Fishing Report For Smithville Lake, MO

By Rick Seaman

January 27, 2025

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Fishing Report Smithville Lake, MO

Fishing Reports

Popular Fish Species Smithville Lake, MO

Black Crappie - White Crappie

Uncle Buck's Panfish Creatures Curly Tail Minnow Rigged

Current Report: Good
Outlook: Good To Very Good

Crappie fishing continues to improve in Smithville Lake, for both black and white crappie. Virtually all the creek arms of the lake hold schools of crappie. Pockets from Sailboat Cove north, and pockets from the Collins Road Bridge east, are popular areas for crappie fishing. Locals report the best fishing is the first and last hour of daylight. Spring is the premiere time to be on the water as crappie move deeper into shallow coves to spawn. Docks, standing timber and brush piles are a good place to cast small crappie jigs or live minnows. Light tackle with 4 lb to 8 lb line is ideal. Locals report good success using fish finders to locate schools of crappie, which tend to stack vertically around cover.

Largemouth Bass

Current Report: Fair To Good
Outlook: Good To Very Good

Thanks to healthy populations of crappie and sunfish, largemouth bass grow at a fast pace in Smithville Lake. Bass can be found in all areas of the lake, from the dam the extreme ends of both arms of the lake. Many tournament anglers report very good success with vibrating jigs, which can be fished shallow or deep, and tight to cover or in open water. Once the bite turns off, and the bass get finicky, stick worms rigged wacky style will entice bites.

Walleye

Current Report: Fair
Outlook: Good To Very Good

According to the Missouri Dept of Conservation's Annual Prospects Report, walleye fishing should continue to be quite good again this year. Nearly one-fourth of the walleye in the lake are over 20" long, so there is quality to be caught. During the spawning run on the dam, use shallow crankbaits. In Summer, deep diving crankbaits trolled over points, flats and rock piles can trigger bites.

Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for largemouth bass, channel catfish, flathead catfish, black crappie, white crappie, walleye, bluegill, white bass and tiger muskie at Smithville Reservoir in Missouri.

Smithville Lake is a 7,200 acre lake with 175 miles of shoreline offering excellent fishing. Crappie is the main attraction here, but you can also fish for bass, catfish, bluegill, tiger muskie, walleye and sunfish.

Primary fish species to catch

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Today's Weather & Forecast

Fishing Boat Rentals

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Public Boat Launch Ramps & Landings

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Fishing License

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Map - Fishing & Access

Rick Seaman is a fishing enthusiast with over five decades of fishing experience, a retired tournament fisherman, author of numerous published articles on fishing, and co-author of the book "Bass Fishing - It's not WHAT you throw, It's WHERE you throw it".