January Bass at Smith with Craig Daniel
If you hate the cold and stay home this month you will miss out on some great fishing. The spots at Smith Lake stack up in deep water and gorge on shad this month and you can catch them in a variety of ways.
Smith Lake is north of Birmingham and its deep, clear waters are full of big spots. Craig Daniel has fished it for years and is well known in the area. After fishing professionally for about ten years and making the Bassmasters Classic twice and the FLW Championship twice, for the past ten years he has concentrated on local tournaments on Smith.
Craig’s experiences on Smith helped him do well in big tournaments on other lakes to the extent he won four boats, a truck, and about $450,000 on the pro trails. Smith can be tough but Craig’s patterns for January will help you catch fish there.
“The key depth is 20 feet,” Craig said. The spots hold deep and feed around that depth. On warmer days they may feed from 15 to 20 feet deep and on colder days 20 to 30 feet deep, but by starting at 20 feet you will be in the zone.
A variety of baits will catch deep spots but Craig relies on a jig head he makes and sells and Zoom four inch Finesse worm. Craig says the little jig head won him a lot of money and it will catch fish any time on Smith and many other lakes.
Back up your jig head with a crankbait that will get down deep like the Norman’s DD2N and a drop shot rig and you can cover any situation you might run into this month. Craig uses PLine Fluroclear line on all his rods and he likes Shimano reels and American Rodsmith rods.
The bass may be on a wide variety of types of structure and cover, from points and humps to bluff walls and brush piles, but the depth is the key. Some wind blowing in on the structure helps and the bass are more likely to move a little shallower to feed when the wind blows baitfish to them.
The following ten spots are all good right now and you can catch fish off them. They are on a small area of the lake so you won’t have to do a lot of running in the cold air to get to them.
1. N 34 04.766 – W 86 57.763 – Put in at Smith Lake Park and go downstream around the main point. Ahead of you on the left will be a double flat point running out downstream of the big field between the water and the playground. Both the points hold bass.
The upstream point runs slightly upstream across the cove and has brush on it. There is a brush pile on it you can find by lining the white sign in the field with the kids slide and the power pole in the park. Keep your boat on the deep side of the point and cast back across it.
Craig starts here with a big crankbait like the DD22N and says chartreuse is good in any color water. He wants a big bait to bump the brush and bottom so he throws a deep running bait no matter how deep the water. The top of the brush was about eight feet deep with the lake at 500 feet above sea level – about ten feet low.
After running your crankbait across the brush from different angles fish it with a jig head worm. Work the area thoroughly. Craig says a million tournaments have been won right here and it is a good place to catch a big-un – four or five pounds.
2. N 34 04.366 W 86 58.773 – Run downstream and go through the gap on the right side of Goat Island. Downstream of Brushy Creek is a big round point and the downstream side of it goes into a finger cove, the upstream one of two side by side. On the downstream side of the point is a big brown wood house with a concrete lower level.
Start on the river side of this point and fish all around it, working a parallel with a big crankbait then fishing your jig head worm down the slope from 15 to 30 feet deep. When you find the depth the bass are feeding, concentrate on that area.
I got a 14 inch spot here, not a keeper with the Smith Lake slot limit, but a very pretty fish. It hit a jig head worm in about 22 feet of water, right in front of the house. But bass will feed anywhere on this point so fish it carefully.
3. N 34 04.342 – W 86 59.066 – Go into the second finger cove and watch for a house on your left with a dock running out slightly toward the lake. It is on a small point and the house is grey with a white railing around the porch, and is just downstream of a pavilion and small boat ramp.
Just in front and downstream of the dock is a big pine tree Craig put into the water. If you line up the pole on the right side of the house with the oak tree behind it you will be on line for the brush pile. It runs way out so stay back. The brush topped out at five feet deep with the water ten feet low and ran out to be almost 15 feet deep top at its deepest.
Run a crankbait across it then work your jig head worm through the tree. Craig uses a one-quarter ounce jig head and its round shape helps it come through the branches of the tree. Move it slowly and be ready to set the hook on any mushy feel. Craig says the bass on Smith often just suck in the jig head and hold it. If you wait for a thump or a fish swimming off you will often miss the fish here and on all other spots.
4. N 34 03.459 – W 85 59.392 – Downstream of Bailey Mountain is a big cove and the upstream point of it is surrounded with a concrete seawall and covered with riprap. There is a big three level gray house on the point.
This point is beside deep water and has the kind of sharp drop Craig likes. The river ledge goes parallel to the point and the point steps down, but it drops straight off on the river side. Craig likes drops like this that might drop from 12 to 100 feet almost straight down. He says big fish live on sharp drops.
This is mainly a jig head point and Craig with work it very slowly. When it first hits bottom he says let it sit a few seconds then move it very slowly, feeling for a fish. If you shake or hop it on that first pull you will often pull it away from a bass. Feel for the fish then move it in short hops, shaking it as you let it sit on the bottom between hops.
