Greetings as your new SMSC president and fellow club member. My main occupations as a retiree are fishing and napping, not necessarily in that order. When I am not fishing, then I’m fishing, or napping. When not fishing or napping then I am getting prepared for the next fishing outing. Right now fishing is concentrated on SML, however there is abundant water I haven’t even tried yet – Philpott Res, New River, James River, and numerous creeks, ponds and small lakes. I currently concentrate on the stripers since I am new to them. Up North I’m known as a musky angler, with walleye, crappie and bass thrown in. I have a lot to keep me busy.


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My first visit to Smith Mountain Lake was in 1984. My wife Sharon and our two children came to visit an old friend and colleague Ron Curtis and his wife. At the time we were looking for a camper for family vacations. After several trips to the lake the property next door to our friends came up for sale and we ended up with a 14X64 house trailer instead of a camper in 1986. For the next ten years we were frequent visitors to the lake for fishing, hunting and general family fun on the water.

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As a new member of the Smith Mountain Lake Striper Club, I would like to take the time to let you all know what brings me to the Club and to introduce my family and myself.

When my wife and I were teenagers, I use to bring her to the lake and sit on the docks at the State Park at night and talk and plan our future together.  The plan always included how we would be on the lake one day and hopefully retire waterfront. 

Caryn and I have been married for 16 years and have been very blessed by the Lord to have achieved all the goals we set except for the retirement part.  I guess we should have set higher goals. 

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I am Joe Prinzinger and I love to striper fish.  I have been fishing for stripers since the summer of 1992.  I can remember well the minute I became addicted to striper fishing.  A good friend and I were bass fishing in a cove near the dam when there was an old time blow up of stripers in the cove.  There are very few of us old timers left that remember what those blow ups that occurred in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s were like.  It was violent and thrilling all at the same time.  The sound was like at being at the bottom of a very big waterfall.  We had light line and bass lures.  We caught only two fish as our light line was broken like sewing thread.  Of course the next morning we were there again.  Yes indeed, it was an addicting experience.

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