Bull Shoals Lake has good numbers of smallmouth bass available too. If you fish deeper and target these fish, you can expect to catch some and there are some big fish that roam these waters too. With the clear water, fish deeper and use lighter line and you’ll catch more fish.
Clear Water Fishing – Use Lighter Line
Bull Shoals Lake is known for its clear, deep waters. While this lake’s water can stain quite a bit during heavy rains, the lake clears up with underwater visibility 20 to 30 feet. Using lighter line is key to getting more bites in clear water, especially in the middle of the day when the sun is out. Many smallmouth bass anglers will use 6 to 8 pound test line when targeting smallmouth bass in clear, deep lakes and it is no different here. Fluorocarbon line or at the very least, using a fluorocarbon leader will help you get more bites too.
Deep Water Fishing
Bull Shoals Lake is deep, so plan on fishing deeper water to consistently catch fish here. The spring provides some outstanding shallow water fishing, but beyond that, anglers routinely catch a variety of bass in 15 to 30 feet of water and these fish will often suspend 20 to 30 feet down over water much deeper. At times, finding schooling fish over deep water is the only way to consistently catch a lot of fish with quality fish too. Make sure you use your electronics and look for baitfish when fishing deeper water. The areas that have large schools of shad will usually be the spots that hold good numbers of quality smallmouth bass.
Fish at Night
From late spring through summer, anglers report good fishing at night on Bull Shoals Lake. It gets so hot down here in the summer that for many anglers, fishing at night is more enjoyable for the lower air temperatures. However, it can also be a great time to find more fish willing to bite. The darkness makes it easier to get bites as well since the water is so clear. Make sure you have some good electronics to help you find the schools of bait fish. If you find the bait, you should be able to find some nighttime smallie action.
Fish the Creeks
If you take a look at a map of this lake, you will see how many creek arms there are off of the main lake. These creek arms hold fish year round since there is a lot of deep water in these creeks. However, the early, shallow water bite that you experience during the spawn will not be so hot once the water temperatures heat up. If you’re fishing the creek arms during the summer, don’t be afraid to get off the banks and fish for some of these fish that are roaming the open waters over deeper water. From summer through fall, you’re going to find greater numbers of smallmouth bass suspended chasing bait fish than you will up along the shorelines.
Fish the Main Lake
The main lake points and shorelines are good spots to target smallmouth bass. From summer through fall, the suspended bite can be very good as smallmouth bass will roam around and chase bait fish all over the main lake. In the spring and fall, you can run from point to point and put some good numbers of smallmouth bass in your boat as well.
Fish the Points
This lake has a lot of main lake points. These points can always hold some fish, but spring and fall tend to be the best times to target bass and other fish off the points. The points that lead to deep water quickly are great spots to fish in the summer. The secondary points will also hold plenty of smallmouth bass in the spring and fall while some of these spots with deep water will also hold smallies during the summer months.
Fish the Rocks
Bull Shoals Lake has a bedrock bottom, so plan on fishing plenty of hard bottom while fishing here.
Fish the Shorelines
Because this lake is so deep, most anglers just choose to stay right along the shoreline and they do just fine for a variety of different fish. Many of the shorelines drop off quick, so you don’t have to be far from shore to be fishing water deep enough to hold a variety of fish and quality fish. Whether you fish the main lake shorelines or the creeks, there are a lot of fish that relate to the shorelines here, so you can fish the shoreline pattern and target plenty of smallmouth bass. For many anglers, this pattern is a lot easier to fish than trying to find them offshore.
Fish the Wood
Bull Shoals Lake has a ton of fish attractors and there is even a map of them, so you can find them easier. These fish attractors hold lots of different species of fish. In the spring, smallmouth bass love hanging around the wood closer to shore. You will find plenty of smallmouth bass around the fish attractors as well as around the laydowns along the shorelines. This is a better spring pattern, but the deeper wood will also have smallmouth bass around it in the summer and fall too.
Learn More About Smallmouth Bass
Our smallmouth bass section is huge with information on the best live baits, lures, where to catch them and how to catch them. Visit our smallmouth bass page to learn more.
