The Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops is at Smith Lake in Cullman, Ala., for the third stop of the 2021 season. I am currently at the James River practicing for the first Basspro.com Bassmaster Northern Open of the year, so I don’t have as much detail for you as I did for Lake Cumberland, but I did get some intel from a very credible Smith Lake source.
Smith Lake is a 21,000-acre highland reservoir on the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River. Made up of three main arms, the lake is narrow with lots of winding turns and a sprawling network of creeks. This means there is a lot of shoreline to fish, but traveling from place to place takes time and needs to be factored into any angler’s game plan. Technique wise, there are plenty of options for the anglers this week. Anglers will have options ranging from deep clear water near the damn for spotted bass or dirtier water in the backs of the creeks for largemouth.
I spoke with Wesley Sams to get some insight on what we should expect from Smith Lake this week. Sams is a very well-known local angler and if anyone were to know what is going on with the lake it would be him. He suggests that the fishing should be good this week. Post-spawn is a great time to be fishing Smith Lake because the bass will likely be feeding up. With a recent trend of cool weather, there is potential for a good topwater bite during the tournament, although Sams mentioned the shad spawn will mostly likely be nearing an end. One wildcard for this event will be a herring spawn. Sams believes if a team can find a herring spawn, they would be hard to beat.
He predicted it will take a two-day total of 25-pounds or better to qualify for the National Championship (top 10 percent) and a two-day total of 32 pounds to win. A local tournament last Saturday was won with just over 15 pounds. Mixed bags are expected but Sams noted that one big largemouth a day will go a long way. I asked Sams to give me his top three baits for the week and he said a shaky head, a spinnerbait, and a walking topwater bait.
I wish all the college anglers a fun and safe week on the water!