Carters Lake Fishing Report – August 2009

Carters: Level: 3 feet above full pool. Temp: Mid 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Tough fishing, according to Danny Hall. Fish points early with a buzzbait or Pop-R, but after that look for fish suspended over brushpiles in 25 to 30 feet of water. Use a shaky head or drop shot with a watermelon seed, green pumpkin or sand finesse worm. Any wind on the points could produce a fluke, Spook or Gunfish bite. At night, try cranking a DD22 on points, in addition to fishing a worm.

Stripers: Guide Robert Edison said the best bite is between 4 and 8 a.m. However, water needs to be moving to make it worth your time to go. Robert uses gizzards and threadfins, but locals have been using live bream. Take some crickets or worms, and catch a dozen or so around the marina or in the backs of Wurley or Fisher creeks. If stripers keep spitting the bream, Robert suggests clipping the dorsal fin down. The key depth for downlining bait has been 30 to 33 feet on the main-lake points from Camp Branch to the dam. You can also troll lead-core line eight colors (240 feet) back. Using a white, 2-oz. jig will get you down about 30 feet. Robert trolls the river channel from Camp Branch to the dam, clipping the main-lake points in 50 feet of water.