Outcast Adventures is a professional striper fishing guide service. We operate a year round guide service for striper fishing. Come rain or shine we are on the water in search of action on beautiful Smith Mountain Lake.

- Get Ready - Top Water action is getting ready to come unglued here in just a little bit. It will soon be time to pull big bait on planer boards right on the bank! This is the time of the year to land a big one! Let's Roll!

Typical Striper Patterns and Striper Fishing Techniques

January - This time of year is for the birds. And when I say birds, I mean seagulls. Where there are birds, there is bait. Where there is bait, there are stripers. The stripers will push the baitfish to the surface and the birds will start divebombing. It is a dead give away. We will be using a variety of fishing techniques (Downrods, Planer boards, Floatlines, Casting artificials, Jigging, Etc.).

February - February is almost a spitting image of January. We will still be following the birds in search of some intense striper fishing action. We will be using a lot of the same techniques that are used in January. January and February can offer some awesome striper fishing action on Smith Mountain Lake.

March - March is the time of year to start pulling the BIG bait (Gizzard Shad)on planerboards and floatlines. The water temperatures are starting to rise and the fishing action will start heating us as well. Pulling big bait and casting artificials (Bucktails, Flukes, Etc.) is the key to success. You will start to see some breaking stripers at this time of year. Your chances for a trophy striper are better in March and April than any other time throughout the year.

Current - Its all about current. The Striper s will be on the move in the upcoming months. They will slowly make progress up the rivers and down toward the dam in preparation for the spawn that will take place in May. Stripers congregate at the dam in May due to the pump back from Leesville Lake back into Smith Mountain Lake. As far as they know, this is a river.That being said, Its time to start heading toward the current!

April - This time of year the stripers are feeding heavily in preparation for the upcoming spawn in May. Using some of the same fishing methods used in March will produce fish. You can expect to see a lot of breaking fish in the mornings and in the evenings. If you can get a fluke or bucktail into this mayhem, You Better Hold On!!!

May - In May the spawn will take place. At this time you can find some really nice size schools of stripers. They will be packed tight during this time of the year. The techniques used while striper fishing will very somewhat. We will be using all of the techniques that were mentioned in previous months in addition to pulling Umbrella rigs.

June - June brings on some intense striper fishing action on Smith Mountain Lake. The spawn is now over and it is time to eat. The stripers will be schooled up and eating anything in there path. You will see major striper breaking action this time of year. We will start off the morning with live bait and then eventually start pulling the rigs once the sun gets high. Umbrella rigs are a major producer for striped bass for the next several months.

July - During the month of July the methods for striper fishing will change. Due to the rising water temperatures the stripers will start to show deeper in Smith Mountain Lake. They will start congregating in the deeper areas of the lake in search of cooler water. As in June, we will start off the morning with live bait and then eventually start pulling the rigs. If you are experiencing fast moving schools of stripers, you can't go wrong with umbrella rigs. It's not uncommon to catch them two at a time. Now that's power! This time of year jigging can be effective as well.

August - August is almost a mirror image of July. The water temperatures will still be high. Just as in July the the stripers will be deeper and we will be using some of the very same techniques.

September - In September the water temperatures will start to drop. This being the case the stripers will start to come closer to the surface and also become more aggressive. You start to see some breaking action as the water starts to cool. The fishing techniques will start to change more towards a winter pattern.

October - As Fall approaches the striper fishing action on Smith Mountain Lake starts to heat up. You will see a lot more surface activity. Now is time to dust off the planer boards and round up the big bait. Fall fishing can be extremely exciting. The water temperatures are contiually dropping and the stripers are getting more and more aggressive.   November - During the month of November the fishing is intense. The water temperature this time of year is prime for striper fishing. As in October, we will be pulling planer boards with bigger bait and using a variety of other techniques. This is the time of year that the seagulls will start showing up.

December - The winter months can offer some awesome striper fishing on Smith Mountain Lake. The stripers will typically be deeper this time of year and we will be using a variety of methods to get these bad boys. From casting into divebombing birds to downlines, floatlines, planer boards and deep water jigging, the striper fishing can be red hot.

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