of Huntsville and just off I-65, the lake is easy to find and very convenient for local fishermen. But it also draws fishermen from all over the southeast. Speegle's Marina and Smith Lake Park, both in Crane Hill, are the lake's most popular launches.

The dominant bass species in Smith Lake are spotted bass, largemouth bass and gulf coast striped bass. The overall population of largemouth bass and spotted bass in the lake is good. The numbers of five-year-old largemouth bass and four-year-old spotted bass have increased since the slot limit was imposed. The creel limit is 10 black bass (largemouths and spots) per day. The slot limit for Smith Lake is 13- to 15-inches. Anglers are encouraged to keep bass smaller than 13 inches and may keep bass larger than 15 inches.

The lake also produces monster stripers. Fish in the forty plus pound range are present, and some anglers feel there should be a fifty plus pound Smith Lake record caught soon. Live shad, available locally, are the preferred bait.

Many fishermen think the lake is Alabama's most difficult lake to fish. The deep and very clear water can cause anglers to struggle on it. You will often find both spotted bass and largemouth in 30-50 feet of water. On Smith, when casting to the rocky shoreline, you are often sitting in water 100 feet deep.

Points, rock bluffs, islands, piers and boathouses and many other visible structures always hold fish on this lake. Finding the depth they are holding at, and enticing them to bite is the challenge. The spots, largemouth and striped bass follow the baitfish schools along the banks. So the "casting to the bank" techniques will usually work. But there is also a lot of deep, offshore structure that an angler skilled with a depth-finder can find and sometimes load the boat!

Many different lures are used for fishing this Alabama lake. Some favorites are topwaters and shakey head worms; but crankbaits, spinnerbaits and many others also catch bass here. Spinnerbaits often fool the huge spots found here. Some anglers use a buzzing technique, bulging or waking the waters surface. Spotted bass will nail these lures when fast retrieved in this fashion. Some anglers slow roll heavy spinnerbaits along ledges and the ends of points and especially along the face of rock bluffs and secondary ledges. Fishing the ledge drops or near the bottom with small finesse lures such as the shakey head, drop-shot rig and other techniques is very popular here. These finesse tactics often turn out to be the winning pattern at local Smith Lake tournaments.

There are several well-known fishing areas on the Lake, with Dismal Creek being the most famous. Two world record spotted bass have been caught in Dismal. Other good spots are Brushy Creek and Rock Creek. There is no a great deal of standing timber in Smith, so concentrate in the backs of coves, along some of the shallow shorelines, at feeder creeks and near piers and boathouses.

As said earlier, the challenge is to find the fish; usually by locating the depth they are holding. After you do this, the fun starts! Tie on your lure of choice and have a great time! Thanks for reading.

Good fishing.

Return from Smith Lake