Carters Lake Fishing Report – December 2009

Carters: Level: 3.9 feet above full pool. Temp: 62-63 degrees. Clarity: Three feet of visibility.

Bass: Guide Eric Crowley said one of his favorite ways to catch big spots in December is to slow roll a 6-inch, soft-bodied Spro swimbait. On sunny days, work the bait 10 to 22 feet deep around wood or any other structure. On the cloudy days, expect fish shallower. “Look on secondary points inside the coves,” said Eric. “I like a rainbow-trout pattern.” Eric, who fishes live bait for stripers, said they caught 25 spots last December that weighed more than 5 pounds. The bigger bass tend to stay shallower and key on the rainbows. “You can catch big largemouths with the swimbaits, too,” said Eric. A deep bite will set up this month as fish go deep. Catch these fish on a jigging spoon. Eric added that these fish will, on average, be smaller than the fish that stay up waiting on rainbows. A good place to look for fish to stack up deep is on DNR fish attractors. The bite could be anywhere from 25 to 60 feet deep as they really start focusing on balls of shad. Try a 3/4-oz. jigging spoon in silver or white. You could try fishing a shaky head, drop shot or jig, but fish them really slow.

Stripers: “Fishing has been good on Carters,” according to Eric. “The live-bait bite has been solid with nice fish being caught on trout of all sizes. Flatlines and planer boards are getting a lot of interest early in the morning in the mouths of the main creeks and on the primary main-lake points. Look for fish and bait from 15 to 40 feet deep. The fish have been rather spooky, so ease up to the area you plan to fish, and keep the noise to a minimum. As the day goes on, look for the fish to ease out of the creeks just a bit. Fish have been suspended in 60-plus feet of water just waiting on an easy meal to swim by. Downlines with various size baits have been producing fish all over the main lake at midday and early afternoon. A lot of these fish have been decent size, ranging from 12 to 20 pounds. As you get closer to the end of the day, put the flats and planers back out and pull some larger baits around structure and shallow-water markers on the main lake. Places to start looking for fish in December will include Worley Creek, Doll Mountain and the area around the marina.” Robert Eidson said the fishing has been excellent. He reported, “We have caught some really, really big stripers recently on downrods right off the bottom. The key area is Stumpy Island. Fish a 25- to 45-foot bottom. Work in and out until you find them. They won’t eat shad right now. Use trout. Camp Branch has a good bite, as well. Look for the flatline and planer-board bite to start by mid December. Start looking in backs of Worley, Camp Branch and Fisher Creek. Fisher Creek is holding a ton of hybrids, and some big ones. They are eating a U-rig.”