Craig also says if you do miss a hit, drop the jig back and let it sit. Spots will often come back and hit again so give them a second chance to take it. We caught another 14 inch spot off this point in about 20 feet of water here after missing another hit, and it may have been the same bass.
5. N 34 03.227 – W 86 59.093 – Almost straight across the lake is a big round point with a small cut or gut just downstream of it. The point is just upstream of a travel trailer with a small dock in front of it on the other side of the cut. The trailer has a red railing around a deck in front of it.
Fish around this big point on the downstream side with your crankbait and jig head. Bass will stack up on the point and feed. It runs out slightly downstream and has rocks and brush on it. Work around it with a big crankbait then fish the 15 to 30 foot depths with your jig head worm. Watch your depthfinder for balls of baitfish on this point and others, too. If you see baitfish you are more likely to find bass schooled up.
6. N 34 03.190 – W 86 59.045 – The cut just downstream of the point above is a good example of the kind of cuts or guts bass will stack up in during January. They will hold under shad in 20 to 60 feet of water and these places Craig will fish even deeper than other places.
The bass often hold on the point in hole 5 then move to the cut with the shad. Craig will keep his boat in the middle of the cut and fan cast it at all angles, working down both sides and right down the middle. A jig head worm is good but Craig will sometimes tie on a bucktail jig and swim it down the gut, too.
Watch for shad. If shad are in the cut bass will be here. That is a key. Also, watch for bass holding under the baitfish. If you see bass under them your drop shot rig is a good way to catch them. Craig ties his hook about a foot above a drop shot sinker and puts a Zoom Tiny Fluke in shad colors on it.
7. N 34 02.635 – W 86 59.009 – Run down to the mouth of Simpson Creek and start into it. On your left just where the creek starts to open up there is another excellent cut between two points. One point is mostly chunk rock and the other is mostly clay. The cut is very round.
In cuts like this rain causes runoff that will draw the baitfish in and bass follow. Fish it like the one above, working it at all angles. Craig says you can hit several of these cuts without catching much then load the boat in the one where the bass are holding.
Wind blowing into this cut helps as it does on all other spots, but if the wind is so strong you can’t fish open water these cuts offer protected places to fish. The bass will be here even without wind so check out cuts if the wind is real bad.
8. N 34 02.170 – W 86 58.754 –Across the creek on the right going upstream is a cut that runs back off the main creek at an angle upstream. On the left side is a dock with a red top and on the right is a dock with a green top and a green awning is on the cabin on that side. In the middle of this pocket, out even with the mouth of it, is a hump that drops from 12 to 30 feet deep very fast.
The hump is about as big as a bass boat so you may need to find it then come back and fish it later. When you locate it fish a crankbait across it, bumping bottom. Then work your jig head across it and down the drop. There is brush and stumps and trees all over this hump and drop and you will get hung up but it holds fish.
Craig says he has caught a six pounder and a bunch of fours here. Since there is so much cover here fish your jig head very slowly. Move your jig head just a few inches at a time then shake it in one place before moving it a few inches again. Let it fall down the slope and stop and shake it again. Give the bass a chance to hit.
9. N 34 01.981 – W 86 58.294 – Across the lake on your left going upstream is a huge open area with small arms running off it. It is a big shallow flat with humps and ridges running half way out into the creek, called Simpson Flats.
On the bank on the flat side you will see a brick house with a green roof and green roof dock in a cut and a point running upstream on that side. Line that up with the four cabins on the far bank. The second one from the downstream side has a patch of riprap in front of it.
If you get way out on this line you will come up on a long ridge that drops off very fast on the downstream side and flattens out on the upstream side. When moving around here be careful and watch your depth. There are areas that are just a foot or so deep at ten feet low.
When you find the ridge and point watch for baitfish and bass under them. Use your drop shot rig out here. Get right on top of the fish, drop your lead to the bottom then, with a tight line barely twitch your rod tip. This will make the Tiny Fluke dance in one place. Craig caught several small spots and a couple in the slot out here in early December when we fished.
10. N 34 01.695 – W 86 57.568 – Run up the creek to the deep cut on your right with BB Calvert’s Launch in the back. It is just upstream of where the creek bends back to your left going upstream and there is shelf rock bluffs on both sides of it. There are houses on the downstream side and the upstream bank looks like an old clear cut with no houses.
Go in to the cut to the dock on a small rock point It has a light on the back corner. Just downstream of this dock is a big brush pile on the bluff bank. Get in close, your boat will be in about 25 feet of water a short pitch from the bluff.
Craig fishes his jig head on a spinning rod and pitches it rather than casts it overhand. He will pitch his jig head right to the rocks then move it very slowly down the drop and through the brush. Feel for bass before you move your bait each time. They may be holding anywhere from six to 30 feet deep here and the brush covers most of that area.
Fish it slowly.
Check out these ten spots and see how Craig catches January bass at Smith. You can find many other spots just like these to fish after you see the pattern.
Craig does some guide trips on Smith so you can call him to see first hand how he fishes the lake. You can also buy his jig head by calling 256-737-9021.