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Smith Mountain Lake (Virginia) — one of the area's fishing spots. The town of Roanoke is nearby. Here you'll find a bite prediction — when fish are active and which hours give the best chances, adjusted for weather and pressure.
Nearest towns and cities
Other nearby places to fish
Other nearby waters
The shoreline is heavily indented — bays, points and spits. Look for largemouth bass at the mouths of the bays and on the drop-offs behind the points.
The wind builds its wave along the north-west — south-east axis — 19 mi of open water; along north-east — south-west there is only 11 mi. When it runs down the main axis, the calm water sits against the bank it blows from, while the wave and the silt go to the far one — and the fish follow them there to feed.
Virginia: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined. The bottom row counts the catches logged on this water in each month.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White crappie | active | peak |
Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Smith Mountain Lake — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is moderate — fish feed in short bursts. Weather is steady, with no sharp swings — fish behave predictably. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
The computed water temperature is around 56 °F — colder than the 57–75 °F comfort range for Black crappie: the fish conserves energy and takes more cautiously.
Black crappie works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is rising 0.06 inHg over the day — the bite usually settles down after a rise.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an active season for Black crappie here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
Clear · feels like +56°
The day is 2 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldG1 geomagnetic storm, Kp 4.7
Kp index — NOAA data. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?| peak |
| active |
| active |
| fair |
| fair |
| active |
| active |
| active |
| active |
| active |
| Black crappie | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | fair | fair | active | active | active | active | active |
|---|
| Striped bass | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
|---|
| Walleye | slow | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow |
|---|
| Brook trout | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow | slow |
|---|
| Smallmouth bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
|---|
| White bass | slow | slow | fair | active | active | active | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow |
|---|
| Largemouth bass | fair | fair | active | active | peak | peak | active | active | fair | fair | slow | slow |
|---|
| Rainbow trout | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
|---|
| Carp | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
|---|
| Spotted bass | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
|---|
| Blue catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
|---|
| Bluegill | slow | slow | slow | fair | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
|---|
| Channel catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
|---|
| Flathead catfish | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | active | slow | slow | slow | slow |
|---|
| Catches here | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
|---|
BiteGuideFrom anglers’ reports
This is a summary of anglers' reports, not a proven cause of the bite: conditions lining up does not mean they drove it.
vertical axis — number of catches
| Value | Catches | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | 11 | 85% |
| Spotted bass | 2 | 15% |
| Striped bass | 1 | 8% |
Blue check: this species appears as a catch in reports for this waterbody.
Look for drop-offs and gaps in the weeds, retrieve slowly, lingering over promising spots.
Smith Mountain Lake — Tuesday, October 20
The bite is moderate — fish feed in short bursts. Weather is steady, with no sharp swings — fish behave predictably. Peak 07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00.
Biting
Fish in 13 of 13 reports · Mostly Largemouth bass
Anglers have logged 13 fishing reports here. Most commonly caught: Largemouth bass, Spotted bass, Striped bass. Peak season: December.