Carters Lake Fishing Report March 2014

Carters: Level: 0.9 feet above full pool. Temp: 45-49 degrees. Clarity: 4 feet on the main lake.

Linesides: Guide Eric Crowley reports, “March—it’s the beginning of spring we have all been waiting for. The water temps will start to climb, and fish will start their transition into a spring pattern. The bait will kick it off first by going through their prespawn stage feeding heavily and gradually moving up the water column to find food that is in the shallower warming waters. This typically starts at about 54- to 57-degree water temps. Currently most of the baitfish are holding in 70 to 80 feet of water. As the lake warms up, that depth will decrease daily. This is the time of year that having a Hydro Glow on your boat is a must. These lights will attract the herring and threadfin in the early hours before dawn and concentrate them in a way so they can be caught with a castnet. These live baits are going to be key in catching the finicky March stripers and hybrids on Carters. Early morning seems to be the key time in March. We like to have baits in the water by dawn and cover water till you find some action. I like to stagger baits on downlines in early spring to cover the most water. Bait placed at 40, 30, 25 and 15 feet should do the trick. Watch your sonar for activity moving up and down on the graph, and keep making GPS points where you see them at. After you make a few passes over the fishy spots you marked, then you can really start to put a pattern together on depth, and then it’s just a matter of time. Start your March searching on the north side of the lower end of the lake. Fisher Creek, Woodring and Camp Branch are all go to spots in March. Start about halfway back, and watch for bait on your sonar. There has also been a decent on-again-off-again bite up river. Look for depth changes in the river, and look for the fish on the bottom around the major depth changes. Drifting live baits over those areas can be very productive on the right days. Now just because the weather is going to get better and the lake will warm up, don’t think the fish are going to cooperate and feed great when it’s warm and sunny with no wind. Although those days are nice to be on the lake, in March the best bites are typically on windy, overcast, pre-front days. Everyone enjoy yourself and enjoy the warming weather, and remember, April is just around the corner and that’s when things get hot on this mountain reservoir.”