We caught them on crankbaits, spinnerbaits and a couple on a Carolina rig,” said Van Der Veer. “Our best fish came on crankbaits in 10 to 12 feet of water and our biggest fish was right at 5 pounds.”

Van Der Veer will hold the last December tournament in the Winter Trail on Saturday and the series has gone so well that anglers are asking for more, he said. The Trail ran every Saturday in December except Dec. 24, and is scheduled to run every Saturday in January, but Van Der Veer said he might be able to extend it into February since the anglers want it.

“A lot of the guys said they wanted to keep it going. I won’t be able to do it the first weekend in February because I am on the board for Anglers Choice and that is the weekend for our open house, but we may be able to extend the series on into February if the weather holds out.”

So far, he noted, the weather has been very cooperative this year.

“For the next four weeks or so the weather is supposed to have temperatures in the mid-50s for the most part so the water temperature is probably going to stay fairly stable. It is still in the mid-50s so it may drop into the upper 40s, but that should only make fishing better,” he said. “I was checking our records from last year and by this time last year it was already in the lower 40s.”

With the water temperature holding in the mid-50s, Van Der Veer said a good jig bite is still going on, while some anglers are catching fish on crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

“The fish are in different stages and they are catching them from 5 feet out to 25 feet of water so there are still a lot of different styles of fishing that are good,” he said. “We’ve been averaging 15 to 20 boats a tournament and it’s been taking 18 pounds to win. We weighed in one fish in our first tournament at almost 6 pounds and we’ve had a 4-pound, 11-ounce fish and a 4-pound, 14-ounce weighed in. We’ve had some really nice smallmouths brought in, with several over 4 pounds.”

A lot of limits are also being weighed, he said.

“We had one tournament with 16 boats and 13 of them weighed in a limit.”

The series, which is sponsored by Jiffy Automotive Service in Vinton, Va., which is owned by Van Der Veer, and by Anglers Choice Marine, the Bass Boat Superstore in Martinsville, Va., ran every Saturday in December except Dec. 24, and will run every Saturday in January. Entry fee is $40 with an optional big fish entry of $10.

Tournament details and rules can be found on the Anglers Choice website, www.anglerschoicemarine.com. Details are also available at www.basssml.com.

 

Smith Mountain Lake Winter Trail

Sat, Dec 31, 2011

Smith Mountain Lake

Smith Mountain Lake State Park

Call Phillip Van Der Veer at 540-580-9319